Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States. A Republican, he served between 1889 and 1893. He won the presidency through the electoral vote (Grover Cleveland had won the popular vote). Known as the “money president,” Harrison is most remembered for enacting the McKinley Tariff which intended to protect the American worker and corporations by levying a high tax on foreign imports. This backfired, as consumer goods skyrocketed when foreign countries refused to export goods to the U.S. and American companies formed monopolies. The voters rebelled, and Harrison was a one-term president. A Civil War veteran himself, Harrison also instituted a Pension for vets that nearly bankrupted the country. Harrison was also the grandson of the 9th U.S. President, William Henry Harrison. While not considered one of the more distinguished Presidents, historians are taking a second look. Particularly at Benjamin Harrison’s foreign policies and his fearlessness and activism in international affairs that ultimately would inspire Theodore Roosevelt.
