Benjamin Harrison

(noun)

Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833 – March 13, 1901) was the 23rd President of the United States (1889–1893). Harrison, a Republican, was elected to the presidency in 1888, defeating Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland. His administration is most remembered for economic legislation, including the McKinley Tariff and the Sherman Antitrust Act, and for annual federal spending that reached one billion dollars for the first time.

Related Terms

Examples of Benjamin Harrison in the following topics:

  • The Election of 1888

    • In the election of 1888, President Grover Cleveland lost to Republican Benjamin Harrison in the Electoral College despite winning the popular vote.
    • The 1888 election for President of the United States saw Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent president and a Democrat, try to secure a second term against the Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison, a former U.S.
    • Harrison took the side of industrialists and factory workers who wanted to keep tariffs high, while Cleveland strenuously denounced high tariffs as unfair to consumers.
    • Harrison swept almost the entire North and Midwest, losing only Connecticut and New Jersey, but carried the swing states of New York and Indiana to achieve a majority of the electoral vote.

  • Republican Reform Under Harrison

    • The 1888 election for President of the United States saw Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent president and a Democrat, try to secure a second term against the Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison, a former U.S.
    • Harrison was sworn into office on March 4, 1889.
    • Civil service reform was a prominent issue following Harrison's election.
    • President Benjamin Harrison.
    • Benjamin Harrison and the Congress are portrayed as a "Billion-Dollar Congress," wasting the surplus in this cartoon from Puck.

  • Range Wars

    • It culminated in a lengthy shootout between local ranchers, a band of hired killers, and a sheriff's posse, eventually requiring the intervention of the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison.

  • Abraham Lincoln's Family

    • Nonetheless, Robert was appointed Secretary of War during the James Garfield and Chester Arthur administrations and served as Minister to England during Benjamin Harrison’s administration.

  • The Debate over Slavery

    • After proposed compromises of one-half by Benjamin Harrison of Virginia and three-fourths by several New Englanders failed to gain sufficient support, Congress finally settled on the three-fifths ratio James Madison proposed.

  • From Competition to Consolidation

    • In 1889, the new president, Republican Benjamin Harrison, condemned monopolies as "dangerous conspiracies" and called for legislation to remedy the tendency of monopolies that would "crush out" competition.

  • Regulation

    • Progressives, such as Benjamin Parke De Witt, argued that in a modern economy, large corporations, and even monopolies were both inevitable and desirable.
    • Passed under the presidency of Benjamin Harrison, it prohibits certain business activities that federal government regulators deem to be anti-competitive, and requires the federal government to investigate and pursue trusts.

  • Madison's American Indian Policy

    • Many consider Governor William Henry Harrison's victory over the American Indian confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 the climax of the war.
    • The war lasted until the fall of 1813, when Tecumseh died fighting Harrison's Army of the Northwest at the Battle of the Thames (near present-day Chatham, Ontario) and his confederacy disintegrated.
    • This image illustrates Benjamin Hawkins teaching Creek men how to use a plow in 1805.

  • The Election of 1840

    • As a result, the nomination went to Harrison.
    • By contrast, Harrison accused Van Buren of being a wealthy snob who lived in luxury at the public's expense.
    • Although Harrison was comfortably wealthy and well educated and it was Van Buren who had actually come from a relatively poor, working family, Harrison's "log cabin" image caught fire, sweeping all sections of the country.
    • Democrats made fodder of Harrison's age, referring to him as "Granny" and hinting that he was senile.
    • Harrison won the support of western settlers and eastern bankers alike.

  • The Scurrilous Campaign

    • However, even as the Democrats gained support from the Mugwumps, they lost some blue-collar workers to the Greenback-Labor party, led by Benjamin F.
    • In the 1892 presidential election, Harrison was soundly defeated by Grover Cleveland, and the Senate, House, and Presidency were all under Democratic control.
    • After reversing the Harrison administration's silver policy, Cleveland sought next to reverse the effects of the McKinley tariff.