Four More Years: Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland is unique among US Presidents in that he is the only one to serve non-consecutive terms in office. Perhaps one day Donald Trump might join Cleveland in this exclusive club, but so far no one else has accomplished what Cleveland did, even though Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses Grant and Theodore Roosevelt all tried.
Cleveland was first elected President in 1884, based on his reputation as a reformer. He was known by some as "Grover the Good", praised for his honesty, integrity, and his commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As Governor of New York he had fought political corruption, patronage, and bossism. He was so revered as a reformer, that the like-minded wing of the Republican Party, called the "Mugwumps", largely bolted the GOP presidential ticket and swung to his support in the 1884 election. But as Cleveland found out, sometimes a strong adherence to principle doesn't make for good politics after one is actually elected into office. In 1888, when Cleveland ran for re-election, his strong position on such issues as his opposition to pensions for Civil War veterans, his fidelity to the gold standard, and his support for low tariffs were not universally popular.
In 1888 the Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison, the former U.S. Senator from Indiana for president. Cleveland's re-election campaign was poorly managed, while the Republicans had more aggressive fundraisers and tacticians in Matt Quay and John Wanamaker. The Republicans campaigned heavily on the tariff issue, and their protectionist policies were more populist, especially in the important industrial states of the North. Democrats in New York were divided over the patronage issue. weakening Cleveland's support in his home state, a very important swing state. A letter from the British ambassador supporting Cleveland hurt Cleveland and cost him votes, especially in New York. The election focused on the swing states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana. But unlike four years earlier, when Cleveland had triumphed in all four states, in 1888 he won only two, losing his home state of New York by 14,373 votes. Cleveland won a plurality of the popular vote – 48.6 percent compared to 47.8 percent for Harrison. But Harrison won the Electoral College vote by a large margin of 233 to 168.
Incumbent presidents who lose elections are usually seen as unelectable in future campaigns, and their parties will typically look in another direction for the next campaign. But Cleveland and first lady Frances Cleveland had other ideas. When the first lady left the White House, she told a staff member, "Now, Jerry, I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want to find everything just as it is now, when we come back again." When asked when she would return, she responded, "We are coming back four years from today."
In between elections, the Clevelands moved to New York City, where Cleveland took a position with the law firm of Bangs, Stetson, Tracy, and MacVeigh. Cleveland's law practice brought only a moderate income, perhaps and Cleveland spent a lot of time at the couple's vacation home Gray Gables at Buzzard Bay. His passion appeared to be fishing rather than politics. While they lived in New York, the Clevelands' first child, Ruth, was born in 1891. She became known as "Baby Ruth."
The Harrison administration and the Republican controlled Congress went on to pass the McKinley Tariff, a very protectionist tariff, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which increased money backed by silver. These were policies Cleveland deplored. He considered them to be very harmful to the nation's financial health. Initially he refrained from criticizing Harrison, but by 1891 Cleveland could stand no more if his successor's policies and he began to speak out. He wrote an open letter to a meeting of reformers in New York, complaining about what was happening. This became known as the "silver letter" and its publication put Cleveland's name back into the political spotlight just as the 1892 election was approaching. There is dispute among historians whether Cleveland had always planned a comeback or if his frustration with what Harrison had done had forced a change of mind from a planned retirement. His wife's comments to the White House staff makes the former more likely.
Cleveland's prominent pronouncements on the monetary issues put his name front and center as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination. His leading opponent was David B. Hill, a Senator for New York. Hill tried to unite the anti-Cleveland elements of the Democratic party to support his candidacy. These included silverites, protectionists, and Tammany Hall. The problem was that on the former two issues, many of these voters were content with what the Republicans were doing. His attraction of support from Tammany alienated many other reform minded Democrats. Hill was unable to create a coalition large enough to take the nomination away from Cleveland, who was nominated on the first ballot at the Democrats' convention in Chicago. For vice president, the Democrats chose to hedge their bets and balance the ticket with Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, a silverite.
The Republicans re-nominated President Harrison, making the 1892 election a rematch of that held four years earlier. Cleveland's biographer Allan Nevins described the election of 1892 as "the cleanest, quietest, and most creditable in the memory of the post-war generation." Democrats refrained from attacks on Harrison in part because Harrison's wife, Caroline, was dying from tuberculosis and in part because it wasn't in keeping with the image that the party wanted to convey for their candidate. Harrison did not personally campaign at all and when Caroline Harrison died on October 25, two weeks before the national election, Cleveland stopped campaigning. Election Day was a somber occasion, not filled with the usual energy.
Voters in the election of 1892 had second thoughts about the Republicans' tariff policy. In the past four years imported goods had become so expensive that by 1892 many voters favored tariff reform and were mistrustful of big business. Many Westerners who traditionally voted Republican, left the party and parked their votes with third party candidate James Weaver, the candidate of the new Populist Party. Weaver promised Free Silver, generous veterans' pensions, and an eight-hour work day. Meanwhile, the Tammany Hall Democrats held their noses and supported Cleveland, in order that a united Democratic party could carry New York. By election day many Populists party supporters and labor supporters endorsed Cleveland because of an attempt by the Carnegie Corporation to break the union during the Homestead strike in Pittsburgh. A similar conflict between big business and labor at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. drew more support for Cleveland.
The final result was a victory for Cleveland. He won 277 electoral votes and received 5,556,918 popular votes (46%). Harrison finished second with 145 electoral votes and 5,176,108 popular votes (43%). Weaver won 22 electoral votes and 1,041,028 popular votes (8.5%).
Cleveland's second term would not be a successful one as agrarian and silverite enemies gained control of the Democratic party in 1896. They distanced themselves from Cleveland's administration and the gold standard, and nominated William Jennings Bryan on a Silver Platform. Cleveland declined a chance to run for president as candidate for the Gold Democrats' third-party ticket that promised to defend the gold standard, and oppose high tariffs. That party won only approximately 100,000 votes in the 1896 general election. After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897, Cleveland lived in retirement at his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. He consulted occasionally with President Theodore Roosevelt, but turned down an offer of the chairmanship of the commission handling the Coal Strike of 1902. His health had been declining for several years, and in the autumn of 1907 he fell seriously ill. In 1908, he suffered a heart attack and died on June 24 at age 71 in his Princeton residence. His last words were said to be: "I have tried so hard to do right."
Cleveland was first elected President in 1884, based on his reputation as a reformer. He was known by some as "Grover the Good", praised for his honesty, integrity, and his commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As Governor of New York he had fought political corruption, patronage, and bossism. He was so revered as a reformer, that the like-minded wing of the Republican Party, called the "Mugwumps", largely bolted the GOP presidential ticket and swung to his support in the 1884 election. But as Cleveland found out, sometimes a strong adherence to principle doesn't make for good politics after one is actually elected into office. In 1888, when Cleveland ran for re-election, his strong position on such issues as his opposition to pensions for Civil War veterans, his fidelity to the gold standard, and his support for low tariffs were not universally popular.
In 1888 the Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison, the former U.S. Senator from Indiana for president. Cleveland's re-election campaign was poorly managed, while the Republicans had more aggressive fundraisers and tacticians in Matt Quay and John Wanamaker. The Republicans campaigned heavily on the tariff issue, and their protectionist policies were more populist, especially in the important industrial states of the North. Democrats in New York were divided over the patronage issue. weakening Cleveland's support in his home state, a very important swing state. A letter from the British ambassador supporting Cleveland hurt Cleveland and cost him votes, especially in New York. The election focused on the swing states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana. But unlike four years earlier, when Cleveland had triumphed in all four states, in 1888 he won only two, losing his home state of New York by 14,373 votes. Cleveland won a plurality of the popular vote – 48.6 percent compared to 47.8 percent for Harrison. But Harrison won the Electoral College vote by a large margin of 233 to 168.
Incumbent presidents who lose elections are usually seen as unelectable in future campaigns, and their parties will typically look in another direction for the next campaign. But Cleveland and first lady Frances Cleveland had other ideas. When the first lady left the White House, she told a staff member, "Now, Jerry, I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want to find everything just as it is now, when we come back again." When asked when she would return, she responded, "We are coming back four years from today."
In between elections, the Clevelands moved to New York City, where Cleveland took a position with the law firm of Bangs, Stetson, Tracy, and MacVeigh. Cleveland's law practice brought only a moderate income, perhaps and Cleveland spent a lot of time at the couple's vacation home Gray Gables at Buzzard Bay. His passion appeared to be fishing rather than politics. While they lived in New York, the Clevelands' first child, Ruth, was born in 1891. She became known as "Baby Ruth."
The Harrison administration and the Republican controlled Congress went on to pass the McKinley Tariff, a very protectionist tariff, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which increased money backed by silver. These were policies Cleveland deplored. He considered them to be very harmful to the nation's financial health. Initially he refrained from criticizing Harrison, but by 1891 Cleveland could stand no more if his successor's policies and he began to speak out. He wrote an open letter to a meeting of reformers in New York, complaining about what was happening. This became known as the "silver letter" and its publication put Cleveland's name back into the political spotlight just as the 1892 election was approaching. There is dispute among historians whether Cleveland had always planned a comeback or if his frustration with what Harrison had done had forced a change of mind from a planned retirement. His wife's comments to the White House staff makes the former more likely.
Cleveland's prominent pronouncements on the monetary issues put his name front and center as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination. His leading opponent was David B. Hill, a Senator for New York. Hill tried to unite the anti-Cleveland elements of the Democratic party to support his candidacy. These included silverites, protectionists, and Tammany Hall. The problem was that on the former two issues, many of these voters were content with what the Republicans were doing. His attraction of support from Tammany alienated many other reform minded Democrats. Hill was unable to create a coalition large enough to take the nomination away from Cleveland, who was nominated on the first ballot at the Democrats' convention in Chicago. For vice president, the Democrats chose to hedge their bets and balance the ticket with Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, a silverite.
The Republicans re-nominated President Harrison, making the 1892 election a rematch of that held four years earlier. Cleveland's biographer Allan Nevins described the election of 1892 as "the cleanest, quietest, and most creditable in the memory of the post-war generation." Democrats refrained from attacks on Harrison in part because Harrison's wife, Caroline, was dying from tuberculosis and in part because it wasn't in keeping with the image that the party wanted to convey for their candidate. Harrison did not personally campaign at all and when Caroline Harrison died on October 25, two weeks before the national election, Cleveland stopped campaigning. Election Day was a somber occasion, not filled with the usual energy.
Voters in the election of 1892 had second thoughts about the Republicans' tariff policy. In the past four years imported goods had become so expensive that by 1892 many voters favored tariff reform and were mistrustful of big business. Many Westerners who traditionally voted Republican, left the party and parked their votes with third party candidate James Weaver, the candidate of the new Populist Party. Weaver promised Free Silver, generous veterans' pensions, and an eight-hour work day. Meanwhile, the Tammany Hall Democrats held their noses and supported Cleveland, in order that a united Democratic party could carry New York. By election day many Populists party supporters and labor supporters endorsed Cleveland because of an attempt by the Carnegie Corporation to break the union during the Homestead strike in Pittsburgh. A similar conflict between big business and labor at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. drew more support for Cleveland.
The final result was a victory for Cleveland. He won 277 electoral votes and received 5,556,918 popular votes (46%). Harrison finished second with 145 electoral votes and 5,176,108 popular votes (43%). Weaver won 22 electoral votes and 1,041,028 popular votes (8.5%).
Cleveland's second term would not be a successful one as agrarian and silverite enemies gained control of the Democratic party in 1896. They distanced themselves from Cleveland's administration and the gold standard, and nominated William Jennings Bryan on a Silver Platform. Cleveland declined a chance to run for president as candidate for the Gold Democrats' third-party ticket that promised to defend the gold standard, and oppose high tariffs. That party won only approximately 100,000 votes in the 1896 general election. After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897, Cleveland lived in retirement at his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. He consulted occasionally with President Theodore Roosevelt, but turned down an offer of the chairmanship of the commission handling the Coal Strike of 1902. His health had been declining for several years, and in the autumn of 1907 he fell seriously ill. In 1908, he suffered a heart attack and died on June 24 at age 71 in his Princeton residence. His last words were said to be: "I have tried so hard to do right."