Remembering Grover Cleveland
On June 24, 1908 (103 years ago today) Grover Cleveland, who was both the 22nd and the 24th President of United States, died at his estate in Princeton, New Jersey. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were "I have tried so hard to do right."
Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, which is why he is counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He ran for President three times in 1884, 1888, and 1892 and won the popular vote every time. He was the only Democrat elected to the presidency between Lincoln and Wilson in an era of Republican political domination that lasted from 1860 to 1912. He was a pro-business Democrat who battled for political reform and fiscal conservatism. Cleveland was a reformer who campaigned against political corruption, patronage, and political bosses. During his second term a severe national depression hurt both Cleveland and the Democratic party.
After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897, Cleveland retired to his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. He was a trustee of Princeton University, and was one of the majority of trustees who preferred Dean West's plans for the Graduate School over those of College president Woodrow Wilson. Despite their being in different political parties, Cleveland consulted occasionally with President Theodore Roosevelt, but declined Roosevelt's offer to chair the commission appointed to resolve the coal strike of 1902. He wasn't shy about making his views known in political matters. For example, in a 1905 article in The Ladies Home Journal, Cleveland wrote about the women's suffrage movement, stating that "sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by men and women in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence."
Cleveland died from a heart attack, but had earlier survived cancer. in 1893 he saw White House doctor, Dr. O'Reilly, for soreness on the roof of his mouth and a crater-like edge ulcer with a granulated surface on the left side of Cleveland's palate. Samples of the tumor were sent anonymously to the army medical museum. The diagnosis was not a malignant cancer, but instead an epithelioma. Because of the financial depression of the country, Cleveland decided to have surgery performed in secrecy to avoid further market panic. The surgery took place on July 1, 1893. Under the guise of a vacation cruise, Cleveland and his surgeon, Dr. Joseph Bryant, left for New York. The surgeons operated aboard the yacht Oneida as it sailed off Long Island. The surgery was conducted through the president's mouth, to avoid any scars or other signs of surgery. Cleveland was sedated with nitrous oxide and ether. The doctors removed parts of his upper left jaw and palate. The size of the tumor and the extent of the operation left Cleveland's mouth disfigured. Another surgery was performed in which an orthodontist fitted Cleveland with a hard rubber prosthesis that corrected his speech and restored his appearance. The actual details of the surgery weren't disclosed to the public until 1917, nine years after Cleveland's death.
Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, which is why he is counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He ran for President three times in 1884, 1888, and 1892 and won the popular vote every time. He was the only Democrat elected to the presidency between Lincoln and Wilson in an era of Republican political domination that lasted from 1860 to 1912. He was a pro-business Democrat who battled for political reform and fiscal conservatism. Cleveland was a reformer who campaigned against political corruption, patronage, and political bosses. During his second term a severe national depression hurt both Cleveland and the Democratic party.
After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897, Cleveland retired to his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. He was a trustee of Princeton University, and was one of the majority of trustees who preferred Dean West's plans for the Graduate School over those of College president Woodrow Wilson. Despite their being in different political parties, Cleveland consulted occasionally with President Theodore Roosevelt, but declined Roosevelt's offer to chair the commission appointed to resolve the coal strike of 1902. He wasn't shy about making his views known in political matters. For example, in a 1905 article in The Ladies Home Journal, Cleveland wrote about the women's suffrage movement, stating that "sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by men and women in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence."
Cleveland died from a heart attack, but had earlier survived cancer. in 1893 he saw White House doctor, Dr. O'Reilly, for soreness on the roof of his mouth and a crater-like edge ulcer with a granulated surface on the left side of Cleveland's palate. Samples of the tumor were sent anonymously to the army medical museum. The diagnosis was not a malignant cancer, but instead an epithelioma. Because of the financial depression of the country, Cleveland decided to have surgery performed in secrecy to avoid further market panic. The surgery took place on July 1, 1893. Under the guise of a vacation cruise, Cleveland and his surgeon, Dr. Joseph Bryant, left for New York. The surgeons operated aboard the yacht Oneida as it sailed off Long Island. The surgery was conducted through the president's mouth, to avoid any scars or other signs of surgery. Cleveland was sedated with nitrous oxide and ether. The doctors removed parts of his upper left jaw and palate. The size of the tumor and the extent of the operation left Cleveland's mouth disfigured. Another surgery was performed in which an orthodontist fitted Cleveland with a hard rubber prosthesis that corrected his speech and restored his appearance. The actual details of the surgery weren't disclosed to the public until 1917, nine years after Cleveland's death.