Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States, serving from 1889–1893. He was the grandson of the ninth President William Henry Harrison. He was born in 1833 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Harrison attended Miami University in Ohio and read law in Cincinnati. He moved to Indianapolis, where he practiced law and campaigned for the Republican Party. He married Caroline Lavinia Scott in 1853.
After the Civil War, Harrison was a Colonel of the 70th Volunteer Infantry. He became a pillar of Indianapolis business and society, enhancing his reputation as a brilliant lawyer. In the 1880's he served in the United States Senate, where he supported the causes of Native Americans, freed slaves and Civil War veterans. In particular, he campaigned for aid for the education of the children of slaves.
In the Presidential election, Harrison received 100,000 fewer popular votes than incumbent President Grover Cleveland. However, he carried the Electoral College 233 to 168 to return the Republicans to power. The biggest domestic problem Harrison faced was the tariff issue and the surplus of money in the Treasury. Democrats attacked his "Billion Dollar Congress" for wasting taxpayers’ money and hurting businesses.
Long before the end of the Harrison Administration, the Treasury surplus had evaporated, and the good times seemed about to disappear as well. Congressional elections in 1890 went against the Republicans, and party leaders decided to abandon President Harrison. He returned to legal practice. He represented Venezuela in a dispute with the United Kingdom. He died in 1901 aged 67.