[131]
The silver coinage issue had not been much discussed in the 1888 campaign and Harrison is said to have favored a bimetallist position.[127] However, his appointment of a silverite Treasury Secretary, William Windom, encouraged the free silver supporters.[132] Harrison attempted to steer a middle course between the two positions, advocating a free coinage of silver, but at its own value, not at a fixed ratio to gold.[133] This failed to facilitate a compromise between the factions. In July 1890, Senator Sherman achieved passage of a bill, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, in both houses.[133] Harrison thought that the bill would end the controversy, and he signed it into law.[134] The effect of the bill, however, was the increased depletion of the nation's gold supply, a problem that would persist until the second Cleveland administration resolved it.[135]

Civil rights
Harrison with Secretary Blaine and Representative Henry Cabot Lodge off the coast of Maine, 1889
After regaining the majority in both Houses of Congress, some Republicans, led by Harrison, attempted to pass legislation to protect black Americans' civil rights. 