The Second Term Curse: Grover Cleveland's Second Term
Grover Cleveland remains as the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms. In 1884, he defeated James G. Blaine to become the first Democrat to win the Presidency since before the Civil War. Cleveland lost his bid for re-election in 1888 to Republican Benjamin Harrison, despite winning the popular vote in that election. In 1892 Cleveland won the rematch with Harrison. It is said that when the Clevelands left the White House in 1889, Cleveland's wife Francis promised that they would be back, and she was correct.
But the second term was not without its problems, despite the hiatus that Cleveland had enjoyed. Early in his second term, in 1893, Cleveland had what was believed to be a cancerous tumor in his jaw. He secretly underwent oral surgery to remove the tumor. Cleveland decided to have the surgery secretly. The nation was undergoing a severe depression known as the Panic of 1893. Cleveland believed that in order to avoid further panic that might worsen the financial depression, he needed to keep his condition out of the news. The surgery occurred on July 1, 1893. It was timed in order to give Cleveland time to make a full recovery in time for the upcoming Congressional session. The surgeons operated aboard the Oneida, a yacht owned by Cleveland's friend E. C. Benedict, as it sailed off Long Island. The surgery was conducted through the inside of the president's mouth, to avoid any scars or other signs of surgery. The surgery left Cleveland's mouth disfigured due to the size of the tumor. A second surgery was later performed in which Cleveland was fitted with a hard rubber dental prosthesis that corrected his speech and restored his appearance. The White House falsely told reporters that Cleveland was having two bad teeth removed, and the press did not question this. Cleveland's operation would not be revealed to the public until 1917.
Shortly after Cleveland's second term began, the Panic of 1893 struck the stock market, and the Cleveland administration faced an acute economic depression. The panic was sparked by the collapse of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. At the time, European credit played a major role in the U.S. economy and European investors often invested in the American economy. But international investor confidence had been damaged by a financial crisis in Argentina, which had nearly caused the collapse of the London-based Barings Bank. Europe itself was experiencing poor economic conditions. The Argentinian financial crisis led many European investors to liquidate their American investments. Making matters worse, the south was experiencing a poor cotton crop, an important export at the time. All of this left the U.S. financial system with insufficient financial resources. The U.S. still did not have a central banking system, so the federal government had little control over the money supply. As panic spread, a May 1893 bank run throughout the nation left the financial system with even less resources.
Cleveland was opposed to bimetallism (backing currency by both gold and silver.) He though this encouraged the hoarding of gold and discouraged investment from European financiers. He argued that adopting the gold standard would alleviate the economic crisis by providing a hard currency (i.e. one with secure backing). He sought to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and end the coinage of silver-based currency. Cleveland called a special session of Congress, set to begin in August 1893. The House of Representatives debated for fifteen weeks before passing the repeal by a considerable margin. In the Senate, the repeal of silver coinage was equally contentious. Cleveland was able to convince several Senate Democrats to support repeal The repeal bill passed the Senate by a 48–37 majority. It was the beginning of the end of silver as a basis for American currency.
The repeal failed to restore investor confidence, as hundreds of banks and other businesses failed, and 25 percent of the nation's railroads were in receivership by 1895. Unemployment rates rose above 20 percent in much of the country, while those who had jobs experienced significant wage cuts. The economic panic also caused a drastic reduction in government revenue. In 1894, with the government in danger of being unable to meet its expenditures, Cleveland convinced a group led by financier J. P. Morgan to purchase sixty million dollars in U.S. bonds. The deal resulted in an infusion of gold into the economy, allowing for the continuation of the gold standard. Cleveland was criticized for relying on Wall Street bankers to keep the government running.
The Panic of 1893 caused significant labor unrest across the United States. A group of workingmen led by Jacob S. Coxey began to march east toward Washington, D.C. to protest Cleveland's policies. This group, known as Coxey's Army, called for a national roadbuilding program to give jobs to workingmen, and a bimetallist currency to help farmers pay their debts. The march began with just 122 participants, but as others joined Coxey's Army along its route, a much larger force arrived in Washington. The marchers were dispersed by the U.S. Army and were prosecuted for demonstrating in front of the United States Capitol. Coxey returned to Ohio to unsuccessfully run for Congress as a member of the Populist Party in the 1894 elections. Coxey's Army did not present a serious threat to the government, but it signaled growing labor unrest.
As railroads suffered from declining profits, they cut wages for their workers. By April 1894, the average railroad worker's pay had declined by over 25 percent since the start of 1893. Socialist Eugene V. Debs led the American Railway Union (ARU) in organized strikes against the Northern Pacific Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The strikes soon spread to other industries, including the Pullman Company. After George Pullman refused to negotiate with the ARU and laid off workers involved with the union, the ARU refused to service any railroad car constructed by the Pullman Company, beginning the Pullman Strike. By June 1894, 125,000 railroad workers were on strike. The railroads carried the mail, and because several of the affected lines were in federal receivership, Cleveland decided to act in the conflict. Cleveland obtained an injunction in federal court, and when the strikers refused to obey it, he sent federal troops into Chicago and 20 other rail centers to enforce the court order. Governor John P. Altgeld of Illinois angrily protested Cleveland's deployment of troops. Newspapers supported Cleveland's actions, but the use of troops turned organized labor against Cleveland's administration. Cleveland's action was be upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of In re Debs, which sanctioned the president's right to intervene in labor disputes that affected interstate commerce.
Another issue concerned the McKinley Tariff, which Democrats opposed because the argued that it raised consumer prices. West Virginian Representative William L. Wilson introduced a tariff reduction bill, co-written with Cleveland administration, in December 1893. The bill proposed moderate reductions in the tariff. It proposed that the shortfall in revenue be made up by an income tax of two percent on income above $4,000. Corporate profits, gifts, and inheritances were also to be taxed at a rate of 2%. After lengthy debate, the bill passed the House by a considerable margin. The bill passed the Senate with more than 600 amendments attached that nullified most of the reforms. Cleveland was outraged with the final bill. However he believed that the bill was an improvement over the McKinley tariff and allowed it to become law without his signature. The personal income tax included in the tariff was struck down by the Supreme Court in the 1895 case, Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
Cleveland was no supporter of increased civil rights for African-Americans. Ge approved of the 1896 Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson, which recognized the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. With the Supreme Court and the Cleveland administration both unwilling to intervene to protect the suffrage of African-Americans, Southern states continued to pass numerous Jim Crow laws, effectively denying suffrage to many African Americans through a combination of poll taxes, literacy and comprehension tests, and residency and record-keeping requirements.
In the 1894 mid-term elections, Republicans won their biggest landslide in decades, taking full control of the House. Democrats experienced losses everywhere outside of the South. For the last two years of his term, Cleveland faced a Republican-controlled Congress, and the remaining Democrats in Congress consisted largely of agrarian-oriented Southerners who held little allegiance to Cleveland. Cleveland's support for the gold standard made him unpopular within his own party and made his renomination by the Democrats highly unlikely. The Panic of 1893 had destroyed Cleveland's popularity, even within his own party. Cleveland never publicly announced that he would not seek re-election, but he had no intention of running for a third term. Cleveland kept silent on who might succeed him . His agrarian and silverite enemies won control of the Democratic National Convention, They rejected and criticized Cleveland's administration and the gold standard. They nominated William Jennings Bryan on a Silver Platform. Cleveland supported the Gold Democrats' third-party ticket that promised to defend the gold standard, limit government, and oppose high tariffs, but he declined the splinter group's offer to run for a third term. The economic and other woes of his second term torpedoed any possibility of a third term for Cleveland or for any hand-picked successor.
But the second term was not without its problems, despite the hiatus that Cleveland had enjoyed. Early in his second term, in 1893, Cleveland had what was believed to be a cancerous tumor in his jaw. He secretly underwent oral surgery to remove the tumor. Cleveland decided to have the surgery secretly. The nation was undergoing a severe depression known as the Panic of 1893. Cleveland believed that in order to avoid further panic that might worsen the financial depression, he needed to keep his condition out of the news. The surgery occurred on July 1, 1893. It was timed in order to give Cleveland time to make a full recovery in time for the upcoming Congressional session. The surgeons operated aboard the Oneida, a yacht owned by Cleveland's friend E. C. Benedict, as it sailed off Long Island. The surgery was conducted through the inside of the president's mouth, to avoid any scars or other signs of surgery. The surgery left Cleveland's mouth disfigured due to the size of the tumor. A second surgery was later performed in which Cleveland was fitted with a hard rubber dental prosthesis that corrected his speech and restored his appearance. The White House falsely told reporters that Cleveland was having two bad teeth removed, and the press did not question this. Cleveland's operation would not be revealed to the public until 1917.
Shortly after Cleveland's second term began, the Panic of 1893 struck the stock market, and the Cleveland administration faced an acute economic depression. The panic was sparked by the collapse of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. At the time, European credit played a major role in the U.S. economy and European investors often invested in the American economy. But international investor confidence had been damaged by a financial crisis in Argentina, which had nearly caused the collapse of the London-based Barings Bank. Europe itself was experiencing poor economic conditions. The Argentinian financial crisis led many European investors to liquidate their American investments. Making matters worse, the south was experiencing a poor cotton crop, an important export at the time. All of this left the U.S. financial system with insufficient financial resources. The U.S. still did not have a central banking system, so the federal government had little control over the money supply. As panic spread, a May 1893 bank run throughout the nation left the financial system with even less resources.
Cleveland was opposed to bimetallism (backing currency by both gold and silver.) He though this encouraged the hoarding of gold and discouraged investment from European financiers. He argued that adopting the gold standard would alleviate the economic crisis by providing a hard currency (i.e. one with secure backing). He sought to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and end the coinage of silver-based currency. Cleveland called a special session of Congress, set to begin in August 1893. The House of Representatives debated for fifteen weeks before passing the repeal by a considerable margin. In the Senate, the repeal of silver coinage was equally contentious. Cleveland was able to convince several Senate Democrats to support repeal The repeal bill passed the Senate by a 48–37 majority. It was the beginning of the end of silver as a basis for American currency.
The repeal failed to restore investor confidence, as hundreds of banks and other businesses failed, and 25 percent of the nation's railroads were in receivership by 1895. Unemployment rates rose above 20 percent in much of the country, while those who had jobs experienced significant wage cuts. The economic panic also caused a drastic reduction in government revenue. In 1894, with the government in danger of being unable to meet its expenditures, Cleveland convinced a group led by financier J. P. Morgan to purchase sixty million dollars in U.S. bonds. The deal resulted in an infusion of gold into the economy, allowing for the continuation of the gold standard. Cleveland was criticized for relying on Wall Street bankers to keep the government running.
The Panic of 1893 caused significant labor unrest across the United States. A group of workingmen led by Jacob S. Coxey began to march east toward Washington, D.C. to protest Cleveland's policies. This group, known as Coxey's Army, called for a national roadbuilding program to give jobs to workingmen, and a bimetallist currency to help farmers pay their debts. The march began with just 122 participants, but as others joined Coxey's Army along its route, a much larger force arrived in Washington. The marchers were dispersed by the U.S. Army and were prosecuted for demonstrating in front of the United States Capitol. Coxey returned to Ohio to unsuccessfully run for Congress as a member of the Populist Party in the 1894 elections. Coxey's Army did not present a serious threat to the government, but it signaled growing labor unrest.
As railroads suffered from declining profits, they cut wages for their workers. By April 1894, the average railroad worker's pay had declined by over 25 percent since the start of 1893. Socialist Eugene V. Debs led the American Railway Union (ARU) in organized strikes against the Northern Pacific Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The strikes soon spread to other industries, including the Pullman Company. After George Pullman refused to negotiate with the ARU and laid off workers involved with the union, the ARU refused to service any railroad car constructed by the Pullman Company, beginning the Pullman Strike. By June 1894, 125,000 railroad workers were on strike. The railroads carried the mail, and because several of the affected lines were in federal receivership, Cleveland decided to act in the conflict. Cleveland obtained an injunction in federal court, and when the strikers refused to obey it, he sent federal troops into Chicago and 20 other rail centers to enforce the court order. Governor John P. Altgeld of Illinois angrily protested Cleveland's deployment of troops. Newspapers supported Cleveland's actions, but the use of troops turned organized labor against Cleveland's administration. Cleveland's action was be upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of In re Debs, which sanctioned the president's right to intervene in labor disputes that affected interstate commerce.
Another issue concerned the McKinley Tariff, which Democrats opposed because the argued that it raised consumer prices. West Virginian Representative William L. Wilson introduced a tariff reduction bill, co-written with Cleveland administration, in December 1893. The bill proposed moderate reductions in the tariff. It proposed that the shortfall in revenue be made up by an income tax of two percent on income above $4,000. Corporate profits, gifts, and inheritances were also to be taxed at a rate of 2%. After lengthy debate, the bill passed the House by a considerable margin. The bill passed the Senate with more than 600 amendments attached that nullified most of the reforms. Cleveland was outraged with the final bill. However he believed that the bill was an improvement over the McKinley tariff and allowed it to become law without his signature. The personal income tax included in the tariff was struck down by the Supreme Court in the 1895 case, Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
Cleveland was no supporter of increased civil rights for African-Americans. Ge approved of the 1896 Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson, which recognized the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. With the Supreme Court and the Cleveland administration both unwilling to intervene to protect the suffrage of African-Americans, Southern states continued to pass numerous Jim Crow laws, effectively denying suffrage to many African Americans through a combination of poll taxes, literacy and comprehension tests, and residency and record-keeping requirements.
In the 1894 mid-term elections, Republicans won their biggest landslide in decades, taking full control of the House. Democrats experienced losses everywhere outside of the South. For the last two years of his term, Cleveland faced a Republican-controlled Congress, and the remaining Democrats in Congress consisted largely of agrarian-oriented Southerners who held little allegiance to Cleveland. Cleveland's support for the gold standard made him unpopular within his own party and made his renomination by the Democrats highly unlikely. The Panic of 1893 had destroyed Cleveland's popularity, even within his own party. Cleveland never publicly announced that he would not seek re-election, but he had no intention of running for a third term. Cleveland kept silent on who might succeed him . His agrarian and silverite enemies won control of the Democratic National Convention, They rejected and criticized Cleveland's administration and the gold standard. They nominated William Jennings Bryan on a Silver Platform. Cleveland supported the Gold Democrats' third-party ticket that promised to defend the gold standard, limit government, and oppose high tariffs, but he declined the splinter group's offer to run for a third term. The economic and other woes of his second term torpedoed any possibility of a third term for Cleveland or for any hand-picked successor.