The Tightrope Walker

BH and I share the same fraternity, so he is high on my list. Brief book, but a great example of a President overlooked due to his era.

Calhoun's biography came highly recommended by the staff at President Harrison's home and museum in Indianapolis. I found Calhoun's book to be concise and thorough. The author's self-confessed OCD is evident in the amount of footnotes included (more than most of the other American Presidents Series books I've read thus far). These footnotes, I must admit, inspired me to further reading on Harrison in early biographies by Harry... Read Full Review

Benjamin Harrison lived most of his adult life in Indianapolis, and his handsome brick Victorian home on Delaware Street has long been a memorial open to the public. Yet even the citizens of his hometown are vague on who he really was. Many confuse him with his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, "Old Tippecanoe" as he was called, who also served in the White House, albeit for only thirty days. Some see the signature of... Read Full Review

If you ask most people what they know about Benjamin Harrison they might tell you two things they remember from history class...that he was the grandson of a president (William Henry Harrison) and that his term was sandwiched in between the two non-consecutive terms of Grover Cleveland. Beyond that, Benjamin Harrison remains a mystery to most, but author Charles Calhoun has done a crisp and clear job of relating Harrison's... Read Full Review

Unlike some of the authors in the AP series, Charles Calhoun is a professional historian who has written previously about his subject's era. He clearly has the depth of knowledge to analyze Harrison and place him properly in the context of his time. While Benjamin Harrison had a successful career prior to his election as President, he really was no more distinguished than any number of 1880s politicos. A respected Civil... Read Full Review