geeky
It began much like most other elections, with political bickering and party infighting. At the Republican nominating convention, the incumbent President Harrison faced a challenge from within his own party. A number of disaffected party leaders started a "dump Harrison" movement and backed veteran candidate James G. Blaine of Maine. But Harrison's organization had the nomination locked up by the time delegates assembled in Minneapolis, Minnesota in June 1892. Harrison was nominated on the first ballot with 535.17 votes to 182.83 for Blaine and 182 for future President William McKinley of Ohio.
Meanwhile, the Democrats decided that maybe Grover Cleveland wasn't so bad. When the Democrats met in Chicago in June of 1892, Cleveland was the front-runner for the nomination but faced formidable opposition. He had come out against the free coinage of silver. His home state of New York was against him because the bunch from Tammany Hall were hostile to Cleveland on the issue of patronage. Cleveland managed to score a narrow first-ballot victory in which he received 617.33 votes (barely 10 more than needed) to 114 for Senator David B. Hill of New York, the candidate of Tammany Hall, and 103 for Governor Horace Boies of Iowa, a populist and former Republican.
The tariff issue dominated the campaign. Harrison defended the protectionist McKinley Tariff passed during his term while Cleveland campaigned for a reduction in the tariff. William McKinley campaigned extensively for Harrison, setting the stage for his own run for the presidency four years later.
Harrison's wife Caroline had been a very active first lady, despite not being in the best of health. She tried to have the White House enlarged, but was unsuccessful, though she did get Congress to approve the expenditure of $35,000 for renovations to it. She addressed the problem rodent and insects in the home, had new floors and plumbing installed, had the home painted and wallpapered, and added more bathrooms. In 1891 she had electricity installed but she and her husband were too frightened to handle the switches. In 1889 she put up the first Christmas tree inside the White House. She also introduced the use of orchids as the official floral decoration at state receptions. She was a talented artist who conducted china-painting classes in the White House for other women. She also helped raise funds for the Johns Hopkins University Medical School on the condition that it admit women. On the centennial of President Washington's inauguration in 1889, she played a role in the founding the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as its first President General.
The campaign took a somber turn when, in October, Caroline Harrison died. Despite the ill health that had plagued Mrs. Harrison since her youth and which had worsened in the last decade, she often accompanied President Harrison on official travels. On one such trip, to California in the spring of 1891, she caught a cold. It quickly deepened into her chest, and she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. She spent the summer in the Adirondack Mountains because the mountain air was believed to be beneficial for tuberculosis patients. But the vacation failed to restore her to health. As the election campaign progressed, Mrs. Harrison's condition became worse and was diagnosed as terminal. She died in the White House on October 25, 1892, just two weeks before election day.
Harrison was devastated by his wife's death. In that era candidates did not personally campaign, but Harrison lost interest in the campaign because of his grief. Cleveland expressed his condolences, and in a respectful gesture, he instructed the Democratic campaign management to suspend its campaign.
While some would argue that the gesture did not mean much because Cleveland was expected to win the election in any event, others disagree. Cleveland's biographer Allan Nevins calls the election of 1892 "the cleanest, quietest, and most creditable in the memory of the post-war generation," in large part because Cleveland did not want to attack his opponent at a time when he knew that Harrison's wife was dying. All of the other candidates followed suit and ceased campaigning following news of Mrs. Harrison's death.
On election day Cleveland won 277 electoral votes and 23 states. He received 46% of the popular votes. Harrison came in second with 145 electoral votes, 16 states and 43% of the vote. A third party candidate, James Weaver of the Populist Party, won 22 electoral votes and 4 states with just 8.5% of the popular vote. This was the first election in which an incumbent president was defeated for a second time in a row. This wouldn't happen again until 1980.
This gesture of civility seems in keeping with Cleveland's character. Four years later he would take part in a very pleasant and civil transfer of power to Republican William McKinley. He would even hold McKinley's hat when the new president took the oath of office, and would hold an umbrella over him as he gave his inaugural address.