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HARRISON, 23rd, 1889-93
Benjamin Harrison's
handshake was like a wilted petunia.
In appearance he was
short — about 5 feet 7 inches — red-bearded, blue-eyed, and fair;
his stocky frame moved quickly. He was the last President to wear a beard while
in office.
One of Harrison's
ancestors, Thomas Harrison, was a member of the Parliament which tried King
Charles I and signed his death warrant. On the restoration of the monarchy, he
was beheaded and his descendants emigrated to the United States.
Grandson of our ninth
President, Harrison was a cautious, frigid, unimaginative little man. He had
the reputation of being distant and was known as "The Human Iceberg."
Illness and depression
caused his wife, Carrie, to imagine that Harrison was falling in love with her
niece, the widow Mary Lord Dimmick. After her death of tuberculosis, Harrison
married said niece. He was healthy and vigorous and enjoyed again the pleasures
of fatherhood.
Harrison is the first
President whose voice we have preserved. The recording was made on a phonograph
cylinder in 1889.
In April 1891, Harrison
became the first President to travel across the United States by train. He made
a trip of 10,000 miles to the Pacific Coast and back in thirty-one days, during
which he delivered 140 addresses. They were remarkable for felicity of
expression and showed his ability to make a large number of short speeches a
day, each having a distinct thought. In these qualities he was not surpassed by
any man of his time.
He had electricity
installed in the White House, but he and his wife reportedly would not touch
the light switches for fear of electrocution and would often go to sleep with
the lights on.
His death was quiet and
painless, there being a gradual sinking until the end came, which was marked by
a single gasp for breath as life departed from his body. Almost the last words
he uttered were addressed to his wife of whom he inquired, shortly before he
became unconscious, if the doctors were present.
d. March 13, 1901 (Indianapolis,
Indiana) at 61 of pneumonia.
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