The grandson of President William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison was born Aug. 20, 1833, in North Bend, Ohio. The 23rd President of the United States graduated Miami University (Ohio) before opening a law office in Indianapolis in 1854. Respect from leading the 70th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War and later serving as a Brigadier General with the Union Army resulted in Harrison's election to the U.S. Senate in 1880.
Although he lost the popular vote, Harrison was elected President by the Electoral College in 1888. A steadfast Republican, Harrison's one-term administration was marked by a reputation for piety and executive activism. He supported tariffs on imported goods and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the first Federal statute to limit monopolies.
Following an unsuccessful re-election bid, Harrison returned to practice law in Indianapolis, where he continued to speak out against American territorial expansion. An advocate for freedom around the globe and a staunch foe of the Spanish-American War, Harrison declared "The United States has no commission from God to police the world."
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