Historic Figures
WITH THE NAME BENJAMIN
One of the most celebrated American figures of all time, Ben Franklin was a jack of all trades. He represented the essence of what it means to be an American. A printer. A publisher. A scientist. An inventor. A postmaster. A legislator. A diplomat. A social activist. A Founding Father. Even with only a 5th grade education, Ben Franklin pulled himself up by the bootstraps and became a celebrated, intelligent, wealthy and important figure even during his own time. The man embodies the American ideals. He led both an ambitious life and a virtuous one. Benjamin Franklin was also one of the earliest abolitionists and a protector of Native American rights. His life alone is one of the most profound statements on what all Americans strive to be.
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.
One of the most celebrated American figures, Benjamin Franklin was a jack of all trades. He is the essence of what it means to be an American. A printer. A publisher. A scientist. An inventor. A postmaster. A legislator. A diplomat. A social activist. A Founding Father. Even with only a 5th grade education, he pulled himself up by the bootstraps and became a celebrated, intelligent, wealthy and important figure even in his own time. The man embodies the American ideals. He led both an ambitious life and a virtuous one. Benjamin Franklin was also one of the earliest abolitionists and a protector of Native American rights. His life alone is the most profound statement of what an American strives to be.
Benjamin Disraeli served as the United Kingdom's Prime Minister during two separate terms in the latter half of the 1800's. Disraeli is best known for being England's first and only Jewish prime minister (although he was baptized in the Anglican Church when he was 12). This oft-quoted, colorful man was known as a brilliant debater. His terms as PM were marked by bringing India and the Suez Canal under control of the crown. In return, the Queen gave him the title of Earl of Beaconfield. Once, in a heated debate in parliament, an adversary referred to Disraeli's Jewish ancestry in disparaging terms to which Disraeli responded: "Yes, I am a Jew and when the ancestors of the right honourable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon."
St. Benjamin was a Christian Martyr who lived in Persia around the year 420 A.D. during a forty-year period when Christians were heavily persecuted and submitted to the cruelest tortures. Among those who suffered was St. Benjamin, a Deacon, who had been imprisoned a year for his Faith. At the end of this period, an ambassador of the Emperor of Constantinople obtained his release on the stipulation that he would never preach about religion. Of course, this did not stop Benjamin. He declared that it was his duty to preach Christ and that he could not be silent. He was again apprehended and sentenced to death in the most terrible agony. St. Benjamin’s feast day is March 31, and he is known as the patron saint of preachers.
Benjamin was the last born of Jacob’s children (Israel's twelve tribes), and the second and last born to Rachel (who died giving birth to him). He is known as a righteous youngster and the one brother who did not plot against Joseph. Benjamin's descendants formed the tribe of Benjamin, the Benjamites, which was the second smallest and the ones who received the smallest of the allotments of the Tribal Lands after entering the Promised Land. It is interesting to note that Saul, the first human king of the Israelites, was a Benjamite. Many years after the northern kingdom was conquered, Judah and Benjamin were conquered by the Babylonians, but they did return after the Babylonians fell to the Persians. It is said that Judah and Benjamin form the Jewish people of today.
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.
