then you've seen khan a very here doing sound and we have his colleagues and dan up in the crows nest with all of the the work goes into this always led mike and our comms team led by howard so let's have a round of applause them so. russell and i if you will let us exit, we'll go out and be prepared, sign your books. and i'll also ask spencer bakaj if he will join us. spencer, as we said, worked with us and gates on the most recent oral history. spencer is a full professor at the virginia military institute, specialized in defense policy, national security. he's head of their national security institute there and center. and so if you have questions for him about, 911 and the wars in afghanistan and iraq he's your he's your man. so thank you all. and we hope to speak to you after our session today. thanks

we're here in indianapolis at the home of benjamin harrison. and this is a very iconic spot. this is where he stood and greeted crowds of people that would come to hear him speak in 1888, when he was running for the presidency. he ran a unique campaign. he ran a front porch campaign. however, he didn't quite have the same front porch that you see behind us here today. so there was a little stoop at the front door, which is still there. and he stood in that area and spoke to the crowds of people that would come to hear him speak. well, harrison is probably one of the most underdone of

presidents. so 23rd president of the united states. he falls right in the middle of grover cleveland's two terms as 22nd and 24th president. oftentimes, people will find him confused with his grandfather, william henry harrison, who survived a month into his term of office. benjamin benjamin harrison was only seven years old when his grandfather died. benjamin harrison served a full four years and as president, he has a really phenomenal legacy that is little understood, but we think there's great opportunity to to share that story more deeply and to investigate what it means for the modern presidency. and we are very lucky that our collection contains a lot of items that actually belong to the harrison's. we have over 10,000 items in our collection. so the family was very good at saving those items, and we have things back through the generations. we have things that belong to our associate with benjamin

harrison, the fifth and the fourth, and william henry harrison. and they're all things actually, that benjamin harrison was given to keep and treasure for his family through the years. so we're very lucky to have that very large collection. so the harrison's are immigrants from u.k. and the early 1600s, and almost from the start when the harrison's came to the united states and settled in virginia, they were involved civically. and so there were harrison's that served in public office from the early 1600s through the 1970s. so for benjamin harrison, his great grandfather was benjamin harrison, the fifth, who is a signer of the declaration of independence. his grandfather was william henry harrison, ninth president of the united states. and his own father, john scott harrison, served in congress, represented ohio. so benjamin harrison came from a family that understood the greater value of serving in public life. benjamin harrison grew up right on the border between ohio and

indiana. he actually studied at miami university in oxford, ohio, and studied law in cincinnati. as he was finishing his law studies, he and his bride to be, caroline harrison, were trying to decide where they wanted to make their lives. and so they considered staying in cincinnati. they thought about indianapolis. they thought about chicago and decided the prospects for best in indianapolis. caroline harrison, his wife, as she joined him. and they had two young children, had really just started to find some measure of success at the outbreak of the civil war. and so for harrison, he had a really difficult decision to make as rising lawyer and a supreme court reporter, whether he would hire a substitute or whether he just would wait and see what happened. but he was called in to governor morton, the oliver morton, the famous indiana war governor office, and was talking about

lincoln's call for 300,000 new troops and harrison heard this full story from governor morton and thought about it and said, well, if i'm needed, i will go. and morton said, no, i'm not. i'm not asking you to serve. i just need help raising additional troops. and harrison made it clear that if he were to ask others to to serve, that he himself would serve. and so harrison went on to lead the 17th indiana and had started off as a second lieutenant. and by the end of the war had risen to brigadier general, and he was bracketed by lincoln just a few weeks before lincoln's assassination. we are now in the library. this probably was a room that benjamin harrison spent a lot of time in, actually. so when he wasn't at his law office, this might be somewhere where he would come in the evenings to read or maybe look at his log cases and different things. we know that he's sat here in the bay window and a hot august day actually wrote a letter to.

what was would be his second wife, mary. lord. and it said that the sweat was rolling down his chin. it was so hot in august. so we know that he spent a lot of time here in this room. we have a lot of items that relate to him. we have his civil war commission out here in the case. so, benjamin harrison, again, a second lieutenant when he entered the war by the end of the civil war, was a coveted brigadier general and almost signed by abraham lincoln. just not too long before lincoln was assassinated. so this is his civil war commission for that promotion. and his time in service in the j.r. later, the grand army of the republic were very important to him. pensions, of course, again, were very important during his presidency. the civil war pensions and benjamin harrison once said that, you know, the title he preferred the title of general to president because he had risked so much more to earn that title, so very important time and very influential on his life during that civil war time period. and then over here on the desk, we have some other items that

were given to him. so we have a cane here that was a centennial item. benjamin harrison was president 100 years after george washington. so a artist made this cane for him, kind of a folk art piece. so it has benjamin harrison at the bottom and george washington at the top and all the presidents in between. they're kind of on both sides. and then we have his cigar box. he did smoke cigars on occasion. one that says the president. that was a gift to him. and the statue over here is charles reagan, who was a sailor, united states sailor. and again, harrison was all for expanding the navy during his presidency. but reagan, unfortunately, was killed in chile. there was a little incident on shore leave, but then a nice paper at the time in new york collected dimes to make a statue of him. and harrison is credited with kind of smoothing things out diplomatically. and we did not go to war with chile during that time over this

incident. and this bookcase, we know, has been here in the house probably from about the time the home was built. it was built by a german cabinetmaker. who mr. harrison had won a case for, and it has stayed here ever since. doesn't get moved very often. we actually found some original pieces of wallpaper behind the bookcase in later years when we were doing some work. so have that again. the sample for this room to make it as authentic as possible. so i think that harrison came to greater renown in part because of his tremendous speaking skills. he had a way of articulating some of these greater ideas or ideals of being an american. he certainly was called upon even during the civil war, to speak to troops during lincoln's reelection campaign, to be able to, you know, call people to action to their civic duty. and i think, as he continued to build his career through the 1860s and 1870s, there is a high demand for harrison to come and

speak in support of candidates. because of that, he just had this tremendous gift of articulation and we actually have moved into the back parlor now, but we're standing between the back parlor and the front parlor. you have these wonderful pocket doors that actually could close between the rooms that are original to the house. and this is actually the spot where harrison was standing when he accepted the nomination to run for the presidency in 1888. so during the convention, the republican convention in 1888, it was actually held in chicago. benjamin harrison himself actually stayed here in indianapolis. but his son, russell and other friends and family went to chicago. so he actually was receiving infoation from them. and then the nomination committee learned early on, you know, that after theha nominated him in chicago, they had a march here to the house and notified harrison. so he was again standing right here in this spot between the parlor doors when he accepted that notification.

so benjamin harrison ran against grover cleveland in 1888 and had decided that he would give a front porch campaign for harrison. he truly based his entire campaign here in indianapolis. and so with the increase connecvi of trains,eoe were able to move about. they were also excited to move about. and wt you're able to see were these enormous crowds of people kind of swelling into indianapolis. and so he gave more than 80 speeches to over 300,000 people starting from the front porch of his home here in indianapolis, which, of course, you can still see today. but to be able to give these speeches and to give them to groups one on one just was a tremendous boon to him. and i think it helped him better control that narrative. and so he would have someone transcribe the speeches that he was giving as he gave them, and then they could wire them out nationally to ensure that they were recorded appropriately. the result of the 1888 campaign

was that benjamin harrison won the electoral college, but he lost the popular vote and it was a fairly narrow margin. and it's interesting, as you look at that 1888 campaign, in 1892 campaign, how much voter suppression may have come into play. historian charles calhoun references this and a number of his books and articles about the suppression of the african-american vote and certainly at that time, the majority of that vote would have gone to benjamin harrison into the republican party. so for harrison, it clearly would have played into and to his thoughts with that campaign, an awareness of how important it was to protect african-american voting rights, not just because of the calculation of, you know, the larger percentage of that vote perhaps coming to his party, but certainly, you know, going back into the 1850s,

harrison was firmly and outspokenly in favor of african-americans rights. he was fiercely anti-slavery, even pre-civil war. he was outspoken and many public speeches about the need to protect african-american voting rights as equal citizens. during his campaign, he actually spoke to 300 men who called themselves the harrison club that came to harrison's front door to congratulate him on receiving the nomination for the presidency. he and harrison just gave a deeply moving speech to them and talking about his own experiences as a child encountering a fugitive slave in ohio. but but thinking about this for harrison, he did everything within his power, both as a candidate and then as president, to try to protect african african-american voting rights. caroline harrison, as a fascinating story of her own. so she and benjamin harrison

actually met during college, so caroline harrison was college educated and so her father was a professor. and for the harrison's education was always deeply important to them, and especially with their own children. so for caroline harrison, she studied language, she studied music, she studied art. and i think that really carried through in her priorities. so the harrison's, as they were building their home here in indianapolis, i think were very tasteful in doing so. and the way that it was decorated. certainly, caroline harrison had a flourish for art or had a flair for art. and we know that she loved water painting or watercolor painting. she loved china painting. we have one oil painting by her. and it's just really remarkable to see her work, especially with the china painting that she's done. she's probably best known as first lady for having protected the white house china

collection. so she actually went through the white house when they came to washington at a time when the white house was in total disrepair. she drove forward plans to significa fully restore and build upon the whiteou, expand it. and while she was not able to get those plans approved by congssshe did get funds from congress to be able to remediate the great dilapidation that the white house would have seen at that time. we are now in the dining room on the first floor of the home and the dining room. we have a lot of special china in particular that belonged to the family. so on the top shelf of the china cabinet here, we have some of the harrison's white house, china. so she actually wrote a letter to the daughter, mary harrison, mickey, saying that she wanted the harrison white house, china to have an eagle in the center that was similar to the lincoln china and actually the purple and white pieces here on the second shelf are some of the

lincoln white house, china and the eagles are very similar. and then she wanted 44 stars around the outside edge of the room for the 44 states that were in the union during harrison's presidency. six of those actually coming in during his term to the harrison white house, china, some lincoln, and then on the middle shelf, we have some of caroline harrison's hand-painted china. so again, she did quite a bit of china painting. that was her favorite. she said that she never knew there was a element of chance when you fire a piece on how things are going to turn out. and if you look at her china painting, she is not just a hobby. she is very devoted to her. china painting and does some exhibitions and shows. but it's very delicate. she she outlines things with a very thin line of gold, which is very difficult to do. i think that it's really compelling when you look at benjamin harrison legacy and how under known it is. i think many of his accomplishments were foundational and the credit has gone to subsequent administrations. and harrison has a fantastic

quote to that effect about those who wish they're out there did still live a century. can't seek that kind of recognition. so for harrison with so much of what he did as been foundational work calling for and signing the force reserve act, he understood the longer term implications of being able to protect our natural resource as nationally and not letting them go to ruin. also, his advocacy in his inaugural address and throughout his administration and for african-american voting rights came within a couple votes of what would have bn very significant civil rights legislation really unmatched until the 1960s. it's also interesting to see harrison's investment in the country's infrastructure. so being very mindful of the need for a tuition, maybe for national defense. and so commissioned the first us battleship beebe won the uss indiana. he also was very cognizant of the need of the country to honor

its promises to veterans and so calling for and signing the pension act, i think was one of his proud achievements. he was also able to break the logjam nationally on admission of states. so six states were admitted to the union during his administration. there was a lot of national debate about the surplus. and when the budget was passed through congress, somebody complained about it being $1,000,000,000 budget. and the retort was, this is $1,000,000,000 country. and it was the first time that the budget had it crossed that billion dollar threshold. but harrison's saw that it was wise to be able to make investments back into the country. and i think that he appreciated the need for the country to do so. but was greatly stymied in that election of 1890 when the south ew fearful of the legislative changes that harrison was making, and especially of being able to protect african american voting

rights. and so it created a backlash against harrison that carried through, i think, to that 1892 election. and again with charles calhoun has written at some length about this, how much that voter suppression and the election of 1892 likely suppressed the african-american vote in the south. but it certainly didn't help with caroline harrison, the first lady's increasing illness and it became apparent that she was on her deathbed. and so fighting tubercular sows. so she actually died in october of 1892. so harrison, of course, was consumed with that loss, had already committed that he was not going to campaign for himself for reelection. grover cleveland, out of respect for harrison, also declined to campaign. and so i think it was very somber election of 1892. and so harrison returned to washington and to the results of that 1892 electionholy after

caroline harrison's funeral in indianapolis. so post presidency, benjamin rron first of all, upon learning news of his defeat, said that he felt like a man released from prison. so while he appreciated the significance contributions that he could make to to the country, i think he also appreciated that he had more to give in life beyond serving in office and i think he was relieved after the loss of his wife, caroline, to be able to return to indianapolis, to have time to think and reflect on what what those next steps in his life would be. actually remarried in the mid 1890s and had one of the few presidential children. so a child born post-presidency. and so it's interesting because he ended up with a 19th century family and a 20th century family in tha respect because he had two grown children and then at the time of his death, he had a four year old elizabeth.

we are now in the president and mrs. harrison's bedroom room. so here on the second floor of the home. so here in the bed, in the president's bedroom, we have furniture that, again, actually belonged to him. so the bed, the dresser, several the items in here actually belong to the harrison family. another interesting piece that we have here in president harrison's bedroom is his whitney home gymnasium. and it was made in new york and actually belonged to the harrison's before they went to the white house. he actually took it to the white house with him. so it is his own little exercise equipment, his home gymnasium. it has wooden dumbbells, wooden what they called indian clubs that he would do arm exercises with and then a pulley system that has metal dumbbells at the bottom of it. and we don't know how often benjamin harrison actually used this, but again, it does show up in a white house photograph, as you know, here in the home before and after his presidency. and after his presidency. we know that the young daughter, elizabeth harrison, recalled that she was playing with it one

day. and you would have to attach it to the wall to use the pulley system. and apparently he did not have it attached to the wall while she was playing with it. she pulled it over on herself. so benjamin harrison died here in indianapolis, actually in this house that he and his wife caroline had built in 1874. he died in 1901 in his bed. and it was actually a sudden illness and passed away fairly quickly before his adult children were able to arrive and be at his bedside. soe's buried in crown hill cemetery here in indianapolis. it's a a appropriate tomb for harrison. and i init speaks to harrison's modesty, both as a leader and as a president. the great sense that you have as you walk through this space is how understated it is. it's it's an extremely well-built house. but you can see just what phenomenal care has been taken

of the structure since. harrison's departure in 1901. but i think you get a real sense of character and personal city of the harrison's themselves, just moving through the space that it's not ostentatious. it's that if anything, it speaks deeply of quality and i think that that that's harrison's character through and through understated but of quality.

all right. so now tonight's main event and i'm delighted to start our civil war weekend off with garry