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I expected to meet an extremely decent man with all the personality of a napkin holder whose presidency was unremarkable…but tedious to re-live. I might well have described Rutherford B. Hayes similarly and approached him with equal anxiety but where Hayes provided me with just two books and pages, Ben Harrison came to the party with five biographies totaling almost 1, pages.

And while nothing leads to a pleasant surprise like setting expectations low from the beginning, Harrison is fortunate to have attracted a small but worthy band of biographers. As a member of the American Presidents Series, this comprehensive but brief biography of Harrison seemed a great place to start. And I was right; this biography is not flashy but does provide a fairly painless and occasionally interesting introduction to a president few people really know.

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And while providing a reasonable introduction to Harrison as a young man and budding politician, this biography takes every opportunity during his presidency to validate that thesis. Full review here. This monumental effort represented the first major biography of Harrison and remains the most complete, penetrating look at this president.

The first two-thirds of the book covering his life before the war is particularly interesting, humanizing Harrison and providing balance between his public and private lives. This period includes much of his legal career, his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign and his term as U. This volume provides a nice equilibrium between his personal and public lives and maintains a high level of objectivity with respect to his politics.

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The shortest of the three volumes in the series, this volume is also the least satisfying. Although the writing style is sober and serious, it is also straightforward and incredibly efficient. Contrary to my initial expectations, this is not an unapproachable college history text.