Philip Weeks - Buckeye Presidents: Ohioans in the White House

The Mother of U.S. Presidentsan impressive claim, and one that applies legitimately to only two of the nations fifty states, Ohio and Virginia. Between them they have provided the republic with fifteen of its presidents. One of the fifteen, William Henry Harrison, is a hybrid who is properly associated with both Ohio and Virginia. His experience reflected that of many Americans during the early decades of U.S. history: born in one of the thirteen British colonies, grew up during the tumultuous Revolutionary era, and then in early adulthood relocated beyond the Appalachian chain to settle and pursue a new life in Americas first West. In addition to Harrison, seven Ohioans have piloted the United States from the White House: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. An equal number of Virginians have been the nations chief executive: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson.

The presidents associated with Virginia and Ohio directed the affairs of the United States during two critical eras. During the nations formative period, from the birth of the federal republic in the 1780s through 1850 and the mounting hostility between North and South, seven of the nations twelve presidents were from the Old Dominion. In the six decades following 1865 and the end of Americas Civil War, as modern America emerged, seven of the nations twelve presidents were Buckeyes. Each helped guide the United States in its transformation from a rural, agrarian, diplomatically isolationist society into a wealthy and powerful commercial and industrial nation, one that became an increasingly major player in global geopolitics. Ohio was so dominant and maintained such a compelling hold on national and presidential politics from the Civil War through World War I that when Republican Warren G. Harding of Marion ran for the presidency in 1920 his opponent was none other than another Ohioan, Democrat James Cox of Dayton.

All eight Buckeye presidents were consequential participants in state and national affairs prior to their ascendancy to the White House. Four were governors of states or territories: William Henry Harrison (Indiana), Rutherford B. Hayes (Ohio), William McKinley (Ohio), and William Howard Taft (Philippines). Six served in the U.S. Congress: William Henry Harrison, Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, and Warren G. Harding. Six of the eight also had military service. Five were generals in the U.S. Army: William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Benjamin Harrison (McKinley had a lesser rank, rising from private to major during the Civil War). To make a living outside of government, some were attorneys (Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, and Taft), others were college professors (Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and Taft), one was an editor and publisher (Harding), and another was a farmer and a store clerk (Grant). Taft, subsequent to his White House years, became chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, making him the only American to hold the top post in two of the three branches of the U.S. government. The average age of these eight men upon taking the presidential oath was fifty-four. The youngest was Grant, who was forty-six; the oldest was William Henry Harrison, at sixty-eight, the last president born a British subject. Four of the eight Buckeye presidents did not live to see the conclusion of their terms: William Henry Harrison and Harding died of natural causes while in office, and assassins killed Presidents Garfield and McKinley.

Buckeye Presidents is introductorynot definitive, illustrativenot encyclopedic. It seeks to provide general readers and students with an overview of significant aspects of the lives and times of eight men from Ohio who each became the president of the United States. The book draws on the expertise of eight specialists who have written chapters profiling these chief executives. Of specific value, each chapter presents a synthesis of the authors reflection on recent scholarship about his or her subject and scholarship during the era in which the president lived, as well as the authors own area of academic competence. In most instances, the author of the chapter brings the experience of having already published an important biography about their subject. Each scholar has also included a section of suggested readings, which is placed at the end of his or her chapter; these recommendations will aid readers who wish to expand their knowledge of these eight presidents and their America.