User:Orser67/Harrison
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The presidency of Benjamin Harrison began on March 4, 1889, when Benjamin Harrison was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1893. Harrison, a Republican, took office as the 23rd United States president after defeating Democratic incumbent President Grover Cleveland in the 1888 election. Four years later he was defeated for re-election by Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election. Harrison is the only president to be preceded and succeeded by the same individual. Harrison is also the only president to be the grandson of another president.
Harrison and the Republican-controlled 51st Congress enacted the most ambitious domestic agenda of the late-nineteenth century. Hallmarks of his administration include the McKinley Tariff, which imposed historic protective trade rates, and the Sherman Antitrust Act, which empowered the federal government to investigate and prosecute trusts. Due in large part to surplus revenues from the tariffs, federal spending reached one billion dollars for the first time during his term. Harrison facilitated the creation of the National Forests through an amendment to the Land Revision Act of 1891, and substantially strengthened and modernized the Navy. He proposed, in vain, federal education funding as well as voting rights enforcement for African Americans during his administration. In foreign policy, Harrison sought tariff reciprocity in Latin America and increased U.S. influence across the Pacific. Harrison's presidency saw the addition of six new states, more than any other president.
Although many have praised Harrison's commitment to African Americans' voting rights, scholars and historians generally regard his administration as below-average, and rank him in the bottom half among U.S. presidents. Historians, however, have not questioned Harrison's commitment to personal and official integrity. With his ambitious domestic policy and assertive foreign policy, Harrison set a precedent for the more powerful presidencies of the 20th century.