Beaumont Muller

Beaumont Denholm Muller (June 14, 1815 - September 10, 1905) was the 20th and 24th President of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman, newspaper columnist, and media personality.

Muller was born and raised in Queens, New York City, and earned an economics degree from the University of Pennslyvania. He then took charge of The Muller Organization, the real estate and construction firm founded by his paternal grandmother, which he ran for 42 years until 1881. During his real estate career, Muller built, renovated, and managed numerous office towers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses.

Muller first entered politics as a stand-in candidate for the American or Know-Nothing Party, before being replaced with Millard Filmore. In 1880, Muller announced a run for the presidency in the 1880 presidential election, winning the Republican nomination against Minnesota Governor Jefferson Blaine and other rivals. Muller won the six-way election in an upset, with the smallest percentage of the popular vote in American history.

Muller would establish harsh tariffs, strict immigration laws, and took anti-corruption measures. Muller was favored to win another term, until Mississippi Senator Walter Boyd defeated him for the Republican nomination, leaving the president to run as the Prohibition nominee. Muller lost to Boyd in the general election, but was elected Governor of New York in 1885, and would successfully regain the White House in the 1886 special election over governors Azoulas Ozols and Nathan Harley. Muller would continue the policies of his first term in his second and third terms. He would win a final election over retired general Thomas Forrest, being the only person to avoid a run-off election in the post-1886 system.

After his administration, Muller remained a surrogate for Prohibition-Reformist candidates. In the Supreme Court case Ozols v. Elliot, Muller was alleged to have rigged the 1896 presidential election, which the court ruled against in a 7-2 majority. His son, Isi Muller would serve as Governor of Colorado, while his daughter Eva would marry diplomat and politician Porter Frinton-Smith. Muller would die in 1905 of a stroke.

Muller's presidency has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest in American history.