Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland

• Harrison = 1889 - 1893, Republican served one term
• About Benjamin Harrison

  • supported reconstruction policies of the radical republicans
  • 1881 = elected to the US senate
  • defended the interests of homesteaders, native Americans, supported generous pensions for former soldiers, civil service reform and protective tariffs
  • McKinley tariff act 1890
  • the Sherman anti trust act 1890
  • billion dollar congress - spent a lot of money
  • pension Act 1890
• what did people think of Harrison?

  people felt he was entitled because of his legacy and he had no personality, argued that the pensions benefitted him because he was a veteran
• Cleveland = 1893 - 1897, Democrat (behaved like Republicans) 2 non-consecutive terms
• About Grover Cleveland

  • 1870-73 served as county sheriff, 8 years later nominated for mayor by Buffalo Democrats
  • as governor he used the veto frequently, even with public support
  • believed in self hepulp and laissez faire
  • ‘puppet of wall street’
  • didn’t think it was his responsibility to provide jobs and help the unemployed
  • forceful responses the the Pullman strike suggested he wasn’t a man of the people
  • unable to end the depression, weakening his Democratic Party
  • democrats moved right wing like Republican - working class had no representations
• Who was considered the biggest failure Harrison or Cleveland?

  Harrison was called ‘the human iceberg’ formal and rigid personality

  economy tanked as Harrison’s reign ended

  Harrison may not have been the best but he cared about the people however Cleveland was worst because he had no interest in helping the people with his laissez faire attitude
• Conclusion = Harrison caused the struggle for the country because he spent all the money that the country didn’t need so he failed economically. But Cleveland Cleveland failed socially by being left with the mess