| The Honourable Francis Burton Harrison |
|
|---|---|
| Governor-General of the Philippines | |
| In office October 6, 1913 – March 5, 1921 |
|
| President | Woodrow Wilson |
| Preceded by | Newton W. Gilbert |
| Succeeded by | Charles Yeater |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Francis Burton Harrison December 18, 1873 New York City, United States |
| Died | November 21, 1957 (aged 83) Hunterdon Medical Center, Raritan Township near Flemington, New Jersey, U.S |
| Resting place | Manila North Cemetery, Manila, Philippines |
Francis Burton Harrison (December 18, 1873 – November 21, 1957) was an American statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and appointed Governor-General of the Philippines by President of the United States Woodrow Wilson. Harrison was a prominent advisor to a commonwealth president and the first four Presidents of the Philippines.
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Harrison was born in New York City to Burton Harrison, a lawyer and private secretary to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Constance Cary Harrison, novelist and social arbiter. Through his mother, Harrison was great-grandson of Virginia-planter, Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. Through Fairfax in birth and marriage, Harrison was also relative to United States founding fathers: Gouverneur Morris (his great-great-uncle), Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, the Randolphs, the Ishams, and the Carters.
Harrison graduated from Yale University in 1895, where he was a member of the secret society Skull and Bones[1]:166, and from the New York Law School in 1897. From 1897 to 1899, Harrison was an instructor in the Evening Division at New York Law School. He later left to serve in United States Army during the Spanish-American War, first as captain and later as assistant adjutant general.
Harrison's first wife was Mary Crocker, daughter of California railroad and mining magnate Charles Frederick Crocker. They had married on June 7, 1900. She died in 1905 in an automoblie accident leaving Harrison to raise two small daughters, one of which was Barbara Harrison Wescott.[2] Harrison would marry and divorce five more times to: Mabel Judson Cox, Elizabeth Wrentmore, Margaret Wrentmore and Doria Lee.[3] His last wife, Maria Teresa, a young Filipino woman, outlived Harrison.
A member of the Democratic Party, Harrison was elected to the 58th United States Congress, and served from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1905. In 1904, Harrison ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of New York. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law. He was again elected to the 60th, 61st, 62nd and 63rd United States Congresses, and served from March 4, 1907 to September 3, 1913, when he resigned to become chief executive of the Philippines. His Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was eventually passed on December 17, 1914.
During his service in the Far East, Harrison was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1920 presidential election. He lost the nomination to Governor of Ohio James M. Cox at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.
A member of the Woodrow Wilson Administration, Harrison became Governor-General of the Philippines from 1913 to 1921. He was known for advancing the process of Filipinization, the increased transfer of authority to Filipinos in the colonial government so as to better prepare the country for independence by providing its people more experience through actual governing. Despite the length of his tenure as governor-general he vetoed only five bills, the least number by any American governor-general in the Philippines. His pro-Filipino stance made him a popular figure in the Philippines but also the object of criticism of conservative Americans who viewed his liberal governance as not supportive enough of U.S. interests.[4]
Under his administration, the Governor-General's mansion called Malacañang Palace was expanded with the construction of an executive building. Departing from the position, Harrison lived in Scotland until being recalled to the Philippines in 1934. The Philippines would be transitioned from United States territory to commonwealth with an elected Filipino government.
Manuel L. Quezon became the first President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and Harrison was asked to be Quezon's principal advisor in November 1935. He served in that capacity for ten months. He was also made an honorary Filipino citizen. Harrison would return to the position of advisor upon Quezon's request in May 1942, when Filipino and American troops surrendered the Philippines during World War II. Harrison would serve the government-in-exile.
From November 1946 to February 1947, Harrison served as Commissioner of Claims in the civil service of the United States Army in Manila. He later served as an advisor to the first four presidents of the newly proclaimed Philippine Republic after their independence was granted in 1946.
After his service to the Philippines at Malacañang Palace, Harrison retired to Spain for six years, then chose to move to Califon, New Jersey in August 1957.
Harrison died at Hunterdon Medical Center in Raritan Township near Flemington, New Jersey. He willed that he be buried in the Philippines so his corpse was shipped back from the United States and was interred in the Manila North Cemetery in La Loma, Manila.[5]
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Oliver Belmont |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 13th congressional district 1903–1905 |
Succeeded by Herbert Parsons |
| Preceded by Jacob Ruppert |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 16th congressional district 1907–1913 |
Succeeded by Peter J. Dooling |
| Preceded by Thomas W. Bradley |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 20th congressional district 1913 |
Succeeded by Jacob A. Cantor |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by William Cameron Forbes |
Governor-General of the Philippines 1913 - 1921 |
Succeeded by Charles Yeater |
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