PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON - CIVIL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 01/13/1890 CO-SIGNED BY: JOHN WANAMAKER - HFSID 175528

BENJAMIN HARRISON
The President appoints a postmaster for Huntington, West Virginia, co-signed by Postmaster General John Wanamaker.
Civil Appointment signed: "Benjamin Harrison" as President, "John Wanamaker" as Postmaster General, 17x14. Washington, D.C., 1890 January 13. Appointment of Hamilton M. Adams as Postmaster at Huntington, West Virginia. BENJAMIN HARRISON (1838-1901), the 23rd President (1889-1893), had been a Brigadier General in the Civil War and a US Senator from Indiana (1881-1887). Harrison secured the Republican nomination on the eighth ballot at the party convention in Chicago (June 24, 1888), with New York City banker Levi P. Morton as his running mate. The principal issue of the campaign was the protective tariff, which Democratic incumbent Cleveland had proposed to lower. Elected President in 1888, despite losing the popular vote to Democratic Cleveland, he was defeated by the same opponent four years later. JOHN WANAMAKER (1838-1922) established the first department store in 1875, bringing a collection of specialty stores together under one roof in the former freight depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Philadelphia. Wanamaker, who was one of the first major retailers to employ advertising agencies to sell his goods, was also a leader in offering "fringe benefits" to his employees, who enjoyed paid vacations, health care, life insurance, pensions and financial aid for further education. As Postmaster General under Harrison, he issued the first commemorative stamps (over protests from Congress) and proved that they could be moneymakers. Lightly creased. Worn. Soiled (affecting signature, still legible). Light foxing. Otherwise, fine condition.