By Isle of Wight Observer
The Isle of Wight Observer published on 24th November, 1888, contained the following nugget about the Republican candidate in the presidential election of that year. Clearly the enthusiastic handshaking did some good as Benjamin Harrison beat the incumbent Grover Cleveland. He was sworn in as 23rd President of the United States of America on Monday, March 4 the following year. Harrison lasted only one term and in 1893 Cleveland beat him to become the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms. The second is Donald Trump.
AMERICAN HANDSHAKING STATISTICS – An American paper, a fortnight old, just to hand, estimates that up to that date General Harrison had shaken hands with 220,000 people. As he goes through the pump handle motion thoroughly, it is estimated the whole distance covered by his arm in the shake is about 6ft. An easy multiplication sum in arithmetic shows that the general’s hand, during the campaign, has travelled about 22 miles in shakes. What he has now accomplished in the way of handshaking we are not, of course, yet in a position to state, but taking congratulatory shakes into consideration, we should imagine his hand has travelled at least 50 miles by this time. It is said that Mrs. Cleveland’s right hand and arm, through constant handshaking, became abnormally developed, so much so that she was obliged to wear a different size glove for her right hand. She had to buy two different pairs of gloves at the right time!