Benjamin Harrison
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Under the Constitution of 1787
Benjamin Harrison was born on August 20, 1833, in his grandfather’s home in North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio. His lineage was steeped in American heritage: his father, John Scott Harrison, was the son of William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States, while his great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Harrison’s mother, Elizabeth Irwin, hailed from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The Harrison family resided on an estate along the Ohio River near the Big Miami River's mouth, a setting that anchored Benjamin's early life.
Benjamin Harrison’s education began in a humble log schoolhouse. By fifteen, he attended Cary’s Academy (later known as Farmer’s College) near Cincinnati, where he was introduced to Caroline Lavinia Scott, the daughter of John W. Scott, a science teacher at the academy and president of the Oxford Female Institute. In 1850, Harrison entered Miami University of Ohio as a junior, earning a reputation for academic excellence and graduating in 1852 with high honors. Although his devout Christian beliefs influenced him deeply, Harrison ultimately chose to pursue a legal career, studying law under the guidance of the Cincinnati firm Storer and Gwynne. That same year, he married Caroline Scott on October 20, and he was admitted to the Ohio bar. The Harrisons later welcomed two children, Russell Benjamin (1854–1936) and Mary Scott (1858–1930).
Students and Teachers of US History this is a video of Stanley and Christopher Klos presenting America's Four United Republics Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The December 2015 video was an impromptu capture by a member of the audience of Penn students, professors and guests that numbered about 200.
After their marriage, the Harrisons moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where Benjamin established a law practice with William Wallace, the son of a former Indiana governor. The partnership was successful due to their willingness to tackle various types of cases, allowing Harrison to develop as a well-rounded lawyer without rivals in the field. His legal skills became a foundation for his political aspirations, and in 1860, he was elected Reporter of the Supreme Court of Indiana, marking the start of his public career.
In August 1862, as the Civil War intensified, Harrison was commissioned by Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton to serve as a Colonel in the Union Army’s 70th Indiana Regiment. Serving until June 1865, he distinguished himself through numerous critical engagements, emerging as a respected war hero. Upon his return, he resumed his law practice with the firm Porter, Harrison & Fishback, which grew in prominence.
In 1881, Harrison's political career reached a new height when he was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Indiana Legislature. Known as one of the Senate's most formidable debaters, he held this position until 1887. The Republican National Convention nominated Harrison for President in 1888, and he secured the presidency with 233 electoral votes, defeating Grover Cleveland’s 168.
As President, inaugurated on March 4, 1889, Harrison championed protectionist policies, a stance that earned substantial support from American manufacturers. However, his policies also stirred opposition, as high tariffs failed to benefit laborers and exacerbated economic challenges in the farming sector. Among his notable actions were sponsoring the first Pan-American Congress, promoting cooperation among Western Hemisphere nations, supporting the McKinley Tariff Act, which heightened import duties, and advocating for the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to regulate monopolies. These measures reflected Harrison’s intent to strengthen American industry but also highlighted the complexities of balancing national prosperity and social equity.
Harrison sought a second term in 1892 but was defeated by Grover Cleveland, the same opponent he had previously bested. This period marked personal sorrow as his wife, Caroline, passed away shortly before the election. As a widower, Harrison returned to Indianapolis to resume his legal career and became a prominent figure in Presbyterian councils. He also lectured on constitutional law at Stanford University in California. In April 1896, he married Mary Scott Lord Dimmick, his first wife’s niece. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1897, the same year Harrison published This Country of Ours, a work explaining the functions of the federal government.
Benjamin Harrison passed away on March 13, 1901, in Indianapolis due to pneumonia. His widow, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison, edited and published his reflections, Views of an Ex-President, posthumously, adding a final chapter to his legacy. Harrison’s impact on American law and politics endures, shaped by his distinguished family heritage, military service, and dedication to public life.
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| Benjamin.Harrison Autograph letter signed to John Sherman, Indianapolis, Ind., 23 March 1896 asking about the legal status of gifts made to him while President. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution says that "no person holding any office or profit or trust" under the United States government, "shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state." Here the former President asks the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee about "two medals" presented to him while he was President, "one from Brazil at the time of the visit of the Brazilian Squadron and one from Spain in connection with the Columbian Exposition. As they came from Foreign Governments I thought I could not receive them and sent them over to [the] State Dept. where I suppose they still are. If it is appropriate that I should have them I would be glad to have them but not otherwise, and if you think so & your committee does, and any resolution is necessary I would be obliged if you would take the necessary steps. If the Govt. is to retain these & any like things, some provision should be made for their custody & putting them in the National Museum or some other appropriate place. Please let me know what you think would be appropriate." |
Speeches of Benjamin Harrison Biography
BENJAMIN HARRISON, twenty-third President of the United States, was born Tuesday, August 20, 1833, at North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio. He is the second son of the late John Scott and Elizabeth Irwin Harrison. His father—the third son of President William Henry Harrison and Anna Symmes—was born at Vincennes, Indiana, was twice elected to Congress as a Democrat, from the Cincinnati district, and died in 1878.
General William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, was the third son of a famous signer of the Declaration of Independence—Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, and his wife Elizabeth Bassett. This Benjamin Harrison, "the signer," was one of the first seven delegates from Virginia to the Continental Congress. He reported the resolution for independence, was Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and was thrice elected Governor of Virginia, dying in 1791; he was the eldest son of Benjamin and Anna Carter Harrison, both of whom were descended from ancestors distinguished for their high character and their services to the colony of Virginia.
Ben Harrison's boyhood was passed upon his father's farm in Ohio. At the age of 14, with his elder brother Irwin, he attended Farmer's College at Cincinnati, preparatory to entering Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, from which institution he graduated in 1852.
He studied law in the office of Judge Belamy Storer at Cincinnati, and in March, 1854—with his bride, Miss Caroline W.Scott, to whom he was wedded October 20, 1853—he located at Indianapolis and began the practice of the law.
In 1860 he was elected reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana, as a Republican, receiving 9,688 majority.
In July, 1862, he was commissioned by Gov. Oliver P" Morton as second lieutenant, and raised Company A of the Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was commissioned captain, and on the organization of the regiment was commissioned colonel. In August his regiment entered the field and became a part of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the 20th Army Corps, Gen.W. T. Ward, of Kentucky, brigade commander. At the battle of Resaca, Sunday, May 15, 1864, the Seventieth Regiment led the brigade in a gallant charge, and its colonel signally distinguished himself, being among the first to scale the bloody parapet. He actively participated in the engagements at Cassville, New Hope Church, Gilgal Church, Kulps Hill, and Kenesaw. Following that great captain in the Atlanta campaign, initiatory to his famous march to the sea, Colonel Harrison at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, in the crisis of the fight, without awaiting orders, seized an important position and successfully resisted, at great loss, the terrific assaults of a large detachment of Hood's army. For this brilliant achievement, upon the recommendation of Major-General Joe Hooker, he was brevetted in March, I860, by President Lincoln, a brigadier-general, to date from January 23, 1865.
In October, 1864, while at the front, he was reelected, by 19,713 majority, reporter of the Supreme Court, which office he had lost by accepting a commission in the army. After four years as reporter he resumed his law practice, forming a partnership with Albert G. Porter and W. P. Fishback. About 1870 Mr. Fishback retired, and the firm became Porter, Harrison & Hines; upon Governor Porter's retirement W. H. H. Miller took his place, and in 1883 Mr. Hines retired, and, John B. Elam coming in, the firm became Harrison, Miller & Elam.
In 1876 Hon. Godlove S. Orth was nominated as Republican candidate for Governor of Indiana, but pending the canvass he unexpectedly withdrew. In this emergency, during General Harrison's absence on a trip to Lake Superior, the Central Committee substituted his name at the head of the ticket. Undertaking the canvass despite adverse conditions, he was defeated by Hon. James D. Williams "Biue Jeans " by a plurality of 5,084 votes.
In 1878 he was chosen chairman of the Republican State Convention,
In 1879 he was appointed by President Hayes a member of the Mississippi River Commission.
In 1880 he was chairman of the delegation from Indiana to the National Convention, and with his colleagues cast 34 consecutive ballots for James G. Blaine in that historic contest. President Garfield tendered him any position but one in his Cabinet, but the high honor was declined.
In January, 1881, he was elected United States Senator—the unanimous choice of his party—to succeed Joseph E. McDonald, and served six years to March 3, 1887.
In 1884 he again represented his State as delegate at large to the National Convention.
January, 1887, he was a second time the unanimous choice of his party for United States Senator, but after a protracted and exciting contest was defeated on the sixteenth joint ballot, upon party lines, by 2 majority.
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US Military Commission signed by President Benjamin Harrison and Secretary of War Stephen Benton Elkins - Historic.us image |
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United Colonies Continental Congress | President | 18th Century Term | Age |
Elizabeth "Betty" Harrison Randolph (1745-1783) | 09/05/74 – 10/22/74 | 29 | |
Mary Williams Middleton (1741- 1761) Deceased | Henry Middleton | 10/22–26/74 | n/a |
Elizabeth "Betty" Harrison Randolph (1745–1783) | 05/20/ 75 - 05/24/75 | 30 | |
Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830) | 05/25/75 – 07/01/76 | 28 | |
United States Continental Congress | President | Term | Age |
Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830) | 07/02/76 – 10/29/77 | 29 | |
Eleanor Ball Laurens (1731- 1770) Deceased | Henry Laurens | 11/01/77 – 12/09/78 | n/a |
Sarah Livingston Jay (1756-1802) | 12/ 10/78 – 09/28/78 | 21 | |
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794) | 09/29/79 – 02/28/81 | 41 | |
United States in Congress Assembled | President | Term | Age |
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794) | 03/01/81 – 07/06/81 | 42 | |
Sarah Armitage McKean (1756-1820) | 07/10/81 – 11/04/81 | 25 | |
Jane Contee Hanson (1726-1812) | 11/05/81 - 11/03/82 | 55 | |
Hannah Stockton Boudinot (1736-1808) | 11/03/82 - 11/02/83 | 46 | |
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Anne Gaskins Pinkard Lee (1738-1796) | 11/20/84 - 11/19/85 | 46 | |
Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830) | 11/23/85 – 06/06/86 | 38 | |
Rebecca Call Gorham (1744-1812) | 06/06/86 - 02/01/87 | 42 | |
Phoebe Bayard St. Clair (1743-1818) | 02/02/87 - 01/21/88 | 43 | |
Christina Stuart Griffin (1751-1807) | 01/22/88 - 01/29/89 | 36 |
Constitution of 1787 First Ladies | President | Term | Age |
April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 | 57 | ||
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 | 52 | ||
Martha Wayles Jefferson Deceased | September 6, 1782 (Aged 33) | n/a | |
March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817 | 40 | ||
March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 | 48 | ||
March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829 | 50 | ||
December 22, 1828 (aged 61) | n/a | ||
February 5, 1819 (aged 35) | n/a | ||
March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 | 65 | ||
April 4, 1841 – September 10, 1842 | 50 | ||
June 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845 | 23 | ||
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July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853 | 52 | ||
March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857 | 46 | ||
n/a | n/a | ||
March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 | 42 | ||
February 22, 1862 – May 10, 1865 | |||
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January 12, 1880 (Aged 43) | n/a | ||
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March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901 | 49 | ||
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November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969 | 50 | ||
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January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 | 49 | ||
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January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 | 63 | ||
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January 20, 2009 - January 20, 2017 January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021 January 20, 2021 - Present | 45 46 47 |
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