Benjamin Harrison
In Office: 1889-1893
- KidGloves Harrison (attributed to the mudslinging or to the fact that he was prone to skin rashes and wore gloves frequently)
- The White House Iceberg or Human Iceberg (Gave warm speeches to groups but was very cold one-on-one)
- Young Tippecanoe (Grandson of Ol Tippecanoe)
- The Front Porch Campaigner (gave more than 90 impromptu speeches from his front porch)
- Grandfather’s Hat (from Campaign song “Grandfather’s Hat Fits Ben”)
Benjamin Harrison
- First President to attend a baseball game. He watched the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Senators 7 to 4 on June 6, 1892
- Grandson of 9th President William Henry Harrison
- Theodore Roosevelt said of B. Harrison: “He is a cold-blooded, narrow-minded, prejudiced, obstinate, timid old psalm-singing Indianapolis politician.”
- Harrison had over 1 million fewer votes than President Cleveland but won the electoral votes of 20 states to Cleveland’s 18, giving him the electoral majority of 233-168 votes.
- After his term, he ran for re-election against Cleveland again. Harrison’s wife was sick with tuberculosis and she died during this time so Harrison did not actively campaign. Neither did Cleveland. It was the first time no candidates campaigned for the presidential election. Cleveland ultimately won with 227 electoral votes to Harrison’s 145.
- He was the first president to use electricity in the White House. After he got an electrical shock, he and his family refused to touch the light switches and would often go to bed without turning off any of the lights.
- Harrison made 140 completely different speeches in 30 days.
- He was the last president to wear a beard while in office.
- One of his relatives – great grandson ran for President in 1988…Any guesses?
- When North and South Dakota were admitted to the Union, Harrison covered up the tops of the bills and shuffled them about so neither he nor anyone else would know which was admitted first. We will never know which one is the 39th or the 40th state admitted to the Union.
I’d guess Jack Kemp in ’88.
But he was like 120 years old then so, the clue would’ve had to be ‘Harrison’s son ran in 1988′ – - So, too old.
Looking back 20 years ago, you probably wouldn’t remember/recongnize any of the contenders, right?
WRONG!
For the Dems you had: Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, David Duke, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Gary Hart, Patricia Schroder, Paul Simon and Jesse Jackson
Reps:Bob Dole, George Bush, Alexander Haig, Jack Kemp, Pat Robertson and Donald Rumsfeld…
(Please Let it be Rummy. Please let it be Rummy.)
Now that I’m off on the ’88 tangent…
It seems that Arkansas Gov Bill Clinton, in his first major national speech placed Dukakis’s name in for the nomination at the DNC. And that speech lasted soooo long that some delegates began to boo to get him to finish.
For the Repubs: It was George Bush and his “kinder, gentler nation” all the way. And reading his lips, “No New Taxes.” (Which oddly people remembered in 1992 and that didn’t work out so well for him).
So, 20 years ago the Dems ran a woman and a black man for Pres?
Seems like all the love dumped on Hillary for being so admirable for being a woman and getting that far…a little much, huh?
So my guess is cutie-patootie, bow-tie wearing (not-that-one) Paul Simon.
Is it the right Rev. Jesse Jackson? I’m pretty sure that guy’s Harrison’s great grandson.
No one campaigned during the election? What was that like?
How did you know who to vote for? I might like that idea.
Although since they ran against each other 4 years earlier it would be the same guys shouting the same things at each other.
You might be interested in Harrison’s illustrious family tree showing connection from Washington right through to Coolidge. Its at the posting “Jason and the Oligarchs” on my blog http://www.theoligarchkings.wordpress.com any comments happily entertained!