Benjamin Harrison
The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, was home to the United States 23rd president Benjamin Harrison. Open to the public as an educational and historical service, we seek to promote patriotism and citizenship through appropriate educational activities, events, and by artfully exhibiting the Victorian time period as Harrison and his family might have experienced it.
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Benjamin Harrison
The President

Benjamin Harrison is the only United States president elected from the State of Indiana. Not only was he the 23rd president (serving from 1889-1893), but he was also the centennial president, inaugurated 100 years after George Washington.

Harrison put national strength first, yet arbitration and noninterference would be the policy. He proclaimed:

“We have a clear right to expect that no European government will seek to establish dependencies upon territory off…independent American States.”

Harrison was truly one of the first American presidents to succeed in foreign policy and matters beyond our shores. He increased the nation as a player in global trading and therefore dealt with the resulting tariff issues.

Relations with Central America were established during his presidency. The Pan-American Games is a lasting institution created from this alliance.

When Secretary of State, James G. Blaine became ill in 1890, Harrison played a larger role in directing foreign affairs. His knowledge of international law guided him in making policy. He was especially interested in improving relations with Central and South America. The first Pan American Congress, officially called the International American Conference, met in Washington on October 2, 1889. The conference recommended that reciprocal commercial treaties be entered into with the United States.

Our strength as a naval power and the build-up of all national armed forces can both be attributed to our 23rd president. Harrison was of the opinion that our army and navy should not be just a conscripted institution, but one that attracted competent, highly professional people who were interested in making the armed forces a career. Our role in global affairs expanded without a war or the sending of American troops to be stationed abroad.