Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland
24th President of the United States
Term of office March 4, 1893 - March 4, 1897
Political party	Democratic
Vice President	Adlai E. Stevenson
Preceded by	Benjamin Harrison
Succeeded by	William McKinley
22nd President of the United States
Term of office March 4, 1885 - March 4, 1889
Vice-Presidents	Thomas Hendricks (1885) None (1885-1889)
Preceded by	Chester A. Arthur
Succeeded by	Benjamin Harrison
Born	March 18, 1837 Caldwell, New Jersey
Died	June 24, 1908 Princeton, New Jersey
Spouse	Frances Folsom Cleveland
Religion	Presbyterian

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States of America, and was unique in that he was the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms. He was elected in 1884, defeated for reelection in 1888, then elected to a second term in 1892. Cleveland was the only Democrat elected president between James Buchanan in 1856 and Woodrow Wilson in 1812.

In the 21st century some conservatives praise his values. Cleveland supported the gold standard and lower tariffs, and opposed imperialism, corruption, patronage, vetrans' pensions, high taxes and silver-based inflation. It has been said that Cleveland was the last small government president the Democrats ever elected.

Cleveland's first term (1885-1889) was uneventful, but his second term (1893-97) was fillled with economic crises and political upheavals. Cleveland was famous for breaking the Pullman strike of 1894, which was paralyzing much of the nationaal transportation grid west of Detroit. He was repudiated by his Democratic Party in 1896, as it nominated William Jennings bryan in 1896, 1900 and 1908; Bryan lost each time. However the Democrats nominated Clevand supporters Alton Parker in 1804 (he lost), and Wilson in 1912 (he won).

Early Days

Cleveland was born in Caldwell, New Jersey on March 18, 1837. He had five brothers and four sisters. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman, and moved around a lot. His second brother was hanged for murder in Utah in 1882.

He avoided the draft in the Civil War by hiring somebody else to take his place.

He graduated from Princeton and became a lawyer in Buffalo New York. After being a lawyer, he was elected sheriff of Erie in 1870 and hung many people while in office personally. He was a strong supporter of the Death Penalty.

He was a big friend of Teddy Roosevelt. When he was 40 he ran for Mayor of Buffalo and won. Many people praised his honesty and he was very popular. In 1882, he was elected Governor.

As President

Both Democrats and Republicans voted for Cleveland for President because his opponent, James G. Blaine, was tarnished with allegations of corruption. Part of Blaine's problem centered around a suspicious letter which terminated with the words, "burn this letter." Blaine's detractors would march and chant "Burn, Burn, Burn this letter!"

In a similar manner, Cleveland opponents sought to use the fact that he had an illegitimate child against him. However Cleveland, nicknamed "Grover the Good," proved himself to be a man of integrity; rather than denying the allegations, he owned up to the fact that he had an illegitimate child. Even though Cleveland's opponents would shout, "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?", his supporters had a trenchant rejoinder, "Gone to the White House! Ha Ha Ha!"

Personal life

Grover Cleveland in June 1886 was married to Frances Folsom Cleveland in the White House. This was the second President married in office, and also married in the White House itself. Some were offended that Celveland was marrying somebody who was 21 years old and his legal guardian too. The Clevelands had many children while in office.

Actions as President

Cleveland voted against many spending bills and Government ideas, making him the first modern Conservative. He vetoed a bill to give $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, and said: "Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character...." He also blocked funding to Civil War veterans, which some said was good but some said went too far. Cleveland used the veto a lot but said he did not like Presidential power and thought the best thing he could do was to stop congress from doing bad things.

In 1886 Geronimo was captured by Grover Cleveland, ending the Indian wars.

The same year in October Cleveland finished the Statue of Liberty in New York and read its dedication in fluent French, as a tribute to its creator, Jean Renoir.

Critics criticizing Cleveland criticize him for signing the Interstate Commerce Act this term, the first critical attempt at Federal regulation.

Against Tarrifs

In 1887 Cleveland began to battle the tariff. Unlike today Republicans claimed a high tariff made for high wages, high profits, and fast economic expansion. Cleveland was not able to kill the tariff, and was defeated in 1888 because of it.

Military Buildup

A very conservative man, Cleveland did not think the United States should invade another country for any reason. However, Cleveland also was in favor of having a strong national defense, and built up the U.S. navy to a huge extent. Teddy Roosevelt was his secretary of the Navy.

1888 campaign

Cleveland lost the 1888 Presidential Election to Republican Benjamin Harrison, one of the few times the Republican was less conservative than the Democrat. Harrison won the Electoral College by a 204-197 margin, but Cleveland won the popular vote. This was the last campaign prior to the 2000 Bush and Gore presidential election that the winner did not receive the popular vote.

2nd Presidency

Cleveland campaigned to reduce the tariff and stopping the silver people which had lessened the gold reserves of the U.S. Treasury. Cleveland became the only person ever elected president twice when he was elected again in the 1892 Eresidential Election.

As President

Like George W. Bush, Cleveland was beset by a stock market crash shortly after becoming president. He successfully navigated the country out of that crisis.

1884 was the year of the famous Pullman strike in Chicago, where workers tried to stop delivering the mail. He sent the army to Chicago to battle the unionizers, saying that "If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a postcard in Chicago that card will be delivered."

Second Tarriff War

Again he tried to kill the tariff in 1893. The "Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act" was very good at first, but when it went through the Senate it became very bad and filled with loopholes. However, the bill eventually was passed and the tarrif was partially killed, but not enough so that Cleveland refused to sign the bill.

Liberals took over the Democrats in 1896 and with the help of Populist firebrand William Jennings Bryan tried to end the use of gold and protectionism. Jennings lost the Presidency in 1896 and 1900, but in 1904 conservatives and Cleveland came back, and nominated successful candidate (although he did not win because of the strong candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt) Alton Parker.

Military

Cleveland was good at pushing around the English without evoking war, and did a lot of stuff with the power of his Navy, which he continued to build. This Navy was so strong it helped to bring about a quick American victory in the Spanish-American war in 1898 when Cleveland was out of office.

At first Cleveland did not support the revolutionaries in Hawaii who in 1894 overthrew the queen and established a Democracy. In fact, he tried to discredit their actions via the controversial Blount Report issued by James Henderson Blount under his direction. Later, however, he supported the revolutionaries when the Queen demanded the death of every single one.

Death and Later Life

Cleveland, nicknamed 'the Growler', retired to Princeton. There he became enemies with Woodrow Wilson, who was President of the school. Some people wanted him to run again in 1904, but he was too old. Sometimes President Theodore Roosevelt asked him for advice.

Cleveland died on June 24, 1908 from a heart and kidney disease, with his wife at his side. He is buried in the Princeton Cemetery.

Honors and memorials

Cleveland has been on many dollar bills, including the $1000 bill and some of the first $20 bills before Andrew Jackson was put on.

He will be on two dollar coins to be released in 2012 like every other president will, except one for each presidency.

Trivia

• He is both the 22nd and the 24th President because this confused people and he had to be proclaimed both presidents so the issue was cleared up.

• The baseball player Grover Cleveland Alexander was named after him.

• A riverboat known as the Cleveland Steamer was named after him.

• Cleveland's grandson is a Presidential impersonator.

• Cleveland's granddaughter Foot is a philosopher at Oxford.

• Many people said Cleveland was harsh to the poor, but he just favored personal accountability.

• Cleveland was the only police officer to ever become president.

• Grover Cleveland's last words were "I have tried so hard to do right."

References

• President Cleveland Message about Hawaii December 18, 1893 - Cleveland's message where he tried to discredit the Hawaiian Revolution. It was contradicted by the Congressionally issued Morgan Report in 1894.