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  Cleveland, Grover
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
<-  1907-01-01  
 
NameGrover Cleveland
Address
Buffalo, New York , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born March 18, 1837
DiedJune 24, 1908 (71 years)
ContributorJake
Last ModifedChronicler
Nov 20, 2021 04:38pm
Tags English - Married - Cancer - Presbyterian -
InfoThe First Democrat elected after the Civil War, Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later.

One of nine children of a Presbyterian minister, Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. He was raised in upstate New York. As a lawyer in Buffalo, he became notable for his single-minded concentration upon whatever task faced him.

At 44, he emerged into a political prominence that carried him to the White House in three years. Running as a reformer, he was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1881, and later, Governor of New York.

Cleveland won the Presidency with the combined support of Democrats and reform Republicans, the “Mugwumps,” who disliked the record of his opponent James G. Blaine of Maine.

A bachelor, Cleveland was ill at ease at first with all the comforts of the White House. “I must go to dinner,” he wrote a friend, “but I wish it was to eat a pickled herring a Swiss cheese and a chop at Louis’ instead of the French stuff I shall find.” In June 1886 Cleveland married 21-year-old Frances Folsom; he was the only President married in the White House.

Cleveland vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. Vetoing a bill to appropriate $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, he wrote: “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 vetoed many private pension bills to Civil War veterans whose claims were fraudulent. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland vetoed it, too.

He angered the railroads by ordering an investigation of western lands they held by Government grant. He forced them to return 81,000,000 acres. He also signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law attempting Federal regulation of the railroads.

In December 1887 he called on Congress to reduce high protective tariffs. Told that he had given Republicans an effective issue for the campaign of 1888, he retorted, “What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?” But Cleveland was defeated in 1888; although he won a larger popular majority than the Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison, he received fewer electoral votes.

Elected again in 1892, Cleveland faced an acute depression. He dealt directly with the Treasury crisis rather than with business failures, farm mortgage foreclosures, and unemployment. He obtained repeal of the mildly inflationary Sherman Silver Purchase Act and, with the aid of Wall Street, maintained the Treasury’s gold reserve.

When railroad strikers in Chicago violated an injunction, Cleveland sent Federal troops to enforce it. “If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a post card in Chicago,” he thundered, “that card will be delivered.”

Cleveland’s blunt treatment of the railroad strikers stirred the pride of many Americans. So did the vigorous way in which he forced Great Britain to accept arbitration of a disputed boundary in Venezuela. But his policies during the depression were generally unpopular. His party deserted him and nominated William Jennings Bryan in 1896.

After leaving the White House, Cleveland lived in retirement in Princeton, New Jersey. He died in 1908.

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JOB APPROVAL POLLS
DateFirmApproveDisapproveDon't Know
06/13/2007-06/24/2007 Rasmussen Reports 40.00% ( 0.0) 26.00% ( 0.0) 34.00% ( 0.0)

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band  Purchase RP 
An Honest President  Purchase FreedomDemocrat 

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION
Importance? 10.00000 Average

FAMILY
Wife Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston Jun 02, 1886-Jun 24, 1908
Daughter "Baby" Ruth Cleveland 1891-1904
Daughter Esther Cleveland Bosanquet 1893-1980
Daughter Marion Cleveland Dell Amen 1895-1977
Son Richard Folsom "Dick" Cleveland 1897-1974
Son Francis Grover Cleveland 1903-1996

INFORMATION LINKS
Grover Cleveland - First Annual Message (December 8, 1885)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - First Annual Message (Second Term) (December 4, 1893)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - Fourth Annual Message (December 3, 1888)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - Fourth Annual Message (Second Term) (December 7, 1896)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - Second Annual Message (December 6, 1886)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - Second Annual Message (Second Term) (December 3, 1894)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - Third Annual Message (December 6, 1887)  Discuss
Grover Cleveland - Third Annual Message (Second Term) (December 2, 1895)  Discuss
Message about Hawaii - Grover Cleveland  Discuss
Message on the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act - Grover Cleveland  Discuss
President Grover Cleveland Inaugural Address March 4, 1885  Discuss
President Grover Cleveland Inaugural Address March 4, 1893  Discuss
RACES
  01/09/1893 US President Won 62.39% (+29.73%)
  11/08/1892 US President National Vote Won 46.05% (+3.09%)
  06/23/1892 US President - D Convention Won 67.84% (+55.32%)
  01/14/1889 US President Lost 41.90% (-16.21%)
  11/06/1888 US President National Vote Won 48.62% (+0.80%)
  06/07/1888 US President - D Convention Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/03/1884 US President Won 54.61% (+9.23%)
  11/04/1884 US President National Vote Won 48.48% (+0.26%)
  07/11/1884 US President - D Convention Won 59.08% (+44.38%)
  11/07/1882 NY Governor Won 58.47% (+21.06%)
  09/22/1882 NY Governor - Anti-Monopoly Convention Won 34.42% (+8.97%)
  11/08/1881 Buffalo, NY Mayor Won 56.74% (+13.48%)
ENDORSEMENTS
US President - Jan 11, 1897 D John McAuley Palmer
US President National Vote - Nov 03, 1896 D John McAuley Palmer