Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-05-27
FiUe Minutes A Day
With Our Presidents
-- @n-
The second Harrison
BY JAMES MORGAN

Benjamin Harrison's administra-
ton proved to be only an intermis-
sion between the two acts of the
Cleveland drama. History gives but
a passing glance at the one president
whose predecessor became his sue
cessor, who had to give up the presi-
Dental chair to the man he took it
from.
Although Harrison had more
brains than Cleveland. Cleveland had
Il larger nature. n that is what
counts most In the leadership of men.
Even the author Of Ben IIur," Gem
eral Lew Wallace, who was his cam
palgn ~biographer. could not make a
romance of the life OF this Ben.
Notwithstanding Benjamin Harri-
son was he grandson of a president.
in whose house he was born. his
father vas poor and the boy was
brought up plainly. His opponents.
when he was q candidate for COVER
nor of Indiana in 1876, nicknamed
him "Kid-Glove Harrison" in con
trast with their own candidate,
"Blue-Jeans Williams" and in his
campaign for the presidency he vas
caricatured as a little man almost
lost to sight under 'grandfather's
hat" But there was nothing of the
social aristocrat about the man who
had the longest ancestral line of any
OF our presidents.
Graduating from a small Ohio COL
lege. Harrison married at twenty the
girl to whom he engaged himself at
eighteen. and they went to house
keeping in a little three-room cottage
in Indianapolis. He was not admitted
to h bar until after his marriage,
and the first money he ever made
was as a court crier at $3.50 a day.
Later on he helped out his can prac-
tice with his salary as clerk OF the
Supreme Court OF the state. Then
came the Civil War, in which he
served ~gallantly as u colonel and
marched with Sherman to the sea.
Afterward he rose to a high and
prosperous rank In the practice OF
law.
AS in a dozen other instances. the
presidency overlook and surprised
Harrison when he was going away
from It rather than toward 1t. IT'S
strange how often this highest prize
has fallen to men who a been dis
appointed In their races for lesser
prizes.
The only political office Harrison
ever held before his election to the
presidency was a seat in the enate.
Defeated for reelection to hat body
In the year before he was elected
president. he left Washington with no
thought that he would soon return as
y CSluGil-Clt1A III III nanny uC-
scribed himself as "a dead duck"
The only candidate that the rank
and file OF Republicans wanted to
nominate in 1888 was Blaine. But he
was not we'll. and he refused to make
a contest for the nomination. AT last
he cabled from Scotland. Take Har-
And the convention indiffer- !
entity took him.
Harrison was rather the best pub |
lie speaker we have had in the pres
i6ency. with the exception of Lin |
coin. His finished little speeches,
which he daily delivered to the
that were railroaded into In
d~ianapolis by the party managers.
were most helpful to his candidacy. |
Money waxed still more eloquent in
that campaign. Cleveland's tariff |
message vas answered by a record
breaking fund for the Republicans.
Fry the fat out of the protected In
dustries' was the command of the
chairman of the Republican national
vania. n those industries were done
TO a turn.
The more notable events of the
Harrison administration-the Me-
tariff act: the silver act, which
than doubled the purchase of
that metal by the treasury; the Sher-
man law on the subject of trusts: the
Pension act. and the first
Pan-Amerlcan congress-hardly be-
long in this little story. because none
Of them originated with the Presi-
himself. He did not rise TO
leadership, and congress took tho
All the while he sat in the
White House In cold aloofness.
A lone little figure throughout his
life. the >presidency isolated him still
completely from his fellows.
Now. I walk with God" his closest
conhdant was chilled to hear
him say election night. Without Of
Iering a chair to his callers at the
House. he sat tapping his desk.
impatient for them 10 go. Don't
feel insuited by anything he may do
,r say" = friendly apologIst warned !