Benjamin Harrison:Grandson

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about Benjamin Harrison.
今天，我们谈论的是本杰明·哈里森。

His family name may sound familiar. That is because he was the grandson of President William Henry Harrison. That situation is unique in U.S. history so far.
他的姓听起来也许很熟悉，因为他的祖父是威廉·亨利·哈里森总统。这种情况到目前为止在美国历史上是独一无二的。

Harrison played an unusually active role¹ as president at a time when most chief executives saw themselves as simply administrators. As a result, American writer and intellectual Henry Adams said Harrison was the best president since Lincoln.
在那个大多数总统都认为自己只是管理者的年代，哈里森担任总统期间扮演了一位异常积极的角色。结果，美国的作家及知识分子亨利·亚当斯认为哈里森是自林肯以来最伟大的总统。

But most Americans remember little about him, except his connection to the previous President Harrison, who himself died after only a month in office.
但大多数美国人不怎么记得他，除了他和老哈里森总统的关系，老哈里森上任仅一个月就死于任内。

Early life 早年生活

Benjamin Harrison grew up on a farm in the Midwestern state of Ohio as one of eight children.
本杰明·哈里森在美国中西部俄亥俄州的一处农场长大，他是八个孩子中的一个。

His grandfather was not the only famous political Harrison.
他的祖父在哈里森家族中不是唯一一个著名的政治家。

His great-grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence. And his father had been a congressman.
他的曾祖父签署了独立宣言，他的父亲是一名国会议员。

Young Benjamin Harrison respected these men and believed he had a role to play in history, too. He received a good education, and even outside of school he read many books.
青年时期的本杰明·哈里森对他的父亲以及祖父和曾祖父充满崇敬，他相信自己在历史中也会扮演一个角色。他受到了良好的教育，并且课外阅读了大量的书籍。

His hard work and intelligence carried him to Miami University in Ohio, and then to a career as a lawyer.
他的努力和聪颖使他进入了俄亥俄州的迈阿密大学，再后来就进入了律师事业。

Along the way, he married a woman he had known since he was a teenager, Caroline Lavinia Scott. The couple settled in another Midwestern city, Indianapolis, Indiana, and had a son and daughter.
这段时期，哈里森娶了一位十几岁就认识的女人卡罗琳·拉维尼娅·斯科特。这对夫妻在另一个中西部城市印第安纳州的印第安纳波利斯定居了下来，并生育了一个儿子和女儿。

Over time, Harrison steadily built a career as a public official. But his political path was interrupted² by the American Civil War.
随着时间的推移，哈里森以公职人员的身份稳步发展，但他的政治生涯由于内战而中断了。

Harrison rose to the rank of general in the Union Army. He fought under General William T. Sherman, and was one of the first soldiers to enter Atlanta, Georgia after the city surrendered.
哈里森获得了联邦军的将军军衔。他在威廉·T·谢尔曼将军麾下服役，并且是在佐治亚州亚特兰大市投降后第一批进入的战士。

After the war, he returned home to Indiana and continued his legal and political career. In 1881, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. But six years later he lost his seat when Democrats came to power in his state. Reports say that Harrison was an excellent soldier. But he did not enjoy fighting or find war romantic³.
内战后，他返回了印第安纳州的家乡，继续他的法律和政治生涯。1881年，他当选为美国参议员，六年后由于民主党在印第安纳州掌权，他失去了参议员席位。据报道说，哈里森是一位出色的战士，但他不喜欢打仗，也不觉得战争是好的。

Harrison’s loss of his Senate seat soon turned to a victory. The Republican Party nominated him as their candidate to run against Grover Cleveland in the 1888 presidential election.
哈里森虽然失去了参议员席位，但很快又取得了胜利。1888年总统大选，共和党提名他为候选人与格罗佛·克利夫兰竞选总统。

Cleveland’s economic policies had become unpopular, and Republicans worked hard to support their candidate. They succeeded. Although Cleveland won the popular vote, Harrison won the Electoral College⁴.
克利夫兰的经济政策逐渐失去民心，共和党极力支持哈里森，他们成功了。尽管克利夫兰赢得了普选，但哈里森赢得了选举人票。

In 1889, he followed his grandfather’s footsteps all the way to the White House.
1889年，哈里森一直追随他祖父的脚步进入了白宫。

Presidency 总统任期

Harrison’s election was a major victory for his Republican Party. In addition to winning the White House, Republicans gained seats in the House of Representatives, held a majority in the Senate, and appointed several Republican justices to the Supreme Court.
哈里森的当选对于共和党来说是一个重要的胜利。除了赢得白宫，他们还获得了众议院席位，多数参议院席位，并且任命了多个最高法院的法官。

Harrison and other Republican lawmakers used their power to take action on issues at home and internationally.
哈里森与其他共和党议员通过手中的权利来处理国内外问题。

One act was to preserve forests. Harrison identified 17 protected natural areas, and helped create Yosemite National Park in California.
其中一个举措就是保护森林。哈里森确定了17个自然保护区，帮助建立了加利福利亚州的约塞米蒂国家公园。

His government also established Ellis Island in New York to make immigration to the U.S. a more orderly process.
哈里森政府还创立了纽约埃利斯岛，使移民到美国的过程更加有序。

Internationally, Harrison’s administration sought to build ties with Latin American countries. His government established what would, in time, become the Organization of American States.
国际上，哈里森政府寻求与拉丁美洲国家建立关系，并建立了后来的美洲国家组织。

His administration also increased the United States’ global trade – as well as the country’s navy.
哈里森政府还扩大了美国的全球贸易，以及美国海军。

But, for the most part, the most pressing issues of the day were economic. The federal government at that time had an unusually large surplus. Some argued that the surplus was hurting business. In answer, Harrison’s government placed a high protective tariff on imported goods. The legislation was known as the McKinley Tariff of 1890.
但当时大多数情况下最迫切的是经济问题。彼时，联邦政府存在异常巨大的贸易顺差。一些人认为贸易顺差伤害了国内产业。为了解决这个问题，哈里森政府提高了保护性关税，这项立法即1890年麦金莱关税法案。

Officials also aimed to limit the power of large corporations to control important markets in the U.S.
政府官员还试图限制大型企业的权力，以便控制国内重要市场。

Finally, they agreed to require the government to buy silver to use as currency.
最终，他们同意要求政府购买白银作为货币使用。

These actions pleased some of his supporters. But, they may have contributed to the severe economic depression that followed Harrison’s term.
这些举措迎合了他的一些支持者，但却导致了哈里森任期后的严重经济萧条。

And in general, voters disapproved of the amount of money Republican lawmakers were spending. Although the country was at peace, the 51^st Congress appropriated⁵ $1 billion. At the midterm elections, many lawmakers paid for all the spending with their seats.
而且，通常选民是不赞成共和党的开支数额的。尽管国家处于和平时期，但51届国会还是拨出了10亿美元的数额。中期选举时，许多议员都在用他们的席位为所有开支买单。

Two years later, voters turned Harrison out of the White House, too. They returned Grover Cleveland to the presidency.
两年后，选民通过选票让哈里森也离开了白宫，格罗佛·克利夫兰又重新做回了总统。

Harrison did not express much disappointment. He had worked hard to become president like his grandfather. But he found he did not like being the chief executive. He said when he left the White House, it was like being released from prison.
哈里森没有表达过太多失望，他努力工作来成为像他祖父一样的总统，但发现并不喜欢当总统。他说，当他离开白宫后，感觉像是从监狱释放出来一样。

Legacy 遗产

Among U.S. presidents, Harrison does not have one of the most dramatic biographies. The facts of his life show an intelligent, disciplined man who tried to live by his beliefs.
在美国历任总统当中，哈里森没有一个传奇人生。他生活中的事实表明，他是一个聪明、自律的人，努力按照自己的信念生活。

But he was not considered passionate⁶ about many things, except perhaps his enjoyment of nature. And he did not have an easy way with people. Even his staff called him “the human iceberg” because he could be aloof⁷ and act coldly toward people.
但他对很多事情没有热情，也许除了对大自然的享受。而且，他与人相处并不容易。甚至，他的员工称他为“人类的冰山”，因为他对待别人冷漠无情。

Yet Harrison’s family brought some warmth to his administration. His wife, Caroline, was known to be a lively, social person. She was the first to install a Christmas tree in the White House.
然而，哈里森的家庭给他的政府带来些许温暖。他的妻子卡洛琳被认为是一位活泼，善于社交的人。她是第一位在白宫装扮圣诞树的第一夫人。

Some of Harrison’s grandchildren also lived in the White House. Harrison permitted them to play on the grounds with their pet animals. During Harrison’s term, the family kept a goat, which the children called “Old Whiskers.”
哈里森的一些孙辈也生活在白宫，他允许他们在白宫场地和宠物们一起玩耍。在哈里森任期内，家里养了一只山羊，孩子们都叫它“老胡子”。

Harrison’s time in the White House saw sorrow, too. Toward the end of her husband’s term, the first lady became seriously ill with tuberculosis. For months, Benjamin Harrison divided his attention between his wife and his job, and yet in the end lost both.
哈里森在白宫任期内也遇到了悲伤的事情，他的妻子在他任期即将结束时得了严重的肺结核。几个月的时间里，本杰明·哈里森将他的精力分散在妻子和工作之间，然而最后两个都失去了。

After his term as president ended, Benjamin Harrison returned to his home in Indianapolis. He did some work as a teacher and lawyer, and kept a good public image in his community.
任期结束后，本杰明·哈里森回到了家乡印第安波利斯。他从事了教师和律师职业，在社区里保持了一个良好的公众形象。

He also re-married. His second wife was a widow herself, as well as his first wife’s niece.
他再次结婚，第二任妻子是一位寡妇，也是他第一任妻子的侄女。

He and Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison had a daughter together. The child was only four when Harrison died from pneumonia at age 67.
他和玛丽·斯科特·洛德·迪米克·哈里森一起生了一个女儿，哈里森67岁死于肺炎时她才四岁。

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