In Politics, Does Size Still Matter

I'm talking about height, you all have filthy minds. ;)

An observation and a question. There have been just three US Presidents under 5' 7". James Madison, Martin Van Buren and Benjamin Harrison. The most recent, Harrison was elected 122 years ago. He was nominated on the final ballot just a few months before the election. He campaigned, as was the style, from his hometown and mostly from his front porch. His speeches were read, not heard. His photo was from the mid-riff up. His height was ridiculed by partisan trades, but had no real election impact. His notoriety came from; his possibility of carrying a Swing state (Indiana), being the grandson of William Henry Harrison, a one term US Senator, and a Brevetted Brig. General in the Civil War. Like George W. Bush in 2000, Harrison lost the popular vote, but won (without Supreme Court intervention) via the Electoral College.

In the 21 Century's 24/7 news machine, where every thing from his financial ties, his leadership style, his fondness for motorcycles, and his baldness will be critiqued, does Indiana Republican Governor, Mitch Daniels at just 5' 5" (and I'm being generous) have a valid shot at becoming President?

I'm not talking about any perceived media bias. Nor the Tea Party, or liberals vs conservatives, or Red vs Blue. Just the one thing that the MSM, FOX, TMZ, and your brother-in-law's blog have in common with all of us. Rightly or wrongly, consciously or subconsciously, we judge people on things like height. It's primal, evolutionary, lizard brain stuff, and yet we do it.

Is it still possible that someone of less than average height could be popularly elected president? I don't know. I'm asking. You folks weigh in. Tell me.

Related articles

• The Height of Unfairness (nytimes.com)

An Unconventional Daughter - Elizabeth Harrison Walker

With the distinction of being one of the few children born to an ex-president; Elizabeth Harrison Walker's life straddled the Gilded Age of her father, President Benjamin Harrison, and the Television Age.


Elizabeth Harrison was born in the spacious Indianapolis home of her father, four years after he had left office. A widower with two grown children, Harrison had married his first wife's niece, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick a year earlier. Elizabeth was the couple’s only child. She was just 4 and a half when her father passed away 1901.


Although Elizabeth knew her father for a short time, they enjoyed a close companionship. They spent many hours playing in the yard and famously taking long walks around the city. Mary and Elizabeth sailed for France with The General when he represented Venezuela in a border dispute with British Guiana. The ex-president declined generous offers of all-expense paid trips to Europe and Japan when his family could not accompany him. Family vacations were usually spent in the Adirondacks or along the New Jersey shore. It was noted in the book, All the President's Children*, that Elizabeth claimed she could recall several memories of her doting father, including one of her proudly bearing a small apple pie to his bedside the day he died (March 13, 1901). She remembered that he opened his eyes and smiled.


Elizabeth completed her sophomore year at Tudor Hall, Indianapolis, before moving east with her mother in 1913. After attending Westover School in Middlebury, CT, she accompanied her mother on a tour of Europe before entering New York University.


If Elizabeth’s marriage to James Blaine Walker (Jan 20, 1889 - Jan 15, 1978) - grandnephew of her father’s secretary of state and onetime Republican presidential nominee James G. Blaine - was conventional, much of the rest of her life was not. Inheriting her father's keen and logical mind, by the time of her 1921 wedding, she had received several academic degrees, including a law degree from New York University Law School, and was admitted to both the Indiana and New York state bars at the age of 22.


Elizabeth founded and was the editor and publisher of "Cues On the News", a monthly news service for women investors that was distributed by banks throughout the country. Earlier, she had been Secretary for the Commission for Economic Development and its only female member. Her economic expertise led to frequent and popular appearances on radio and later, television, where she spoke specifically on economic issues pertaining to women.


She died in their New York City apartment on Christmas day 1955 at the age of 58.


A Continuing Heritage:
The Walkers had two children, Benjamin Harrison Walker and Mary Jane Walker. The children first visited the Harrison Memorial Home when in Indianapolis for their grandmother's funeral in 1948. Their daughter, Dr. Jane Harrison Walker was educated at Westover School, Bryn Mawr, and Cornell. She became one of the most noted chest specialists in New York. She married Newell Garfield, great-grandson of President James A. Garfield. Their son, Benjamin Harrison Walker graduated from Princeton and the Harvard Law Schools. He served in WWII as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He later became chief Counsel for Equitable Life Assurance and married socialite Elizabeth Sillcocks. Mr. Walker had two sons, James Harrison Walker and Benjamin Harrison Walker II.** Dr. Walker is a medical doctor now living in Rhode Island.


James and Benjamin Walker are the great grandsons of President Benjamin Harrison; great great great grandsons of President William Henry Harrison and great great great great grandsons to Benjamin Harrison V who signed the Declaration of Independence. They are also the great great grandnephews of James G. Blaine.


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* Page 150
** In July, 2008, Dr. Walker II was asked to plant an Indiana Tulip Poplar tree on the shores of Glen Miller Lake in Glen Miller Park, Richmond, IN. It was commemorating the 113th Anniversary of his great-grandfather, then a former President, planting a white Ash tree there on August 6, 1895. The Tulip Poplar was planted near the Harrison Ash.


Become a fan of The President Harrison Home on Facebook Or follow his stories and anecdotes from 1900 on Twitter.

A New Ornament Commemorates President Benjamin Harrison and The First White House Christmas Tree

In 1981, the White House Historical Association began offering an annual ornament in honor of a United States President. The 2008 White House ornament has a Hoosier history.

The ornament is a tribute to the nation's 23rd president and the only president from Indiana, Benjamin Harrison. In 1889, for the first time in White House history, President Harrison and his wife Caroline put ornaments on an inside evergreen and placed gifts for the family and White House staff around it.

Ornament collector Jamia Jacobsen said she started collecting the White House ornaments in 1981 while she was in Washington D.C. She said her favorite may be the Benjamin Harrison ornament.

"And it's just so intricate and so special this year," said Jacobsen.

Benjamin Harrison Home President and CEO Phyllis Geeslin said an artist spent four days in the home earlier this year studying Harrison before settling on the tree design.

"We have always known here at the Harrison home how much Benjamin Harrison loved Christmas," said Geeslin.  The toys under the tree, including a train and a doll house, were given by President Harrison to three of his six grandchildren while they lived with him in the White House.

"And of course Benjamin and Caroline had a son and a daughter and both of their families, from time to time, lived in the White House,? said Geeslin. Each White House ornament comes beautifully displayed in a box that gives a detailed history of the ornament and its president. Leslie Olsen, WISH-TV

(Click here for the Video of the story)
Read more about the annual White House Ornament.

On a personal note: It was one of my favorite times of the year to help decorate the Harrison Home for Christmas and work with my friends and colleges there preparing exhibits and school programs teaching about a Harrison Christmas and that first White House Christmas tree.

I also LOVE Phyllis. She's a wonderful woman who has done more to promote the memory of President Benjamin Harrison and his home than any Director, President or CEO the Harrison Home has ever had. They are so very very fortunate to have had her loving and guiding hand there for these 15 years! Cheers!

The After-Life's Jumped on the Social Networking Bandwagon

The after-life has jumped on the social networking bandwagon as 23rd Pres. Benjamin Harrison is posting on the micro-blogging site Twitter. It's an interesting experiment in historiographic metafiction sidling up and wedging itself into the evolving and porous fabric of social networking.

Some tweets are interesting.

Some are kinda funny as he interacts with other dubious Twitterers.

The "associate" of Mr. Harrison claims they are not affiliated with the Pres. Benjamin Harrison Home in Indianapolis but knows Mr. Harrison VERY well. Knows his personality, voice and history. They say that the idea behind the Twitter presence is to inform people today of some of the parallels of history from 100 years ago.

Set in the year 1900, the last full year of Harrison's life. Mr. Harrison has one foot firmly planted in the 19th Century and those views often contrast when he interacts with contemporary figures who have one foot firmly planted in the awaiting 20th. Newspaper articles, fun facts, books, illustrations and just life observations by Harrison will be featured.

Interactivity, open-mindedness, a sense of humor and a suspension of disbelief is asked and probably needed. The idea is that in the year 1900, Mr. Harrison received a steampunk looking "contraption" on his door-step. In it were instructions of how to link it to his outlets and another note explaining how imperative to the future all of this is. He then begins corresponding with his associate in the 21st Century, then with his audience. As his comfort with it grows, his "tweets" will be a bit less formal. He has no idea why this is happening or what it is he is supposed to say to the future.

They hope to inform his audience of a somewhat forgotten American President and show some of the events that happened during his presidency. To interact in character AND with historical accuracy and to maintain respect for his memory as a President but to have a bit of fun too. They have plans to "live-tweet" with teachers and their classes. They ask anyone interested to DM @Pres_BHarrison for information.

So go on, have some fun and follow along @Pres_BHarrison on Twitter.

Mini Bio: Benjamin Harrison reached the rank of brigadier general during the Civil War, and served in the U.S. Senate for six years. As an odd tidbit of trivia, Harrison was the last bearded president we’ve had. Harrison’s presidency offers a dichotomy of success and failure. He made a number of foreign relations successes during his presidency, setting in motion the U.S.’s backing of the Panama Canal, the annexation of Hawaii, creation of the modern steel-hauled navy and setting up Samoa as a protectorate are among his foreign policy actions that did more in the late 19th century to push America toward its superpower status in the world. On the other hand, he was, at best, a mediocre domestic policy president, pushing forth a number of decisions that helped bring on, but didn't solely cause the depression of 1893, the worst in the nation’s history to that point. He was also seemingly completely unaware of the strife facing the poorest Americans. Though, on the other hand, he did focus great energy on resource conservation and the rights of African-Americans, much more so than other presidents of the era.

Victorian Theatre by Candlelight: A Play of Cold-Blooded Murder & Historic Firsts

THE PRESIDENT'S THEATRE PRESENTS:
VICTORIAN THEATRE by CANDLELIGHT: COLD-BLOODED AT COLD SPRING: THE THIRD TRIAL by James Trofatter

Location: President Benjamin Harrison Home Museum 1230 North Delaware Street,  Indianapolis, IN 46202 (317) 631-1888

Dates: Fridays and Saturdays, October 17, 18, 24, 25 and Sunday, Oct. 26

Fri. and Sat. Performance Times: 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm, 8:30pm

Sun. Matinee Performance Times: 3:30pm, 4:00pm, 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm (Note: Each time is the start of a progressive play that lasts approximately 45-60 minutes.)

Cost: $10.00 adults, $6.00 students (ages 6 to 17) 

Description: It's September 1868, and Jacob and Nancy Jane Young are joining Jacob's business associate for a picnic along the White River. The day was idyllic, like a dream. But the dream soon turned to nightmare. Instead of building memories, the Youngs became memories. When the identity of who masterminded their murder is revealed, scandal and shock sets in. Nancy Clem, a woman, is accused. The articulate and ambitious city attorney, Benjamin Harrison, was brought in to prosecute Clem, her brother and a third associate in what became a landmark case: the first woman tried for murder in the State of Indiana. Witness the dramatic trail testimonies and the events of that tragic day as they unfold within the rooms of the President Benjamin Harrison Home. Come judge the outcome for yourself!  More PBHH theatre information.

Benjamin Harrison's 175th Birthday: It's Free And Your Invited!

Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tour Times: 12:00pm to 6:00pm (last tour begins at 5:00pm)
Tour Costs: FREE
President Benjamin Harrison Home
1230 North Delaware Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: (317) 631-1888
Fax: (317) 632-5488
E-mail: harrison@presidentbenjaminharrison.org

Happy 175th Birthday, Mr. President! Celebrate with a FREE tour of his Victorian, brick Italianate-style home and complimentary birthday cake. Visitors with the last name of Harrison will receive a special keepsake.

Photo: President Benjamin Harrison Home