{"id":6226,"date":"2016-11-30T10:06:28","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T15:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6226"},"modified":"2016-12-08T09:51:36","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T14:51:36","slug":"cincinnati-politics-and-porker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6226","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati: Politics and Porker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photo labeled for reuse: ArtWorks Cincinnati<\/p><\/div>\n

From before the Civil War to the career of John Boehner, southwest Ohio has been steeped in politics. So maybe it should come as no surprise that later this week the president-elect is launching his \u201cthank you\u201d tour in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the city\u2019s renown as the pig processing capital of the country earned it the sobriquet \u201cporkopolis,\u201d as a Cincy native recently reminded me. In the early 1800s, herds of pigs trammeled the streets. No more, we were glad to learn when we visited the sites below, though an ArtWorks project means you encounter gaily painted flying pigs all around town.<\/p>\n

Politics and pork, together forever. Or was that politics and poker<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Harriet Beecher Stowe House<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Stowe\u2019s dramatic 1852 novel, Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin<\/em>, sold more than 1.5 million copies its first year and has been translated into some 75 languages. Historians credit her depiction of the horrors of slavery and the desperation of runaway slaves as energizing the U.S. anti-slavery movement. She based the book on her own experiences. She\u2019d seen slaves in nearby Kentucky and the repugnant activities of slave-hunters in Ohio (a free state) after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, and she could convey the profound sense of loss her characters experienced, based on her own grief after the death of her son Charlie. She lived in this house<\/a> as a young woman, and the Ohio History Connection has added displays about Cincinnati at the time, including one on the whole porkopolis thing.<\/p>\n

William Henry Harrison Tomb and Monument<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A few miles west of downtown, along a winding Ohio River drive to North Bend, you\u2019ll find the tomb and monument<\/a> to ninth U.S. President William Henry Harrison (\u201cOld Tippecanoe\u201d). He\u2019d already had a lengthy military and political career before becoming president at age 68, only to die after a month in office. He was pro-slavery and negotiated numerous extortionate treaties with the Indians that resulted in the loss of their lands. Although he came from a wealthy Virginia family, he pioneered modern campaign techniques, representing himself as a humble \u201cman of the people.\u201d This timely quote from President Harrison’s Inaugural Address is carved on one of the memorial’s stones:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as the love of power is a dominant passion of the human bosom, and as long as the understandings of men can be warped and their affections changed by operations upon their passions and prejudices, so long will the liberties of a people depend on their own constant attention to its preservation.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

William Howard Taft House<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Anders Zorn, Portrait of William Howard Taft, 1911<\/p><\/div>\n

Taft was the nation\u2019s 27th President and 10th Chief Justice, his favorite job. He lived in this house as a child and young adult. A Republican, he served as Governor of the Philippines and Teddy Roosevelt\u2019s Secretary of War, Vice-President, and right-hand man. (When Roosevelt sent feisty daughter Alice<\/a> to Asia with a delegation headed by Taft, one of the chief inducements for her was the opportunity to hobnob with another famous Cincinnati politician in the group, her future husband Nicholas Longworth.)<\/p>\n

Roosevelt was disappointed in Taft\u2019s presidency, though, and ran against his re-election in 1912, splitting the Republican vote and assuring a victory for Woodrow Wilson. Taft was much happier as Chief Justice and worked almost daily, modernizing Supreme Court procedures and practices. The nicely maintained house and National Park Service\u2019s visitor center<\/a> provide an interesting glimpse into the impressive contributions of the entire Taft family to life in Cincinnati and the nation.<\/p>\n

What To Read Between Stops<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n