Benjamin Harrison



""We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.""

- Benjamin Harrison

From Indianapolis, the only president whose grandfather was also president (albeit very briefly) and the only one to be preceded and succeeded by the same man. Also one of the few presidents who lost the popular vote but won a majority of the electoral vote. This was at least partially the result of blatant fraud; though Harrison himself was completely uninvolved, some of his supporters openly bought electoral votes to get him elected. He was America's centennial president, being inaugurated exactly 100 years after George Washington.

As president, he signed the McKinley Tariff (one of the highest in US history) and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. He was also the first president to be recorded on a phonograph.

Electricity was first installed into the White House during Harrison's term, supplementing the gas lights already in use since no one at the time expected electricity to actually replace gas. Harrison and his wife refused to touch the electrical switches for fear of electrocution and left their operation to the White House staff. Two weeks before he lost his re-election bid, his wife died after a long illness. Shortly after, he married a much younger woman. His two adult children, horrified at the thought of their dad remarrying so quickly (and to someone younger than them), refused to attend the wedding.

Has a nice house that you can visit downtown.

He was very charismatic in public but ice cold in private. His great-grandfather, also named Benjamin, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

For a one-minute summation of his presidency, check out this video.