Happy Birthday Grover Cleveland
On March 18, 1837 (177 years ago today) Stephen Grover Cleveland. who was both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States and the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897), was born in Caldwell, New Jersey. Cleveland ran for president in three consecutive elections, and each time he was the winner of the popular vote. (In 1888 Benjamin Harrison captured a majority of the electoral vote). He was the first Democrat elected president since James Buchanan, ending an era of Republican political domination that ran from 1861 to 1885.
Cleveland became a lawyer in 1859 and went on to become an influential New York politician. He served as Sheriff of Erie County (where he once had to preside over the execution of a condemned man by hanging), as Mayor of Buffalo and then as Governor of New York. Though they belonged to different political parties, Theodore Roosevelt acknowledged that he was able to bring about considerable civil service reform during the administration of Governor Cleveland.
Cleveland is a Democrat who is fondly remembered by some conservatives including his recent biographer John Pafford. He was the leader of the pro-business Bourbon Democrats who were opposed to high tariffs, Free Silver, and subsidies to business, farmers, or veterans. He campaigned for political reform and fiscal conservatism and won praise for his honesty, in spite of his having been accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. As a reformer he even attracted support from a branch of the Republican Party, called "Mugwumps", who supported Cleveland the 1884 election.
Defeated in 1888, he was re-elected President in 1892, but as his second term began, disaster hit the nation when the Panic of 1893 produced a severe national depression. It opened the way for a Republican landslide in 1894 and for the takeover of the Democratic Party in 1896 by the more populist factions.
Cleveland was also known for his intervention in the Pullman Strike of 1894 to keep the railroads operating, something which angered labor unions nationwide. His support of the gold standard and opposition to Free Silver also alienated the agrarian wing of the Democratic Party. He was also viewed as someone who set back the movement for equal rights for African-Americans.
During his second term as President, Cleveland was operated on to remove a cancerous tumor. The surgeons operated aboard the Oneida, a yacht owned by Cleveland's friend E. C. Benedict, as it sailed off Long Island. Cleveland was sedated with nitrous oxide and ether. His surgeons successfully removed parts of his upper left jaw and hard palate. Cleveland was fitted with a hard rubber dental prosthesis that corrected his speech and restored his appearance. A cover story about the removal of two bad teeth kept the suspicious press at bay.
After Cleveland's agrarian and silverite enemies gained control of the Democratic party in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan on a Silver Platform, Cleveland privately supported the Gold Democrats' third-party ticket. After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897, Cleveland lived in retirement at his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. 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 24th. His last words were "I have tried so hard to do right." He is buried in the Princeton Cemetery of the Nassau Presbyterian Church.
Cleveland became a lawyer in 1859 and went on to become an influential New York politician. He served as Sheriff of Erie County (where he once had to preside over the execution of a condemned man by hanging), as Mayor of Buffalo and then as Governor of New York. Though they belonged to different political parties, Theodore Roosevelt acknowledged that he was able to bring about considerable civil service reform during the administration of Governor Cleveland.
Cleveland is a Democrat who is fondly remembered by some conservatives including his recent biographer John Pafford. He was the leader of the pro-business Bourbon Democrats who were opposed to high tariffs, Free Silver, and subsidies to business, farmers, or veterans. He campaigned for political reform and fiscal conservatism and won praise for his honesty, in spite of his having been accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. As a reformer he even attracted support from a branch of the Republican Party, called "Mugwumps", who supported Cleveland the 1884 election.
Defeated in 1888, he was re-elected President in 1892, but as his second term began, disaster hit the nation when the Panic of 1893 produced a severe national depression. It opened the way for a Republican landslide in 1894 and for the takeover of the Democratic Party in 1896 by the more populist factions.
Cleveland was also known for his intervention in the Pullman Strike of 1894 to keep the railroads operating, something which angered labor unions nationwide. His support of the gold standard and opposition to Free Silver also alienated the agrarian wing of the Democratic Party. He was also viewed as someone who set back the movement for equal rights for African-Americans.
During his second term as President, Cleveland was operated on to remove a cancerous tumor. The surgeons operated aboard the Oneida, a yacht owned by Cleveland's friend E. C. Benedict, as it sailed off Long Island. Cleveland was sedated with nitrous oxide and ether. His surgeons successfully removed parts of his upper left jaw and hard palate. Cleveland was fitted with a hard rubber dental prosthesis that corrected his speech and restored his appearance. A cover story about the removal of two bad teeth kept the suspicious press at bay.
After Cleveland's agrarian and silverite enemies gained control of the Democratic party in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan on a Silver Platform, Cleveland privately supported the Gold Democrats' third-party ticket. After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897, Cleveland lived in retirement at his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. 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 24th. His last words were "I have tried so hard to do right." He is buried in the Princeton Cemetery of the Nassau Presbyterian Church.