 At the time, no private building in the city had electricity, and the only government-owned building which did was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.President Benjamin Harrison and his family considered electricity dangerous, and no one in the Harrison family would even turn a light switch for fear of electrocution.On May 15, when Hoover finished the installation, he was asked by President Harrison to leave Edison Electric and join the White House staff as an electrician.