Benjamin Harrison was a soft-spoken man who patiently went about his business as a lawyer and as a politician. There were no major events during his presidential administration (1889-93), but he signed into law several important economic measures and sought to expand the Union. Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming became states during his presidency, and he supported measures that helped several other territories— Utah, Oklahoma, and Hawaii —enter the Union after he left office. At the beginning of Harrison's term in 1889, the number of states in the Union was thirty-eight; when he left office in 1891, the number was forty-four.

The most difficult challenges Harrison faced as president occurred in foreign relations. The governments of the United States and Great Britain argued over fishing rights in the Bering Straits around the Alaska Territory. Anti-Italian sentiments in New Orleans caused a major...