A series of articles reflecting on the leadership qualities of "Indiana’s First Citizen", Benjamin Harrison by Jeremy McGrath.
Indiana's First Citizen-Lawyer
So often, when one thinks of politicians, one thinks of lawyers. While it is true that many politicians happen to be lawyers by trade, nowhere is it more evident than in the occupation of the Presidency. Of the forty-one presidents to date, twenty-six have been attorneys. Among those gentlemen are some rather distinguished names such as Founding Fathers Adams, Jefferson and Madison, Supreme Court Justice Taft, and Franklin Roosevelt.
In 1977, Harry Lambeth wrote for the American Bar Association Journal a comparison of all of the lawyers to be president and ironically, for the best of the lawyers, the Presidency was not kind. The most successful lawyers ranked as lesser known presidents. The best-known lawyers to be president were rated as Buchanan, Fillmore, Hayes, Pierce, Van Buren, with Benjamin Harrison as number one.
The reason for Harrison’s incredible ratings? In his pre-Presidential years Harrison was tremendously successful. In his post-Presidential years, he was extraordinarily active, yet selective in the cases he worked. The price tag for Harrisons’ service was exorbitant, but a client knew that they were getting the best lawyer money could buy.
Like many lawyers, his career began modestly. Harrison collected five dollars in 1854 to prosecute a case before the Justice of the Peace. He was appointed Court Crier for $2.50 daily in April of the same year. Harrison was frequently commissioned by the city attorney to prosecute cases.
His list of opponents was high profile, including the former Governor of Indiana, David Wallace. Harrison won the respect of Wallace during a burglary case and, one year later, began a partnership with his son William Wallace, specializing in collections cases. Harrison’s career was boosted forward by his prosecution of the Nancy Clem case and his defense of the U.S. Government in the Milligan Case.
Lambeth also discussed how Harrison, in his post-Presidential career, became very selective in his choice of cases. His minimum retainer was $500, and his appearances in court would only come before important cases. In contrast to his early career, Harrison had become a rather pricey lawyer.
He charged Stanford University $25,000 for six law lectures. In 1899, he was paid a $20,000 retainer and $10,000 quarterly for his fifteen months of work on an international arbitration for Venezuela. In perhaps the most selective company of all, he became one of just three presidents to try a case before the Supreme Court, after leaving office. He joined John Quincy Adams (in the famous Amistad case) and Grover Cleveland when he challenged Illinois inheritance taxes before the court in 1898.
Harrison’s legal career, while it began modestly, developed into one of the greatest legal careers in American history. He worked the high-profile cases to catapult him to the top and he was selective enough after his Presidency to keep him there.