Talk:Benjamin Harrison

File:HARRISON, Benjamin-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg to appear as POTD soon
Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:HARRISON, Benjamin-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on August 20, 2018. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2018-08-20. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 03:34, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

1888 recording
Shouldn't it be mentioned that he was the first president whose voice was recorded? I could've sworn this was here a while ago. Xdude gamer (talk) 19:50, 10 March 2021 (UTC)
 * His 1889 recording was the earliest recording of a US president's voice. However, the sentence Harrison was the earliest president whose voice is known to be preserved, as it currently stands in the article, is wrong: Grover Cleveland's voice has been preserved from 1892. Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, and so, that record belongs to him. Renerpho (talk) 13:19, 23 November 2021 (UTC)
 * I've modified the sentence in question to read "A recording of his voice is the earliest extant recording of a president while he was in office." While Cleveland was president before Harrison, his recording is later (1892) than Harrison's. Indyguy (talk) 16:32, 23 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks, this looks better. Renerpho (talk) 16:49, 23 November 2021 (UTC)

Name
Would the subject's name not have been, in full, Benjamin Harrison VI? Being that he is named for his great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison V, and neither is noted to have had any middle names. 134340Goat (talk) 01:37, 26 March 2021 (UTC)
 * According to WP:JR/SR, we should "use ordinals if they are commonly used in reliable sources". I don't recall ever seeing him referred to as "Benjamin Harrison IV", probably because his fame for being president makes him much more notable than any of his ancestors. Also, I'm not sure the ordinal is officially part of his name - would it have appeared on his birth certificate or did he ever sign his name with it? Indyguy (talk) 02:40, 26 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Note that there already is a Benjamin Harrison VI (the president's great-uncle, and the son of Benjamin Harrison V). The claim that the president would have taken the same number VI as his great-uncle (why?), or a different one (maybe VII?), would have to be carefully assessed. As far as I can tell, president Harrison does not carry an ordinal in any relevant sources. I did not check whether a reason is stated anywhere, but I agree with Indyguy's speculation that president Harrison was notable enough to be unambiguously referred to without using ordinals. Renerpho (talk) 00:27, 27 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Would it have appeared on his birth certificate - This isn't really relevant. In the 19th century at least, ordinals were often added to names not at birth, but when people reached adulthood (basically, when there was a need to disambiguate them; there were exceptions, but a lack of the ordinal in the birth certificate wouldn't mean much). The most obvious reason for this was the high child mortality. The question did he ever sign his name with it? is the more interesting one. As far as I can tell, he did not. Renerpho (talk) 02:30, 27 November 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 24 May 2024
Hello, because President Harrison was the 6th of his name, note his grandfather, Benjamin Harrison V, would he not be Benjamin Harrison VI? Cronchconch (talk) 07:57, 24 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Charliehdb (talk) 10:25, 24 May 2024 (UTC)