Benjamin Harrison, VI, 1833-1901.  23rd President of the United States, 1889-1893.  Typed Letter Signed, Benj Harrison, one page, quarto, on personal stationery, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 28, 1898.

Writing to S. S. McClure, the publisher of McClure’s Magazine, former President Harrison declines to reconsider his refusal to grant an interview—likely on the significant topic of the Spanish-American War, which had begun just over a month before.  In part:  “I cannot re-consider the answer I made to Mr. Ross.  I do not like the interview as a means of communicating with the public, especially when the topic is a grave and broad one.  I have not the time to write upon the subject, and must therefore ask you to excuse me.”

On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain.  The United States had demanded that Spain peacefully resolve the Cuban struggle for independence.  The issue for Americans was essentially economic:  Americans had invested significantly in Cuba and owned large tracts of land there, and by 1895 American trade with Cuba was $100 million annually.  Although initially neutral, Harrison’s successor, President Grover Cleveland, said that the United States might intervene should Spain fail to end the crisis. Cleveland’s successor, President William McKinley, was more anxious to become involved, particularly after the Spanish Foreign Minister criticized him in the New York Journal.  On February 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana harbor.  Congress allocated $50 million to strengthen the American military strength.  On March 28, an American Naval Court of Inquiry found that a mine blew up the Maine.  President McKinley ordered a blockade of Cuba on April 21, and four days later the United States declared war.

Samuel Sidney McClure (1857-1949), to whom Harrison wrote this letter, founded McClure's Magazine in 1893.  The magazine featured political and literary content and published syndicated novels-in-progress a chapter at a time.  It published influential pieces by many notable writers, including Willa Cather, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, Upton Sinclair, Linsoln Steffens, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Ida Tarbell, and Mark Twain.  Tarbell’s 1902 series exposing monopoly abuses of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company helped McClure’s Magazine usher in the era of muckraking journalism.

The careful Harrison shunned extemporaneous commentary, whether in interviews or in speeches.  He accepted most invitations to attend dinner functions only upon the condition that he not be required to speak or that his remarks not be reported. 

Harrison, however, strongly disapproved of American colonial policy after the Spanish-American War, although he continued to support the Republican party.  He joined former President Cleveland, former Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan, Anti-Imperialist League members Edward Atkinson and Carl Shurtz, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, and leading intellectuals of the day, including Mark Twain, William James, and E. L. Godkin, in condemning the use of American military and economic power to conquer and control foreign peoples.

This letter has a bold fountain pen signature by Harrison.  It has normal mailing folds, one of which crosses through Harrison’s signature, and a few foxing spots.  It is in fine condition overall.