We celebrated Benjamin Harrison's birthday a week early, on Thursday the 13th. I even started his blog that day too. But, I didn't post any of it until now. You'll see why later. But, I was totally excited about this one.
Benjamin Harrison is the only president who's grandfather was president. Though, his grandpa only made it a month into his presidency. We celebrated William Henry Harrison's birthday back in February, you can click on the link if you need a refresher. But, WHH's dad was Benjamin V (Little Ben's name sake!), but more importantly, Benjamin V was a signer! (of the Declaration of Independence of course).
One of William Henry Harrison's kids was John Harrison. John married Elizabeth, and they too had a bunch of kids. Their second oldest was little Ben. The Harrison's all lived on William Henry Harrison's farm in North Bend, Ohio (it's practically Indiana, it's so close to the boarder.)
When little Ben was just 7, his grandfather, Old Tippecanoe (and Tyler too!) became the 9th president of the United States. Ben made some appearances for his granddad, but he didn't attend the inauguration.
Good thing too, or he could have been a goner just like good old William Henry.
Although Ben's family was distinguished, his parents didn't have loads of money. They spent much of their farm life income on their children's education. Besides spending lots of time with tutors, and in a one room schoolhouse, little Ben's family spent a whole lot of time at the Presbyterian church.
When Ben was 15 he headed off to Farmer's College.
Ben was an honor roll student, but don't be fooled. He had a total rebellious side, and he was getting letters at college from his friends at the church back home. They wanted him to quit his two big vices: smoking (understandably), and eating cucumbers (for real). For some reason his parents had deemed the vegetable as forbidden. In case you're wondering, Ben the rebel, kept right on eating cucumbers.
After two years at Farmer's College, Ben transferred to Miami University (the one in Ohio), where he met a girl who didn't seem to mind his cucumber eating. Caroline was a painter and a musician, and the daughter of a minister. Oh, and not only was her dad a minister, but he was also president of the University.
But Ben didn't let any of that scare him off. He was smitten with Caroline, and spent evenings on the front porch of her boarding house, and took horse and buggy rides with her. Word around campus was Ben was a romantic. He even earned the nickname "the pious moonlight dude". Which, just sounds awesome.
After college, Ben went off to work at a law firm, while Caroline finished up school. The Harrison's were married when Caroline graduated, in her living room, with her father as minister.
Sadly, Ben's mother didn't live to see the wedding.
Ben and Caroline honeymooned in the booming metropolis of North Bend, Ohio, and lived at the Harrison farm, until Ben's aunt died and left him and Caroline $800. They used that money to move to Indianapolis.
Ben and Carolina ended the Harrison trend of 80 million kids, they only had two: a daughter, Mary and a son, Russel.
Life wasn't super easy in Indianapolis though, a fire destroyed their whole house.
But they kept on keeping on. Ben's father, John was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, which perked Ben's interest in politics.
And, like all the cool kids, he joined the Whig party...
...and then like all the cooler kids (ahem Abe Lincoln) left the Whig party...
Lincoln's now president, and you know, Civil War and all that...
Ben meets with the Governor of Indiana, and he's kind of scrambling. Lincoln issued a call for more recruits for the Union, and Ben saw the stress poor Dr. Defenshmirtz was under, and offered to help. (He hadn't previously enlisted because he was worried about supporting his family).
The Governor is all "hey, yea, totes.. can you help recruit a regiment?" Ben's on it, and they have a new regiment in no time.
The Governor then offered Ben command. But, Ben had no prior military experience. He said no a whole bunch of times, before finally agreeing.
As captain, Ben's super strict. He expected the best from himself, and everyone around him. He banned liquor from his brigade, in hopes of turning them into a lean, mean sobriety fighting machines. (His men were less than thrilled with the new rules, but they did earn their respect with his bravery and courage.)
Ben later admitted he did not enjoy the war. He actually told people "I prefer breakfast to war." Which, sure, if those are your choices. But Ben was a good commander. He was just as calculating on the battlefield as he was anywhere else, and just as uncompromising.
Ben came back from the war, and did what any commander would do. He went and taught Sunday school at the church.
But, Ben couldn't shake the political bug. He ran several times, but never found himself on the winning end.
President Hayes was now in office, and he noticed Ben even if the voters didn't.
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He assigned Ben to the Mississippi River Commission, which oh la la.
After than he finally wins an election..
...but the whole thing is short lived, and he's back in Indiana before long.
All that losing didn't deter Ben though, and when it was time for Grover Cleveland's re-election, Little Ben proclaimed "grandfather's hat fits!" and ran for president.
Ben ran his campaign from his front porch. Instead of traveling all around, people came to hear him talk in Indiana.
On election day, Ben did not win the popular vote. But, he won the electorial college. Which, as I've mentioned before has only happened FOUR times in history. Can you name them? My kids can!
Now, Ben believed God made him president. But really, there was talk about some investors in New York (who were not to happy with Grover Cleveland) bought the election for Ben. When they heard Ben talking about how God made him president, they replied with "Then let God re-elect him!"
God, investors, or the electoral college, Benjamin Harrison, at the age of 55, was sworn in as the 23rd president of the United States of America. To date he is the only president to be a former president's grandson. He also is considered the only president from Indiana, even though he wasn't born there.
As president, Ben was given a couple of nicknames. He was the Centennial president, because the country was celebrating 100 years since George Washington had been inaugurated. Less flattering, he was called the Human Iceberg, because he wasn't exactly warm and friendly to people. And even less flattering, people called him a Wilted Petunia for his cold, clammy, and weak handshake. (True story: His aids would shuffle him out of a room before anyone could shake his hand, because they knew how terrible it was.)
Ben's White House was a far cry from the Clinton White House, as you see here it's "Rated E for Everyone!" The Harrison's brought back morning prayer, and didn't work on Sundays.
Caroline and Ben weren't the only Harrison's taking part. Ben brought the whole family to live in the White House. Caroline's dad lived there, their kids, their kid's spouses, and their four grandchildren. (And don't forget the goat 'Old Whiskers'). The craziest party ever thrown at the White House while the Harrison's live there? It was a birthday party for their grandson 'Baby McKee'. We're talking 15 high chairs, goat drawn carriage rides, and bonbons, here folks.
The Harrison's also had the first White House Christmas tree.
Caroline wanted money from Congress to overhaul the Executive Mansion, or to even build a new house. But, Congress was like 'no, that won't be happening. But, have some money to update the bathrooms and install those new fangled electrical lights!'
Though, Ben once got a shock from a switch and refused to turn the lights on and off after that. The Harrison's would often sleep with the lights on because they didn't want to touch the switches. They'd just wait for the electrical guy to do it.
Beyond the White House, Ben had a country to run. But, he thought the president should only insert themselves in extreme circumstances, and leave most of the decisions up to Congress.
America grew more during Ben's presidency than any other (unless you count the Louisiana Purchase here, obviously, but I'm talking statehood not land mass.) During his presidency, the 'Great Land Rush' was held, basically telling people if they got their butts to Oklahoma to claim land, they could have it. This resulted in more than 50,000 people claiming 2 million acres in just a few hours. (And the Sooners were born!)
But, Ben also added SIX new states! More than anyone.
Democrats had been hesitant to add Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakota's because they thought they would vote Republican. So, of course Ben, the Republican, was all about granting them statehood.
North and South Dakota argued about who would get to become a state first, so Ben shuffled the papers in a pile and signed them without looking. Nobody knows which was ACTUALLY signed first. (Though North Dakota always gets to be listed first-- alphabetical order and all.)
South Dakota had bigger problems than when in line it became a state. In Wounded Knee Creek, American soldiers had surrounded 200 Sioux Indians, led by Sitting Bull. These Native Americans had abandoned their government assigned reservations so they could live according to their own customs. This group had predicted 'white people will vanish from the earth' and because of that, the U.S. soldiers viewed them as dangerous.
When a single warrior refused to give up his weapon, the American soldiers killed nearly every Sioux, including woman and children. The Wounded Knee Massacre is considered the last major conflict between the U.S. Army and Native Americans, and marked the end of traditional Native American life.
Don't let everything you've heard about Ben so far, make you think the guy was a pushover. He wasn't. He, unlike every president before AND after him, really wanted America to look like a worldly bully. He spent a whole boat load of money to strengthen the military (he had the first budget to exceed $1 billion when there wasn't a war going on).
He attacked and took prisoners some Canadians on a fishing boat because he thought they were fishing in American waters. When he saw Hawaii, he was all "I want that", and sent American troops to overthrow the current Hawaiian Queen in a coup.
And then two sailers got into a bar fight in Chile and died. It had NOTHING to do with the Chilean government, because it was just two guys drunk in a bar.
But, Ben demanded the Chilean government apologize and pay $75,000 in restitution anyway. Which Chile did, because they didn't want to be on Ben's bad side.
Overall, Ben's presidency was mostly uneventful. But, there are two more notable accomplishments. We have the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. You know, no Monopolies and all that.
And he fought super hard for Civil Rights legislation (even though that whole Wounded Knee thing didn't look too great). He failed with the legislation, but his efforts laid the groundwork for the future. Also worth noting, Ben appointed the first African-American high ranking role in government when he appointed Fredrick Douglass as minister to Haiti. (Yes, I have a Fredrick Douglass finger puppet, who doesn't?)
When re-election rolled around, the economy wasn't doing so well, and Grover was back for more. To make matters worse, Caroline got one of those you're-going-to-die-from-that-in-the-1800's-diseases and was bed ridden in the White House. Grover and Ben agreed not to campaign, trying to be sensitive to the dying First Lady.
Caroline died just two weeks before the election.
But not even the sympathy vote could help Ben. After one term, he was out, and Grover was back.
Ben went back to Indiana. He traveled and served on various boring boards of boring stuff. (The Republicans tried to get him to run for president four years later, but he supported William McKinley instead).
So, I know what you're thinking, Ben Harrison does not seem like the guy that would be splashed all over the tabloids (if they existed back then). But you guys, after Caroline was gone, Ben found a new wife. No biggy, right? Well, she's 25 years younger them him (the same age as his grown up kids!)
But wait! Thats not even the half of it. She was Caroline's secretary! But wait! It gets WORSE! SHE WAS ALSO CAROLINE'S NIECE! Needless to say, Ben's grown kids were pretty horrified, and it left quite a strain on their relationship. Wife #2 (who's name was Mary), and Ben had one daughter, a girl they named Elizabeth. But Ben was an old guy at this point, and when Elizabeth was 3, Ben died at his house in Indianapolis from pneumonia. He was 67 years old.
Ben was buried next to Caroline in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery. (Mary was buried there years later when she died, talk about awkward!)
Ben ranks in the high 20's/low 30's of presidents. He became slightly more popular in retirement, and the Anti-Sherman Act is still in effect today. Plus, his support for African American voting rights were the last significant attempts to protect Civil Rights until the 1930's. But, let's face it, he's one of those guys most people can't even remember learning anything about, he's largely forgettable.
Ben was born in Ohio, so he gets an Ohio map for all his props.
Fun facts...
And famous quote...
The boys got their owl mail..
We made our hashtag...
and watched the PBS president in 60 seconds.
As always, we made birthday cards.
He was mad I was telling him not to blink...
Here's our Ben Harrison rundown...
For dinner we had corn soup, Ben's favorite, and a Harrison recipe from the Presidential cookbook for sausage rolls.
And dessert was vanilla bean ice cream with berry compote. Caroline loved to serve that in the White House (oysters too, but that seemed less appetizing).
That was two weeks ago. But for his actual birthday on Thursday August 20th we were IN Indianapolis! When I determined we could match up a trip to Ben Harrison's "hometown" on his birthday with our Ohio trip, I was all over it.
Plus, as a bonus since it was his birthday, instead of the normal admission price to his house, there were free tours!
The outside of his house reminds me of the Hayes house.
It's Ben's birthday!
Listening to the Reginaphone. (Which I had no idea was a thing) But, this was Ben's and it still plays. Fun fact: Ben loved John Phillip Sousa!
There were pictures of William Henry Harrison, and even of Benjamin V.
This was given to our Centennial president to commemorator 100 years since Washington was inaugurated.
It's a walking stick, and carved into it was the presidents who came before Ben. It was VERY cool.
Ben's desk he had in the White House.
His inaugural bible.
This picture of Abraham Lincoln was above his casket during the whole funeral train thing.
There were William Henry Harrison touches everywhere.
The kitchen had an ice box and an old stove.
The dining room table was set with corn and oysters, Ben's favorites, which we totally knew.
They also had reenactors there playing Ben and Caroline. They were VERY impressed with the boys knowledge.
And what's a birthday without cake?
If you're ever in Indie, it's a fun stop if you're into that sort of thing.
A few miles away is Benjamin Harrison's grave, so it was a must stop for us. We wanted to check another one off our list.
That big stone behind the boys was put in a relatively short time ago.
Before that this was the very simple stone for our 23rd president.
He is buried between Mary and Caroline. (Caroline's grave is the one with flowers on it.
That's it for Ben. I had fully intended to post his blog on his actual birthday, even if I had to upload the pictures on mom's very slow internet. But, apparently the entire first two days of the trip, the cooler plug got unplugged, and water was dripping on my laptop the whole time. So, I haven't posted anything the whole time I was gone. (I'll get to the vacation blog soon). Luckily, Asa is my hero and saved my hard drive and put it in the other laptop. But, it was weird not to have anything while I was gone. It's nice to be home for sure, I've already unpacked, and all I have left to get to is the blog. We're also behind a birthday since LBJ's day was last week, but we'll celebrate that sometime this week. So stay tuned.
Next Up: Vacation week blog.
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