Abstract
What role does the US president, and their political ideology, play in fostering destabilizing political-economic crises? This paper examines the little-studied presidency of Benjamin Harrison for answers. During the 1890s, the US suffered its worst financial crisis and economic depression to date. Surprisingly, the seeds of this crisis were planted by the strangely inconsistent policies of the Harrison administration. Benjamin Harrison was, by most measures, supremely equipped to deliver a booming economy. However, instead of prosperity, Harrison created the conditions for a devastating financial crisis and a deep recession. Harrison’s ideology and beliefs drove his actions as president, and were the sin qua non of this political-economic disaster. This case therefore has important implications for theories of presidential power, American political development, partisanship, democratic governance, and the role of ideas in politics.
