Warren Watson
First Thoughts
Jan. 9. 2008

Harrison represented Hoosiers proudly

Over the holidays I treated myself to a civic Christmas present – my first visit to the President Benjamin Harrison Home on North Delaware Street in Indianapolis.  A stream of visitors taxed the handful of tour guides, hurrying to get a final glimpse of the ancestral home of the late 23rd president before the museum closed for an extended period of renovations.

Hoosiers must wait until mid-February -- Presidents Day -- to visit the Victorian shrine to Indiana’s only president. The home, built in 1874-75, regularly goes dark in early January. This year, however, the Arthur Jordan Foundation, which owns and maintains the museum, will extend that period so it can make various repairs.

The wait will be worth it. Visitors to the Harrison museum/home take a ride aboard a time machine to the more-tranquil times of President Harrison, the Ohio native who later became a Civil War general, successful Indianapolis lawyer and U.S. senator, before becoming a Republican president in 1889.

That time machine also shows that this Benjamin was more distinguishable than many schoolchildren think when they consider the 19th century march of past presidents such as Grover Cleveland, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and Rutherford Hayes, presidents with old-fashioned first names and often-forgettable records.  Harrison was product of a prominent political family that transcends today’s Bushes and Kennedys in clout and influence. Harrison (1833-1901) was the grandson of the nation’s ninth president (William Henry) and great grandson of one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence (Benjamin Harrison the Fifth). Harrison’s father, John Scott, also served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Harrison’s legacy is more lasting than many think.  He laid much of groundwork for the 20th century presidency. He proposed legislation that would safeguard voting rights for newly emancipated slaves, opened Ellis Island to immigrants, and set aside 13 million acres of land for preservation, among other initiatives.

Harrison succeeded AND was followed by Democrat Grover Cleveland in the White House.  In 1888, he rarely campaigned. Instead, more than 300,000 people came to his 1230 North Delaware St. home to hear one of his 80 front-porch, stump speeches. Four years later, Harrison and Cleveland chose to not campaign all at one point because Harrison’s wife became seriously ill.

Imagine that, presidential campaigns without campaign trips.