![[HARRISON, Benjamin]. Manuscript letter to "Governor [William] McKinley and Gentlemen of the Committee," accepting his nomination as President, n.p. [Washington or Indianapolis?], June 1892. 7 pages, large folio. The text double-spaced on large sheets of lined paper in a large, clear clerical hand (almost certainly the copy intended to be read from the podium).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2005/NYR/2005_NYR_01685_0147_000(110643).jpg?w=1)
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[HARRISON, Benjamin]. Manuscript letter to "Governor [William] McKinley and Gentlemen of the Committee," accepting his nomination as President, n.p. [Washington or Indianapolis?], June 1892. 7 pages, large folio. The text double-spaced on large sheets of lined paper in a large, clear clerical hand (almost certainly the copy intended to be read from the podium).
THE INCUMBENT HARRISON ACCEPTS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
An informal acceptance address almost certainly prepared in advance to be read aloud to the assembled delegates at the Republican Party Convention in Minneapolis. Future President McKinley headed the committee appointed to announce to Harrison that, after repeated ballots, he had been renominated. In his gracious acceptance, Harrison harks back to having received a similar notification in 1888: "No one so much as I relaized that the strength of the campaign must be found in Republican principles, and my hope was that nothing in life or word of mine might weaken the appeal of our American policies to the American heart. That appeal did not fail. A Republican President and Vice President and a Republican Congress were chosen. The record has been made...[No] charge of inadequacy or delinquency to principle has been lodged against the administration... " Harrison commends the state and national conventions, and the "work of the Fifty-First Congress, in which you [McKinley]...bore so conspicuous a part...The general results of three years of Republican control, have, I believe, been highly beneficial to all classes of our people..." He praises economic legislation passed during his term, specifically the McKinley Bill, and adds: "These acts of administration and legislation can now...be judged by their fruits. In 1890, it was a conflict of predictions; now our adversaries must face trade statistics..." He promises a letter, offering "a more formal acceptance of the nomination," but closes with thanks to McKinley, his Committee "and the whole body of the great Convention" his "profound thanks for this great honor."
The 1892 campaign proved a rather insipid one, the dominating issue being the effects of the McKinley Tariff Act and issues of coinage. The election was a close contest: Harrison won 43 of the popular vote, Cleveland won 46 and James B. Weaver, a third-party nominee, garnered 9 McKinley stumped tirelessly for Harrison, earning the respect and approval from fellow Republicans that contributed to his own nomination in 1896.
THE INCUMBENT HARRISON ACCEPTS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
An informal acceptance address almost certainly prepared in advance to be read aloud to the assembled delegates at the Republican Party Convention in Minneapolis. Future President McKinley headed the committee appointed to announce to Harrison that, after repeated ballots, he had been renominated. In his gracious acceptance, Harrison harks back to having received a similar notification in 1888: "No one so much as I relaized that the strength of the campaign must be found in Republican principles, and my hope was that nothing in life or word of mine might weaken the appeal of our American policies to the American heart. That appeal did not fail. A Republican President and Vice President and a Republican Congress were chosen. The record has been made...[No] charge of inadequacy or delinquency to principle has been lodged against the administration... " Harrison commends the state and national conventions, and the "work of the Fifty-First Congress, in which you [McKinley]...bore so conspicuous a part...The general results of three years of Republican control, have, I believe, been highly beneficial to all classes of our people..." He praises economic legislation passed during his term, specifically the McKinley Bill, and adds: "These acts of administration and legislation can now...be judged by their fruits. In 1890, it was a conflict of predictions; now our adversaries must face trade statistics..." He promises a letter, offering "a more formal acceptance of the nomination," but closes with thanks to McKinley, his Committee "and the whole body of the great Convention" his "profound thanks for this great honor."
The 1892 campaign proved a rather insipid one, the dominating issue being the effects of the McKinley Tariff Act and issues of coinage. The election was a close contest: Harrison won 43 of the popular vote, Cleveland won 46 and James B. Weaver, a third-party nominee, garnered 9 McKinley stumped tirelessly for Harrison, earning the respect and approval from fellow Republicans that contributed to his own nomination in 1896.