Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, was elected in 1888 and served one term from 1889 to 1893. Harrison, a [Republican](https://doctorparadox.net/the-gop-is-3-cults-in-a-trenchcoat/), was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States. Before his presidency, Benjamin Harrison was an accomplished lawyer and had served as a U.S. Senator from Indiana. ## Election of 1888 The election of 1888 was a rematch between incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland and Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland, the 22nd President, was seeking re-election and had already garnered a reputation for fighting corruption and promoting civil service reform. Harrison, on the other hand, was a proponent of protectionist tariffs and the expansion of veterans' benefits. Harrison's campaign focused on the issues of protective tariffs, which were designed to protect American industries from foreign competition, and the expansion of pensions for [[Civil War]] veterans. The election was closely contested, with both candidates enjoying strong support. Cleveland actually won the popular vote by a narrow margin, but Harrison won the electoral vote, 233 to 168, largely due to strong support in the industrial states of the North and Midwest. ## Presidency (1889-1893) Harrison's presidency was marked by a focus on [economic](https://doctorparadox.net/category/economics/) and social policies. Some of the key accomplishments and events during his tenure include: 1. **Tariffs**: Harrison signed the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which significantly raised tariff rates on imported goods in an effort to protect American industries. However, this led to higher prices for consumers and contributed to economic unrest. 2. **Civil service reform**: Harrison continued to support civil service reform, signing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890), which aimed to curb the power of large corporations and monopolies. 3. **Veterans' benefits**: Harrison expanded benefits for [[Civil War]] veterans, resulting in an increased federal budget. 4. **Native American policy**: The Dawes Act (1887) was implemented during Harrison's presidency, which aimed to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream American society by dividing tribal lands into individual allotments. This policy was widely criticized for undermining tribal sovereignty and contributing to the loss of Native American culture. 5. **Foreign policy**: Harrison's administration pursued an expansionist policy, negotiating a treaty to annex Hawaii, although the treaty was not ratified by the [[Senate]] during his presidency. Despite his accomplishments, Harrison was not a popular president, and the Republican Party suffered significant losses in the 1890 midterm elections. The economic troubles resulting from the McKinley Tariff Act and the perception that Harrison was beholden to special interests contributed to his defeat in the 1892 election, when Grover Cleveland won back the presidency, becoming the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. The end of Harrison's presidency was marked by the Panic of 1893, an economic collapse that the Republicans intentionally handed into the Democrats' laps.