PRESIDENTS DAY
Born: August 20, 1833 in North Bend, Ohio.
Education: Graduated from Miami University at Oxford, Ohio.
Occupation: Lawyer, politician. Fought in the Civil War as head of infantry regiment.
Religion: Presbyterian.
Family life: Married Caroline Scott in 1853; they had a son and a daughter. She died of tuberculosis at the White House in October 1892, and after services in the East Room was buried from her own church in Indianapolis. In 1896 he married his first wife's widowed niece and former secretary, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick; she survived him by nearly 47 years, dying in January 1948; they had a daughter.
Political career: Lawyer, prominent in local ppolitics, ran for governor in 1876; but was defeated. Became Senator from Indiana, 1881-87. Nominated by Republicans in 1888: defeated in 1892 election. In the Presidential election, Harrison received 100,000 fewer popular votes than Cleveland, but carried the Electoral College 233 to 168. Of Chief Executives, only Benjamin Harrison was the grandson of a President.
Highlights of his presidency: United States claimed Samoa. Aided in passage of Sherman Antitrust Act.
Appearance: Short and stocky, blue eyes, with a full beard.
Died: March 13, 1901 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Buried: Ben Harrison's gravesite is in Indianapolis, Indiana's Crown Hill Cemetery.
