2021/01/02 by Mark Zachary Taylor · 2 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Business, Management and Accounting · #Monetary Policy and Economic Impact #Historical Economic and Social Studies #American History and Culture
paper · doi:10.1080/08913811.2020.1881354
openalex publication_date 2021/01/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The little-studied presidency of Benjamin Harrison offers valuable insights into the surprising role that political ideas can play in government. Harrison was a highly qualified president who demonstrated energetic leadership and political skill, but whose ideological commitment to the Republican party as a quasi-sacred enterprise overrode other important considerations, thereby contributing to one of the greatest economic catastrophes in U.S. history: the Depression of 1893-1897. His ideas about the Republican party were forged in its early years, when it led the political battle against slavery; but when Harrison became president, the party’s interests in trade protectionism, veterans’ pensions, and silver drove him to support policies that eventually sent the economy into a tailspin from which it took years to recover.