The 23rd POTUS Benjamin Harrison was born this day 1833.  He was POTUS from 1889-1893.

10 Notes on President Benjamin Harrison

1. He is the only grandson of a president to become president. His Grandfather was William Henry Harrison who was POTUS for one month in 1841 before becoming the first POTUS to die in office. Benjamin Harrison’s great-grandfather also named Benjamin Harrison was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Harrison’s father was a member of Congress. Benjamin Harrison didn’t like to use the fact he was the grandson of a president to his advantage.

2.Benjamin Harrison was known to be effective speaking in front of a crowd but awful in person to person dealings. His handlers would say he would get a crowd all worked up but then afterwards shake hands with them and the people’s attitudes would totally change. He had a very weak handshake and no charisma. They said he was an “iceberg”

3. He is most known for being the POTUS who was in between Grover Cleveland’s two separate terms. He beat President Cleveland in the 1888 election and lost to Cleveland in the 1892 election. He is also one of four presidents to lose the popular vote but win the election in the Electoral College the others being John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes and George W. Bush most recently.

4. After his presidency, his first wife passed away and he remarried, his second marriage was to his wife’s niece. He was 62 and she was 37. This did not go over well with his children from the first marriage who didn’t go to the wedding. Harrison and his second wife would have a daughter.

5. Six states were admitted to the union during his 4 years, South Dakota, North Dakota,  Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. The only POTUS who had more states enter during their presidency was George Washington.

6. The White House first got electricity during the Harrison years there. The Harrison’s feared it. They would sometimes to go sleep with the lights on because they were afraid to flip the light switch to turn them off.

7.Benjamin Harrison was 5’6″ tall. His nickname was “Little Ben” he had blue eyes, light brown hair. He is the last POTUS to have a beard. He was born in Ohio but moved to Indiana at age 21 and considered Indiana his home. He is the only president from Indiana. He was a Republican.

8. His presidency was famous for high tariffs, a treasury surplus, and lavish spending on veteran’s pensions and special interest projects. Although he only was president 4 years during that time he named 4 members to the United States Supreme Court.

9. He served in the American Civil War, at the end of the war raising in rank to that of Brigadier General. At the end of the war he marched during the Grand Review parade in Washington, D.C.

10. President Benjamin Harrison died in 1901 at the age of 67 of pneumonia. In reading more about Harrison I tend to think he was underrated. Surely not a great president but he is one of the forgotten ones. I think he wasn’t all that bad. Maybe because of his personality or lack of personality he was quickly forgotten.