| Book Review | Indiana Magazine of History, 102.1

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| Book Review | Indiana Magazine of History, 102.1 | The History Cooperative

Reviews

Benjamin Harrison

By Charles W. Calhoun

(New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2005. Notes, selected bibliography, index. $20.00.)

Benjamin Harrison has long suffered in the shadows of obscurity. Memorable to some as the grandson of a president, others might recall him as the person holding office between Grover Cleveland's non-consecutive terms. A victor in the electoral college but loser of the popular vote in 1888, his was a presidency that many Americans have decided to forget. Yet Harrison has found a sympathetic biographer in Charles Calhoun. The result is a careful portrait which is accessible in both substance and style to a wide array of audiences.

Calhoun's main argument is that Harrison pointed the way to the modern presidency, having "unwittingly taught his successors new uses of power and techniques of leadership" (p. 166). Although he was hampered by circumstance, and while he operated in an era known for weak presidencies, Harrison, like other Gilded Age politicians, was more interesting and effective than popular memory maintains.

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