The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison

Description

Benjamin Harrison was an early proponent of American expansion in the Pacific, a key figure in such landmark legislation as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the McKinley Tariff, and one of the Gilded Age's most eloquent speakers. Yet he remains one of our most neglected and least understood presidents. In this first interpretive study of the Harrison administration, the authors illuminate our twenty-third president's character and policies and rescue him from the long shadow of his charismatic secretary of state, James G. Blaine.

An Ohio native and Indiana lawyer, Harrison opened the second century of the American presidency in a rapidly industrializing and expanding nation. His inaugural address reflected the nation's optimism: "The masses of our people are better fed, clothed, and housed than their fathers were. The facilities for popular education have been vastly enlarged and more generally diffused. The virtues of courage and patriotism have given proof of their continued presence and increasing power in the hearts and over the lives of our people."

But the burdens and realities of his office soon imposed themselves upon Harrison. The biggest blow came at midterm with the Republicans' devastating losses in the 1890 congressional elections. In an era of congressional dominance, those losses eroded Harrison's position as a legislative advocate—at least, for domestic issues.

His impact in foreign affairs was more lasting. One of the highlights of this study is its revealing look at Harrison's visionary foreign policy, especially toward the Pacific. Socolofsky and Spetter convincingly demonstrate that although Harrison's ambition to acquire the Hawaiian Islands was not realized during his presidency, his foreign policy was a major step toward American control of Hawaii and American expansion in the Far East.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  刘邦传

  By 李莉

  这戚姬年轻美貌,能弹会唱,能歌善舞,且又知书识字,所以一到栎阳,便美倾后宫,技压群芳。刘邦本就是个好色之人,得姬如此,怎不令他心悦,于是,渐渐冷落众美,专宠戚姬,不管走到哪里,常将戚姬带在身边。一日,御史大夫周昌有事要面奉刘邦,趋入殿内没找到皇帝, ...

• 

  刘秀传

  By 李莉

  班彪的回答,论述了周、汉废兴具体形势的不同;说明王莽专权,是成帝以后特殊情况所造成的;在这里阐释了反莽斗争中"咸称刘氏,不谋同辞"这种人心思汉现象的实质,即汉德复兴,势不可当。应该说,班彪的回答就像是对隗当头浇了一盆凉水。对于这个回答,隗嚣自然极 ...

• 

  光绪传

  By 董春燕

  于是光绪帝同翁同和等相商,决意采纳杨、徐的奏请,颁诏定国是,推行变法新政。但是,作为这样一件大事,在采取行动之前,光绪帝又要亲往颐和园向西太后请示。西太后毕竟是很有政治手段的清王朝"太上皇"。而且由于她"已许不禁皇上办事,未便即行钳制"。

• 

  The Quotable Jefferson

  By Thomas Jefferson

  "Succeeding admirably in condensing the best quotes from around twenty thousand letters, this book will awaken some readers to the wit and wisdom of Jefferson, and enable others to rediscover it.

• 

  Behind the Scenes. by Elizabeth Keckley. Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.

  By Elizabeth Keckley

  Behind the Scenes. by Elizabeth Keckley. Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.

• 

  The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: 1873

  By Ulysses Simpson Grant

  Inaugurated for a second term on March 4, 1873, Ulysses S. Grant gave an address that was both inspiring and curiously bitter.

• 

  The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: 1875

  By Ulysses Simpson Grant

  This is my ground, and I am sitting on it.” In May, Sioux leaders traveled to the capital, where Grant renewed efforts to persuade them to relocate to Indian Territory, “south of where you now live, where the climate is very much better ...

• 

  The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: January 1-October 31, 1876

  By Ulysses Simpson Grant

  After whites massacred black militia in South Carolina, Grant warned that unchecked persecution would lead to "bloody revolution." As violence spread, Grant struggled to position limited forces where they could do the most good.

• 

  The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 16, 1864-February 20, 1865

  By Ulysses Simpson Grant

  During the winter of 1864–65, the end of the Civil War neared as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant maintained pressure against the dying Confederacy.

• 

  The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: June 1, 1871-January 31, 1872

  By Ulysses Simpson Grant

  In his third annual message to the nation, Ulysses S. Grant stated the obvious: "The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as all true patriotic citizens would like to see.