this is benjamin harrison's favorite room. it's his library. and how interesting that in his place to be, we have caroline harrison's beautiful little desk. i think that in this room, probably benjamin drew a great deal of strength and comfort from having caroline close by. and maybe she didn't talk to him about what paper he was writing or what bill he was working on but just looking up from his desk and seeing his carrie was an encouragement to him. he knew that she was there if he needed her, he knew that she loved him and i think that caroline was the kind of wife that empowered her husband. susan: so, we learned that she was very much instrumental in hosting these events that would bring the crowds and campaigned for public office essentially by staying home. ms. mayo: ms. mayo: there were two new ways of -- two different campaign techniques that came in at the end of the 19th century. the front porch campaign was one and the whistle stop was the other and they were sort of that opposite ends of the spectrum. the whistle stop, you know, you

and so benjamin harrison ends up being this compromise candidate. he was a little bit of a cold fish, and the political cartoonists had their kind of way with him. they would always depict him in this huge overcoat and this old-fashioned hat to suggest that he's wearing his grandfather's clothes. and obviously, his grandfather was william henry harrison, the former president, and that he's just sort of riding that kind of connection into the white house. but the important thing about the election, in terms of the -- of our understanding of it. there are really two things. the first thing is that it really is the first of the big money elections. this makes campaign finance history. the republicans put $3 million into this race. and they forget about the popular vote. they really want to focus on the electoral vote. they want to focus on strategically applying this money to win new york, to win indiana, and $3 million is an enormous amount of money, more than has ever gone into any kind of election up to that point. and then there's -- and then the i

benjamin harrison ends up being this compromised candidate.e was a cold fish the political cartoonists having their way with him. they depicted him in this huge overcoat and old-fashioned hat to suggest he is wearing his grandfather's clothes. his grandfather was william harry harrison, a former president. he is the sort of person riding that connection into white house. but the important thing about the election in terms of the understanding of it, two things. it is the first of the big-money elections. this makes campaign finance history. the republicans put $3 million into the race and they forget about the popular vote. they want to focus on winning new york and indiana. $3 million is enormous. more than what has gone into an election up to that point. then there is the issue about what are you going to do about grover cleveland's greatest card. a republican once said of the time it is one thing to go after grover cleveland. it is another thing to go after both. what they do is, we are back into this bareknuckle time of politics in which t

conversation where eldridge jerry of massachusetts is stepping forward and the virginia delegate benjamin harrison is stepping forward and harrison says to jerry, you know, when they catch us, you're lucky -- or i'm lucky, excuse me, because i'm fat and heavy and when they hang me,ly die quickly. and you are thin and light and you're going to twist in the wind. they really believed when they signed the document that the chances were that their lives were in danger. it's become rhetorical. the chances of them succeeding were so remote and if they failed they would be hung. >> rose: where most revolutionaries go to the gallows. >> that's right! >> rose: >> rose: having said that, you can't argue the times were so extraordinary. we all know presidents are rated in history because of great events. >> great crises make great history. >> one day i had a revelation when doing the hamilton blog, that hamilton quit washington's staff in anger and sat down and wrote a letter to his father in law defending his decision and painted washington as a very kind of moody irritable and temperamental man. he writes

benjamin rice, in the continental congress -- a revolutionary guy. great friend of the adamses. is closer to jefferson. he reports a conversation where jerry is stepping forward and the virginia delegate is stepping forward. harrisons, when they catch us, you are lucky, or i am lucky, because i am fat and heavy. when they hang me, i will die quickly. you are thin and light and you twist in the wind. the chances of them succeeding were so remote and if they failed, they would be hung. charlie: where most reovlutionaries go, to the gallows. you cannot argue that the times were so extaordinary. we all know that presidents are rated in history. guest: one day i had a revelation, and hamilton had a -- hamilton had a quarrel with washington, he painted washington as a moody and temperamental man. he wrote, the general and i have come to an open rupture. he shall repent of his ill humor. i remember sitting there actually stunned. george washington, ill humor? this does not conform to the saintly image i had of george washington. it got me thinking that perhaps this most familiar figure in american history was in many ways the most unfamiliar. charlie: what do we know that makes the unfamiliar familiar? guest: i discovere

harrison. >> these are county magistrates and aaron c. butler, margie b. livingston christopher j.arackus, and benjamin c. allen and gerald t. whitley jr., and bradley d. mayers mark a. harris and monty l. harrelson. those in favor of confirmation signify by saying aye. opposed, na. the ayes have it. >> it is cleared of any requests for local bills. any requests for local bills? hearing none that takes us to the calendar. page 4, statewide third reading -- statewide third reading and senate bill 897. senate bill 897 the clerk will please read. >> this is a bill on many of the flags authorized to be flown atop the statehouse and on the capital complex to remove the south carolina confederate state of america to provide for the permanent removal of the flag and to the confederate soldier monument and provide the removal of the infantry for the confederate states of america for appropriate display. >> the question is third reading of the bill. this is senate bill 897. the question is third reading and senate of spartanburg. >> like to be heard. >> proceed. >> well president and members of the senate. first, before i go too long

harrison. >> these are county magistrates and aaron c. butler, margie b. livingston christopher j.arackus, and benjamin c. allen and gerald t. whitley jr., and bradley d. mayers mark a. harris and monty l. harrelson. those in favor of confirmation signify by saying aye. opposed, na. the ayes have it. >> it is cleared of any requests for local bills. any requests for local bills? hearing none that takes us to the calendar. page 4, statewide third reading -- statewide third reading and senate bill 897. senate bill 897 the clerk will please read. >> this is a bill on many of the flags authorized to be flown atop the statehouse and on the capital complex to remove the south carolina confederate state of america to provide for the permanent removal of the flag and to the confederate soldier monument and provide the removal of the infantry for the confederate states of america for appropriate display. >> the question is third reading of the bill. this is senate bill 897. the question is third reading and senate of spartanburg. >> like to be heard. >> proceed. >> well president and members of the senate. first, before i go too long

he was a great adversary of benjamin harrison. they fought a lot over bills. and leland stanford of california was mrs. harrison's great ally. and he spent the night sleeping in the cloak room hoping the act of appropriation would go through, but speaker reed, looking -- he was a very razor-tongued kind of sharp guy, and he cooked up this story that harrison had dared to appoint a postmaster in maine without his approval and he crashed the whole thing. he wouldn't let it come up. susan swain: so lacking her ability to expand the white house, she turned to restoring what she already had. william seale: she redecorated thinking and hoping it was a minor thing to do, and she became interested in the historic house and began researching the attics and so forth and pulling out antiques and stuff and putting in the different rooms. and she had a decorator in boston made things spiffy. see, tiffany had been the last one to do the rooms. and they were very run-down, the special effects and all that nobody could reproduce. susan swain: well, when she got to the attic of

susan swain: caroline scott harrison was born in 1832 in oxford, ohio, where she met benjamin harrison. married when she was 21, she grew into an accomplished artist, interested in women's issues. although the harrison presidency has been rated as fairly unsuccessful by some historians, those who track first ladies