Description:

Harrison, (President) Benjamin

Bad Blood: Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley, Remarkable TLS dated 3 Months before Harrison's Death

 

1p TLS signed by former 23rd U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) as "Benj Harrison" at bottom. Written in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 18, 1900. On watermarked cream paper with "Benjamin Harrison, / 1214 North Delaware Street, / Indianapolis, Ind." letterhead. Expected paper folds including a few with minor closed tears, and overall light to moderate toning. Mounting traces verso. 7.875" x 10.375". Comes with a companion "Benjamin Harrison, / Indianapolis, Ind." envelope bearing a canceled 2 cent George Washington carmine stamp; envelope in fair to good condition.

 

Former President Harrison wrote this terse reply to L. (Lemuel) Clarke Davis (1835-1904), an editor of Philadelphia's most popular daily newspaper, the Public Ledger.

 

In part, with unchanged spelling and punctuation:

 

"I do not care to express myself publicly, and indeed have no time to do so privately, upon the subject of the ship subsidy bill. I had not intended to say anything upon the subject, but the chairman of our State Central Committee gave out an interview which seemed to make it necessary, at least, that I should say that there was a wide distinction between the mail pay bill passed during my administration and the present subsidy bill. I feel under a good deal of restraint in making any comments upon pending legislation. I spoke very briefly upon the Porto Rican business; but now that the election is over have felt free to speak at some length upon a questions that seems to me to be of tremendous consequence. The newspaper reports of what I have said have been very imperfect and confusing, but I have given the manuscript to the North American Review and the address will appear in full in the January number."

 

Former President Harrison had served one term in office between 1889-1893. Sitting President William McKinley had just been reelected to a second term one month previously, in November 1900. Although Harrison and McKinley were both Republicans, Civil War vets, and Midwesterners, the two disagreed with each other's policies and almost certainly disliked each other. An Atlanta journalist referred to this barely concealed feud as the "Harrison-McKinley quarrel" (December 26, 1900 issue of the Charlotte News; see attached copy of the news article.)

 

As we see from our letter, Harrison insisted that the mail pay bill dating from his administration differed from the ship subsidy bill then proposed by Ohio Senator--and McKinley's close political advisor--Mark Hanna. Both pieces of legislation treated the question of how private steamship companies would be compensated for carrying federal mail.

 

In addition to policy disagreements, Harrison and McKinley deepened the rift by personal actions. The Harrisons had recently declined McKinley's invitation to attend a White House state dinner around the same time that President McKinley had dismissed Harrison's son, Lieutenant Colonel Russell Benjamin Harrison (1854-1936), from the army. Prior to his dismissal, Harrison's son had served as Inspector General of Puerto Rico, which might shed some light on Harrison's cryptic comments about "the Porto Rican business." The media speculated that McKinley was angry that Harrison did not enthusiastically support the former's presidential campaign. Clearly all was not well within the Republican Party!

 

Hayes's correspondent L. Clarke Davis had given up practicing law to pursue journalism; he was eventually promoted to editor of the newspaper. The Public Ledger operated between 1836-1942, and was one of turn-of-the-century Philadelphia's leading newspapers.

 

Benjamin Harrison was the grandson of 9th U.S. President William Henry Harrison (1773-1841). The younger Harrison served during the Civil War, seeing action in Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, and eventually reaching the rank of brevet brigadier general of volunteers in the Union Army. After the war, Harrison became increasingly interested in state politics. He transitioned into the national political arena as a U.S. Senator in the 1880s. Harrison was the Republican presidential candidate in 1888, serving one term in between Democratic Grover S. Cleveland’s two terms. Harrison died of influenza on March 13, 1901, just three months after sending this letter.

 

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