Added: 4 years ago
From: reaganwayne
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  • Ron Paul brought me here!!

  • You can really tell that he was from Indiana.

  • @feeblepizza how so?

  • @EdwardoisKing The accent.

  • I like the stories of the personal lives our past presidents. After his presidency, Harrison actually married the niece of his deceased wife who is 25 years younger than he. They even had children who were now double relations and young enough to be the children to his own. The family was pissed, and didn't attend the wedding. Harrison was a player.

  • How awesome this is to get to put a voice to President's of the past. You said Clevland was the first to be shown on film, do you have it?

  • Thank you for the reference to the Vincent Voice Library! I was not aware of it before. What a great resource of our history and culture!

  • Ben Rothlisberger is a fellow alumni.....

  • Did you hear the 1800s accent?? Quite different from that of today. My grandmother was born in 1880 and she sounded somewhat like that but with a Southern twist.

  • @67rml He sounds like pretty much any midwesterner today.

  • @67rml Back then they spoke slower and more deliberate, because people listened to what each other had to say at the time. Imagine that!

  • @67rml,

    When people get old, their voice sometimes becomes more twangy. I doubt a 20 year old Harrison talked like that.

  • I just don't understand how elections happened without television, internet and radio. How did you know who to vote for?

  • @C3P0meetsData: People read about the candidates and informed themselves of the issues of the day.

  • @C3P0meetsData There were a lot more newspapers around back then. Even smaller cities had more than one newspaper in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and a lot of the time they were either openly affiliated with or at least sympathetic to a particular political party. The telegraph (high-tech for the 19th and early 20th century) helped spread news relatively rapidly compared to what it was like before.

  • @C3P0meetsData Newspapers. More people read more back then.

  • Since he said "as president," this would be toward the end of his term (1893), and if it's on inauguration day, it was March 4th back then (until 1936).

    And it'd be really cool to hear Hayes, but I find it odd that Hayes would be recorded and not Garfield and Arthur.

  • @crispy1995 I agree with you since garfield and arthur were presidents later. But i've heard that arthur was recorded on til foil but they don't know what happened to it

  • wow that is amazing I just wish I could hear one of Lincoln

  • The recording of Hayes might turn up (but I doubt it), but it was made on the tinfoil used in the early Edison phonographs. If found it would be difficult to transpose onto modern recording material.

  • Wow. This is 121 years old.

  • unfortunately in that time to the present, we have brutalized our neighbors to the south. whenever america wants to expand their free market with you, it's time to nail everything down, lest it be taken. ask native americans. guess that whole "god" thing hasn't really worked out. it's a damn shame we don't have numerous recordings of presidents all the way back to washington. talking about their slaves and how indians should be killed. and other godly stuff.

  • I thought we had a Death of Auto Tune...Former President Harrison, Jay-Z has a few choice words for you.

  • He did not have sexual relations with that strumpet who flashed her ankles at him...

  • @Nickthetoast LOL. That is VERY funny!

  • A few years ago on Jeopardy, they asked as a final Jeopardy question, "Who is the only president whose father signed the declaration of independence?" The answer they gave was John Quincy Adams. All 3 contestants got it right. Luckily, for Jeopardy's question was wrong. WH Harrison's father Benjamin Harrison also signed the declaration. This Benjamin Harrison was WH Harrison's grandson & Declaration signer Benjamin Harrison's great grandson.

  • I agreed with him that we should raise import taxes, therefore increasing production.

  • The catholic church gave us the Inquisition and it was in many european countries.

  • His personality was cold as a fish. He was not well liked by people at all. He alienated almost everybody in the Republican party with his policies

  • Benjamin Harrison is the only grandson of a preseident (William Henry Harrison) to be president.

  • People should know, that the backwards europeans got most of their classics from the backwards muslims through Spain, but only after Reconquista. But Europe and Middle-East was backwards countries compared to China then. The success of Europeans was based on simple ruthlessness, but also acquiring knowledge of, and from the conquered, as always. Today no country can say they haven't gotten their technology and ideas from the "western" world. They who do, live in isolation, and like it.

  • Spanish gave us the grinding poverty of Latin America...and the Inquisition...

  • that is simply not true.

  • auto got too GO. so want he say ? i said want HE Say??? lol.ty

  • The next vice president after Curtis with Indian blood was his successor, John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner.

  • One piece of trivia-Benjamin Harrison was the last president with a beard.

  • That's true... From Lincoln through Taft, every president had a beard or mustache, with the exceptions of Andrew Johnson and William McKinley, but none before Lincoln or after Taft

  • I wonder when the next time will come when we will have a president with either a moustache or a beard or both? Not that it really matters on their ability to lead.

  • That's a good question... I'm going out on a limb, but I THINK the last guy with a mustache who was nominated by a major party was Thomas Dewey, who lost to Truman in 1948. I don't think it has any effect on their ability to lead, but it IS interesting that it's been so long.

  • The last vice president with a moustache was Charles Curtis in the administration of Herbert Hoover 1929-1933. Curtis was also the first vice president with mixed Indian blood.

  • Kinda funny that he was recognized as a citizen a year before that.

  • Who was recognized as a xitizen before what?

  • John Garner. Native Americans didn't gain citizenship until the 1920s. Remember that. Remember that in this country, there are still people that were not born with U.S. citizenship on American soil.

  • With the exception of Millard Fillmore, Harrison and Rutherford are probably the two most forgettable Presidents in American history. I'm not trying to discredit the man or anything, but with the exception of Grover Cleveland, Lincoln, Mckinely & Grant, a lot of the Presidents from the late 19th century are not very well remembered at all.

  • What year was this recording of Benjamin Harrison?

  • Excuse me, but this vidio said it was "former" president Benjamin Harrison who made that comment on January 20, 1889. How could former president Harrison have made that comment on January 20, 1889 when he wasn't even president yet? Back then the POTUS wasn't innauagurated until March 4,. Harrison was only a one president. His presidency ended in 1893 so he must've recorded this speech after his presidency.

  • I mean he was only a one "term" president.

    And btw. You're rude!!

  • From what I read somewhere, this recording was made sometime around 1900... He talks about his presidency in the past tense, so it would have to be between 1893 and 1901 (he passed in 1901 of course).

    Random, but he was one of only three 19th century presidents who lived to see the 20th century (Cleveland and McKinley were the others).

  • Benjamin Harrison was one of only four families of presidents whose relative had been chief executive before him.

  • "I would say the Dark Ages are an exception. They mark one of the biggest regresses in the history of civilisation."

    No they aren't, the knowledge regression was caused by the arrogance and backwards thinking of religion. Look at the middle east, used to be the knowledge center of the world (algebra, mapping human organs, astronomy, etc.)until came along islam screwed it up.

  • *facepalm* Islam didn't hinder the middle east one bit in the middle ages. many scientists from the middle east were muslim, and lived from the 9th-13th centuries. IIRC there was also an agricultural revolution, similar to the one europe had centuries later.

    the reason we are backwards here today is because politically and socially, there was a marked shift in thought in the 16th century, that led to an emphasis on tradition. religion was also affected as well from the said shift.

  • oh, and the decline in middle eastern science began in the 16th century as well, a millenium after Islam showed up in the middle east.. and long after it bacame dominant in life there. so its simply not religion on its own, not in the middle east's case.

    I'm not saying that religious fundamentalism didn't play a part in the dark ages/our backwardness/whatever. but I do ask that you think and read on this before just saying stuff like this, because iwhat you said was too simplistic.

  • True. But then, is the future always necessarily more developed than what when before? Would you say that people and customs in the Dark Ages were more sophisticated than say, the classical Greeks or imperial Romans? The technological revolution is in full flow at the moment and getting exponentially more rapid with each year that passes, but it will lose momentum eventually. Still, I agree with ya, every age has it's leading lights, and the world generally gets better for the people in it

  • Technology really had to suck during the 19th Century

  • True, many of the important technologies we value were developed or at least made practical in the 20th century: The computer, the TV, the liquid-fueled rocket, the airplane. Some others like the telephone, movie camera, and automobile did exist in the 19th century, but did not become a staple of our way of life until the 20th.

  • If you think about it, most of what we depend on today was developed between about 1875 and 1905... electric lights, motion pictures, recorded sound, the telephone, the internal combustion engine, flight. Everything since then has just been engineering and refining.

    Like you said people's lives weren't dependent on them back in those early days...that happened over the generations as the new technology got more convenient and accessible, and made life easier.

  • Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by egnieering and refining? Was television a refinement of motion pictures.

  • Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, 9th president of the United States and great grandson of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

  • Sorry for the late response... I guess what I meant by engineering and refining is that when they first figured out how to do something, like record sound or moving pictures, it was real rough... But they kept working on it and perfecting it over the years. So a recording from 1910 is better quality than 1900, 1920 is better than 1910, etc... It's all in the evolution of the technology.. And TV was part of the process.

  • Thanks for writing back you weren't too late in your response. Some people have responded to questions that I commented on a year ago and replied a year later. So there's no need to to be sorry.

  • President Harrison was the first President to have electricity in the White House. It was said that he and his wife would sleep with the lights on at night because they were so afraid of electricity, they didn't want to touch the switches. I guess one of their staff must have turned the lights on.

  • You'll be saying that in another 20 years, buddy, LOL..

  • Harrison and Cleveland were the only 19th century presidents (besides McKinley) who lived to see the 20th century, and even then, just barely. Harrison died on March 13, 1901 (six months before McKinley was shot), while Cleveland made it to June 24, 1908.

    Interesting to hear their voices. I wonder if they could have imagined the monumental changes, both technological and social, that the new century would bring.

  • Good point, but in response to your final musing, I don't think they could imagine the internet/mobile phones/digital technology etc. Can WE imagine what it will be like in, say, the year 2100? Jeez, I don't even WANT to...eating meat will be a crime or somethin'

  • If that really was Ben Harrison, why did he say his own name at the end of the recording?

  • In those days, when people were having their voices recorded on phonograph, they often did repeat their mames at the end. I know of recordings of the voices of other famous people, such as Florence Nightingale (nurse), Arthur Sullivan (composer) and Robert Browning (poet), where all these people gave their names on the recordings. I dare say there are others.

  • Yeah, exactly. Because people didn't have a clue what the president sounded like back then, what famous nurses, poets and composers sounded like, or what anyone outside of their suburb or village sounded like. It's very easy to take our multimedia kaleidoscopic view of the world's great and good for granted nowadays, when rock stars and movie icons arrogantly dress scruffily because they know they will be recognised anyway. Back then, if you were rich or important, you had to dress the part.

  • I looked in a telephone book for Gettysburg and could not find Lincoln`s address.

  • yeh president harrisson thats my name

    harrisson lol benjamin harrisson last name is harrisson president are called by their last name harrisson thank you guys i now u liked my speech

  • Very cool. But it's obvious that this is not Harrison's inaugural address, and his very words suggest it was recorded only after he left office.

    If anyone is going to post recordings of historical import here, PLEASE make an effort to make the accompanying information acurate!!

  • Presidents weren't inaugurated on January 20th until 1933. If this were his inaugural address, it would have been on March 4th.

  • Wasn't FDR's first inaugruation on March 4th also? I believe his 2nd one was the first January 20th one.

  • yes, it was his second one that was on January 20.

  • The date and identification on this video cannot be right. 1) Harrison is referring to something he did as president; therefore it cannot be from his inaugural address. 2) prior to 1937, presidents were inaugurated on Mar. 4, not Jan. 20.

  • Okay, I am not questioning that this is President Harrison, but it can`t be from his Inaugual address, because the Pan American Conference was according to the State Department`s website, convened in October 1889, a full 7 months after his Inauguration. So as a kind suggestion, maybe your should change the title of this video. Its awsome to hear the voice of a leader from sooo long ago! Thanks for this!

  • Like the so-called "Cleveland 1892 campaign" recording (which was really Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech) this is also an obvious fake. At the inaugural address for Harrison's only term, he could not be looking back at attending a Pan-American Congress as President.

  • Like the "Cleveland 1892 campaign" recording (really Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech), this is also an obvious fake. Harrison served only one term. So, in the inaugural address for that one term, he couldn't refer to having previously been at a Pan-American Congress AS PRESIDENT. He hadn't been ANYWHERE as president yet. What fool is posting this nonsense, and why does anyone believe it?

  • this was Rly amazing :D heReing somones voice fRom, almost a 120 yeaRs ago :o

  • The earliest President to ever be recorded! Very cool

  • This recording was made by Bettini in 1900-01 It is Harrison speaking about the Pan American Conference in which he was the head. You will hear reference to our two countries in the speech. It is the only recording I am aware of that Harrison made. There are no recordings of his from the time of his Presidency. The earliest existing recording of a President is Grover Cleveland from around 1892 when he was running for his unique non consecutive re-election.

  • Thank GOD for the Grammaphone and Edison for inventing the technology so that we may hear these treasures from yesteryear. WOW, as a 27 year old political junkie it's too bad this stuff isn't on CD, I mean the ENTIRE speeches.

  • MARVELOUS!

  • lol he sounds like he's high! amazing though that we have sounds recorded dating back to 1889. When was the microphone invented?

  • The Harrison's are my Great Uncles! What a brilliant video! It's nice hearing my ancestors voice. My Great grandmother Rebecca Harrison would be please too!

  • This is great. Is this the earliest recorded president voice? Thanks!

  • It's the earliest surviving recording, at the very least.

  • @sl5311 No, the earliest is believed to be that of Grover Cleveland.

  • @dallaskenn Which Cleveland term was his recording made for? His second term was after Harrison.

  • @iwebber88 Cleveland's voice recording was made during his first term.

  • @dallaskenn Ah, cool. Thanks.

  • @sl5311 Unless they find the recording of President Hayes (and I hope they do), Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897) is the earliest President of whom we have a voice recording.

  • thanks for this...amazing bit of early recorded audio history

  • Wow. Can't say i ever heard him before

  • Simply amazing history. Rutherford Hayes was the first president ever recorded,however that recording has long since been lost, making this the oldest recording of a u.s president in history. U.S.A! - All the way! - bay-bay!

  • i wonder what mr.hayes said in to the recorder back 130 years ago?????

  • I can't believe that i'm the only one so far who has commented on this piece of history. President Rutherford Hayes was the first president ever recorded, however that recording has long since been lost. Until they find it (if they ever do, which is almost 100% impossible) this taping of Benjamin Harrison is the oldest recording of a u.s president.

  • Hayes voice was recorded on foil and was discarded after playing. The problem with recording on leaded tin foil of the time was that it smoothed out after 2 plays and there was no way to preserve it. So Hayes's voice is lost forever to history.

  • That's a shame... These old recordings are priceless. Too bad they didn't get Hayes and other presidents to record their voices as the technology improved...even if it was years after their time in the White House.

  • this is great!

  • This isn't from his inaugural address. He was making a recording from a text after he had left office.

  • Apart from it obviously not being his inaugural "I WAS present..." the inauguration took place March 4th until I believe either Truman or Eisenhower's presidency.

  • It does seem rather unlikely that a guy would be talking about things he'd done as President of the United States the day he BECAME President of the United States...

  • is this the recording from 1889?

    when are the earliest voice recordings from?

  • The very earliest voice recording is a faint phonautograph recording of a French singer in 1860.

    The phonautograph was invented in 1857, predating the phonograph by 20 years.

    It used a similar technology to recording sound on film used in the movie industry starting in the 1930s.

    The recording was first replayed in 2008, since no playback device was invented in the 1850s to play those recordings!

    vienna wrote:

    is this the recording from 1889?

    when are the earliest voice recordings from?

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