Benjamin Harrison

Harrison influenced legislation and was an efficient executive, but his lackluster personality made his administration seem colorless. In conjunction with the Republican-controlled "Billion Dollar Congress" of 1890, his administration was remarkably productive. To wipe out the $100 million surplus of revenues over expenditures, Congress passed a generous Dependent and Disability Pension Act and the protectionist McKinley Tariff, which raised rates higher than ever before. Responding to pressure from the West, Congress approved the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required that the government buy 4.5 million ounces of silver each month and pay for it with Treasury certificates. Harrison managed the inflationist tendency of this legislation by redeeming the certificates in gold. At his request and to make good a plank in the Republican party's 1888 platform, Congress also passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, which was by far the most influential law passed during his administration.

With the State Department in the hands of Blaine, the administration pursued a vigorous foreign policy. Harrison favored a naval buildup, the acquisition of bases in the Caribbean and the Pacific (he secured a protectorate in Samoa), and an isthmian canal. He supported the first modern Pan-American Conference (1889), which was designed to expand American political and economic influence in Latin America at the expense of Great Britain. He also fought for the novel reciprocity feature in the McKinley Tariff, and his administration negotiated eight treaties that mutually reduced tariff rates. Harrison's greatest disappointment in foreign affairs was his failure to convince the Senate to annex Hawaii.

Despite a falling-out with Blaine and other party leaders, Harrison was renominated for the presidency in 1892, but this time he lost decisively to Cleveland. The dissatisfaction of New York Republicans, the anger of civil service reformers over his appointment policies, the alienation of western farmers favoring inflation and opposing protection, and labor unrest were responsible for his defeat. He was able, but his accomplishments and his personality offended more supporters than they attracted. In retirement, Harrison lectured and served as chief counsel for Venezuela in its boundary dispute with Great Britain.

Harry Joseph Sievers, Benjamin Harrison, Hoosier Warrior, 1833-1865 (1952), Benjamin Harrison, Hoosier Statesman: From the Civil War to the White House, 1865-1888 (1959), and Benjamin Harrison, Hoosier President: The White House and After (1968); Homer E. Socolofsky and Allan B. Spetter, The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison (1987).

ARI HOOGENBOOM

The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.