Monday the 19th was President’s Day, or at least it was in Indiana. There are some states who don’t celebrate the Lincoln part of it. A few states don’t celebrate it at all, and several more only celebrate Washington’s birthday. As you might guess, the states that exclude Lincoln are in the South, the old Confederacy. Of course it’s a Federal holiday so the U.S. government employees get the day off no matter what.
When I was a kid, there was no President’s Day as such. We made note of Lincoln’s Birthday on February the 12th and Washington’s Birthday on February 22nd. The official President’s Day government holiday was not enacted until 1968 as the 3rd Monday in February. There are many who see the day as a holiday to honor all the presidents who have served.
Although Indiana is the “true” mother of vice presidents (we have given the nation six), we can also claim a president, Benjamin Harrison. Benny was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th elected president. William Henry had served as the governor general of the Indiana Territory. Billy Hank holds the record for the shortest term of office, at a month and a half. “Old Tippecanoe” gave the longest inaugural address in history, clocking in at an hour and a half. This was during an ice storm. He was dressed in his street clothes with no coat, hat, scarf or anything. Within a week he had contracted pneumonia and eventually died of a lung infection.
Benjamin was actually born in Ohio in 1833. He went to school and eventually got a law degree. He became involved in the Whig Party as his grandfather had done. When it evolved into the Republican Party he went along with it. Harrison was appointed the Indianapolis City Attorney in 1857. When the Civil War broke out he joined the Union cause. He earned the rank of Brigadier General. After the war he came home and successfully ran for the U.S. Senate from Indiana. In 1888 he was elected President of the United States by winning the Electoral College, although not the popular vote. He served one term. Only two things of any importance occurred during his tenure of office. First, he signed the bill authorizing the first billion dollar federal budget. And second the White House was wired for electric lighting. The Harrison family was terrified of getting shocked so servants had to turn the light switches on and off. Harrison was defeated by his old foe Grover Cleveland in the 1892 election. He returned to Indiana and stayed active in state Republican politics until his death in 1901. Harrison is usually counted as one of the weaker, more ineffective, chief executives in American history, but a true Hoosier.
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