Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. He won election in 1884, lost in 1888, then won again in 1892.

Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837, one of nine children born to a Presbyterian minister and his wife. He spent most of his childhood in rural upstate New York , where he worked hard and learned the value of a dollar.

Cleveland's father died when the boy was just sixteen; this resulted in Cleveland deciding against attending college, in favor of working to help support his family. He instead moved to Buffalo, New York, where he apprenticed at a law firm, then became a lawyer. The future president avoided fighting in the American Civil War (1861–65) by hiring someone else to take his place, a legal practice during that era.

In 1870, Cleveland was elected to a three-year term as sheriff of Erie County, New York. It was a job well suited to the lawyer, who firmly believed in public law and order. He earned a reputation for telling the truth, regardless of who it affected or involved. It was a characteristic that served him well politically. By the end of the 1870s, the city's upper class admired Cleveland; he was ready to delve further into politics.

From mayor to president

Cleveland was elected mayor of Buffalo in 1881. He endeared himself to the state's Democrats as he became known as the “veto mayor.” By vetoing, or voting against, many of the bills that crossed his desk, Cleveland curbed public spending and helped the city run more honestly and efficiently. The Democratic Party nominated the mayor as its choice for governor, and Cleveland won the election in 1882 by a large margin. He continued to use the power of the veto, and by 1884 he was the Democratic favorite to run as president.

Cleveland ran against former U.S. senator James G. Blaine (1830–1893) of Maine , a Republican leader with years of political experience. During the campaign, Blaine's supporters brought Cleveland's honesty into question by accusing him of fathering a child out of wedlock. Rather than deny the accusation, Cleveland admitted to being the boy's father and instructed his campaigners to tell the truth.

The scandal did not keep Cleveland from the White House, and he became the first Democrat to lead the country in twenty-eight years. He spent his first years trying to clean up the federal government and rid it of inefficiency and dishonesty. One of the major ways he accomplished this was to veto private pension bills for Civil War veterans who he believed were lying about or exaggerating their injuries. Past presidents had passed these bills without hesitation, and Cleveland's refusal to do the same angered some Americans. Likewise, he refused to give government assistance to farmers in the West, who had lost crops and thousands of dollars to drought.

Cleveland married twenty-one-year-old Frances Folsom (1864–1947) in 1886. He was the first president to marry while in the White House, and his young wife brought him great happiness. The couple eventually had five children.

Loses, then wins, election

Toward the end of his first term in office, Cleveland began focusing on reducing federal tariffs (taxes) on imported goods. Republicans traditionally were in favor of high tariffs because the money collected allowed the federal treasury to grow. Cleveland believed taxes did little more than increase the profits of big businesses and raise prices for consumers. High tariffs had been a reality for so long, however, that Cleveland was unable to motivate the Democratic Party to support his efforts.

The tariff issue hurt Cleveland, who did not enjoy making speeches and so made little effort to defend himself against the Republican Party . He lost the 1888 election to his Republican opponent, former U.S. senator Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901; served 1889–93) of Indiana . It would not happen a second time, however, and Cleveland returned to the White House for another four years after he defeated Harrison in the 1892 election.

A difficult term

Cleveland's second term was besieged by problems beyond his control. In 1893, he underwent an operation to remove a tumor in his jaw. The operation, performed without the public's knowledge, was successful, but it drained the president of his energy. At the same time, the country experienced its worst-ever economic depression. Hundreds of businesses closed, and foreign investors withdrew their money out of fear.

In response, Cleveland repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act that had been passed in 1890. The act had required the government to purchase twice as much silver as it had before and put into circulation much more money than had previously been available. The abundance of silver in circulation threatened to deplete the treasury's gold reserve. Although the repeal did help replenish the gold supply, Cleveland's fellow Democrats were offended by the way he bullied them into signing the repeal. He lost a great deal of his power and influence by this event.

Pullman strike

By 1894, the United States was in the worst economic conditions it had ever known. Wages were cut, factories closed, and hundreds of thousands of citizens were out of work. The American working class was angry, frustrated, and frightened. Cleveland sensed this and worried that this attitude would threaten public order.

His fears were realized when workers at the Pullman sleeping car company in Chicago, Illinois , went on strike in protest of wage cuts. The American Railway Union joined the Pullman workers to give them more power. In doing so, rail traffic throughout Chicago came to a complete halt. Mail could not be delivered; goods could not be transported in or out of the city, which affected business throughout the country.

Cleveland ordered military troops into Chicago to maintain order, but mob violence ensued for several days after their arrival. The Pullman strike was broken, however; it was the first time federal authorities had ever responded to a workers' strike.

The end of the Cleveland administration

Cleveland's administration and the president's lack of response to the horrible conditions Americans were living in were held responsible for the dire economic environment. Cleveland was not chosen by his party as the presidential nominee in 1896, an honor that instead went to lawyer and former U.S. representative William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) of Nebraska . The Democratic nominee lost to the Republican candidate, Ohio governor William McKinley (1843–1901; served 1897–1901) in November.

Cleveland was relieved to leave behind his job as president of the United States. He spent his last years on his New Jersey estate. He died of a heart attack in 1908 with his wife by his side.