Grover Cleveland, (1837-1908),  22nd and 24th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Historians have judged Cleveland one of America's greatest presidents
and his presidency as the most distinguished one between LINCOLN's and Theodore ROOSEVELT's. Four achievements are generally associated with his name. He restored
honesty and impartiality to government; he planted deep in the American mind the idea that the evils of the protective tariff system ought to be abolished; he saved the nation from
the abandonment of the gold standard at a time when abandonment might have produced economic chaos; and he taught the American people that in their handling of foreign affairs
conscience should always be the one dominant force.

        Yet Cleveland's greatness as a president rests more on his character than on his accomplishments or brilliance. For honesty and independence alone he would stand out as a major president in the Gilded Age. Many historians have praised Cleveland for his courage, firmness, uprightness, self-direction, and common sense. "It is as a strong man, a man of
character, that Cleveland will live in history," wrote Allan Nevins, who has made the most exhaustive study of Cleveland.

        Stephen Grover Cleveland, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was born in Caldwell, N. J., on March 18, 1837. Several years later his family moved to Fayetteville in western New
York, and he spent his childhood there and in nearby Clinton. Shortly after his father died in 1853, Cleveland went to stay near Buffalo, N. Y., with his uncle, who was able to place him in one of the best law offices in the city. For the next 26 years Cleveland remained in Buffalo.

        Rise to National Prominence

        Soon after Cleveland was admitted to the bar, he began his political activity as a Democratic ward worker. He served as assistant district attorney and, after the Civil War, as sheriff of Erie county. Then a series of chance events pushed him into the political limelight. A group of Buffalo citizens, aroused over the corruption and inefficiency that had characterized
their city government for many years regardless of the party in power, persuaded Cleveland to run for mayor in 1881, and he won by a comfortable majority. He had campaigned on a platform of honesty and economy, and when he carried out his promises once in office, Cleveland began to win recognition in New York state as an able administrator.

        He now developed the ambition to become governor. He was successful in this venture in 1882 chiefly because of a stroke of good luck. With few outstanding DEMOCRATIC
leaders in the state, with the party leadership unable to unite on a candidate, and with the public in a mood to vote against machine politicians, Cleveland's reputation for     independence won him the nomination. He went on to win the election mainly because of a split in REPUBLICAN ranks.

        As governor, Cleveland showed little understanding of the broader and more positive role the government could play. He was a vigorous proponent of the prevalent view of his day
that government should not intervene in the economic and social life of the people except to maintain law and order and to protect property rights. He was known principally as a veto governor, and while he underscored the technical flaws of the bills he returned unsigned, he rarely recommended remedial action. With such a reputation Cleveland endeared himself to the conservatives and businessmen in both parties, who increasingly began to regard him as their best hope in the WHITE HOUSE. As a result, the Democrats nominated  him for president in 1884.

        The Election of 1884

        The Republicans turned their back on the incumbent president, Chester A. Arthur, and nominated James G. Blaine. Viewing Blaine as an old guard politician inimical to good
government, a number of the reformist "Mugwumps" bolted the Republican Party and supported Cleveland. There were few real issues, and the campaign degenerated into one of
personal abuse and vilification. The Democrats published the "Mulligan letters" to attempt to prove that Blaine, as Speaker of the House, had been guilty of unethical conduct in
connection with land-grant railroads, and the Republicans retaliated with the charge that Cleveland was the father of an illegitimate child, the responsibility for which he had    accepted. The ELECTION of 1884 was close. Cleveland won by fewer than 25,000 popular votes, and his ELECTORAL vote was 219 to Blaine's 182.

        The Presidency

        Cleveland's election as president ended 24 years of unbroken Republican control of the office. But his victory represented more of a change in spirit than it did in policies, because
the Democratic Party was largely in the hands of eastern conservatives who did not differ fundamentally from their Republican counterparts. Moreover, while Cleveland had the
reputation of a reformer, not many believed he would put forth a progressive program or display vigorous leadership. Instead he was expected to bring greater honesty and sincerity
to the presidency. During the campaign, Cleveland had emphasized a new moral attitude and the need for corrective action over that of constructive action. Many Americans agreed
with him.

        Philosophy of Government

        Cleveland's presidency is best understood in terms of his political and economic beliefs, which, it should be noted, were the prevalent ones of his day. He had an intense dislike of
"paternalism" in government and therefore opposed the idea of the social service state. He believed Americans were entitled to economy, purity, and justice in their government but
nothing more. There were to be favors for no one. His role as president was that of a righteous watchdog looking after other politicians and keeping them from granting favors and
taking bribes. Thus he opposed tariff favors to business, pension favors to veterans, land favors to railroads, and economic benefits to farmers and workers. Cleveland's place in
history is almost wholly as a negative President who believed it was his duty to prevent bad things from occurring but not to make good things happen.

        The Patronage Problem 

        Because the Democrats had been out of power for a generation, one of the first problems Cleveland faced was that of patronage. Loyal and deserving Democrats were eager for positions, but the reformers who had done much to bring about Cleveland's election opposed any complete sweep from office. Cleveland was aware that he had a hungry party
behind him, but the horde of office seekers so annoyed and distracted him that he cried in anguish: "My God, what is there in this office [the presidency] that any man should ever want to get into it?"

        When Cleveland at first resisted the demands of the spoilsmen he was praised by the reformers, but under unrelenting pressure from office seekers and faced with a revolt within his own party, Cleveland gave in and Republicans were replaced. In his first term Cleveland approved of the removal of two thirds of the federal employees under his immediate control. On the credit side, Cleveland nearly doubled the number of classified civil servants (that is, those with tenure) during his first administration. But neither the reformers nor the Democratic party workers were satisfied, for Cleveland had offended the former by replacing Republicans with "deserving Democrats" and had antagonized the latter by lengthening the civil service list.

        Presidential Powers

        Cleveland's effort to restore the powers of the presidency was a major contribution to American political life. The seat of national political power for most of the post-Civil War
generation was in CONGRESS and not in the presidency. Cleveland never took issue with the prevalent viewpoint that the chief executive was subordinate to Congress, but he firmly believed in the doctrine of the separation of powers.

        Since the end of the Civil War, Republican senators had dominated the national political scene. They had nearly ousted President Andrew Johnson from office, had gained almost
complete possession of GRANT, and then strove to put the succeeding presidents at their mercy. The bitter struggle between the executive and legislative branches over the Tenure
of Office Act had begun in JOHNSON's day. Now, Republican senators, reluctant to relinquish their control to a Democratic president, sought to curb Cleveland's appointive
power by demanding that he give them full information about his dismissals as well as his nominations for office. Cleveland refused to supply the information for removals. In an
important state paper he defended the constitutional right of the president to withhold from Congress all information of a private or confidential nature and to determine what material
was to be classified.

        The Republican SENATE fought back by threatening to block all appointments, but Cleveland knew the real power lay with him and that the public supported his position. This
 issue was so important to Cleveland that in March 1886 he appealed directly to the people. The Republican Senate subsequently gave in. In March 1887, the Tenure of Office Act was repealed. Cleveland had won both a personal and political victory.

        Pension Policy

        Cleveland is also remembered for his ability to say "no" and to mean "no." A good example of this iron fortitude is revealed in his pension policy. By the time Cleveland became
president, nearly 900,000 Civil War pension claims had been filed, and more than a third of them had been approved. If a claim were rejected, congressmen could introduce private
pension bills, and great numbers of these were passed by general consent in a perfunctory manner. Because the wounds of a number of claimants were simulated or imaginary, many
thoughtful Americans had become disgusted with this raid on the public treasury and regarded the situation as scandalous. No president before Cleveland had ever vetoed a private pension bill, but, while Cleveland signed more of these private pension bills than any previous president, he vetoed hundreds.

        The veterans, through the Grand Army of the Republic, a powerful pressure organization in the country, protested these vetoes, and Congress responded by enacting the dependent
pensions bill in 1887. It would have given a pension to any veteran who suffered from any disability, regardless of when or how it was received. Also included were dependent parents of soldiers who had died in service. Cleveland had the courage to veto this enormous largesse for veterans, though he predicted it might contribute to his defeat for reelection in 1888--and it did.

        Tariff Reform

        Cleveland's most important reform move in his first administration was his effort to lower the tariff. He believed government aid like government regulation should be kept to a minimum, and therefore he opposed the protective tariff on the grounds that it interfered with the economic natural law and that it was government paternalism as well as a subsidy to one portion of the business community. The protective tariff had also contributed not only to higher prices for consumers but also to the development of trusts. There was also the embarrassing matter of a consistent surplus in the Treasury. By 1887 the surplus had become a public issue. There were many proposals for spending the money, but too many of them smacked of the pork barrel. In Cleveland's view tariff reduction was the logical solution, and he decided to push for it.

        In 1887, he did an unusual thing by devoting his entire annual message to Congress to an attack on the high tariff. No other president had ever given over his whole message to a
single topic. Cleveland's move focused nationwide attention on the tariff and emphasized his leadership. But this is as far as Cleveland got in his tariff reform efforts, because he lost his opportunity to secure an effective law. The Mills bill, passed by the HOUSE in July 1888, contained only moderate reductions in the rates. When it became evident that the tariff would be an important issue in the 1888 election, the Republicans introduced a protectionist measure in the Senate. In these circumstances a satisfactory compromise bill was impossible.

        The Election of 1888

        The Democrats renominated Cleveland in 1888, and the Republicans chose Benjamin HARRISON of Indiana. The campaign was waged largely on the tariff issue, with Republicans defending protection and Democrats advocating a reduction in duties. Both parties used money freely, and throughout the country voters were bribed in probably the
most corrupt presidential election in U. S. history.

Although Cleveland had a majority of the popular vote, Harrison gained 233 electoral votes to Cleveland's 168. Despite the campaign talk about the tariff, the vote did not indicate a national decision against Cleveland on that issue. Cleveland carried the manufacturing state of New Jersey and increased his strength of 1884 in such pro-tariff states as Ohio, Michigan, and California. The decisive factors in his defeat were probably the efficiency of the Republican organization under Sen. Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania and the purchase of votes in some states.

        Between Administrations

        During the four years that Cleveland was out of office he had little to say about the questions then confronting the country, because he thought it was improper for a former president to speak out on public issues. He spent his time as a private citizen in New York City, practicing law with a Wall Street firm. Only once in the interval between his two
administrations did he speak out on a public issue. That occurred in February 1891, when, with the free-silver sentiment increasing in the country and shaping up as a key issue in the 1892 campaign, Cleveland challenged the growing silver movement in a public letter in which he said "the greatest peril would be initiated by ... the unlimited coinage of silver at our mints."

        The Election of 1892

        The appearance of the Populist or People's party, advocating, among a number of reforms, the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, was the most exciting and important aspect of the presidential campaign of 1892. Harrison and Cleveland were pitted against one another again. Gen. James B. Weaver of Iowa, the Populist nominee for
president, polled more than one million popular votes and won 22 electoral votes, and thus the Populists became the first third party since the Civil War to break into the electoral
college. By appearing as a staunch champion of conservative financial policies, Cleveland attracted much Republican support and defeated Harrison, 277 to 145, in electoral votes.

        Second Term

        Cleveland had the misfortune to have his entire second administration taken up by the most severe depression the country had yet experienced. Within a year after his second
inauguration there were 4 million unemployed out of a population of about 65 million. There were acute personal hardships and a deterioration in the government's financial position.
This period was Cleveland's real testing time.

        Cleveland believed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the McKinley Tariff, both passed in 1890, had caused the panic of 1893 and the subsequent depression. In his view
whatever else was wrong with the economy resulted from the folly or misfortune of individuals and thus was not the concern of the federal government. Cleveland used effective leadership to bring about the repeal of the Sherman Act, but unfortunately this did not restore prosperity or have any noticeable effect on the depression. To prevent the Treasury's gold reserve from falling below an amount sufficient to remain on the gold standard, Cleveland had the Treasury sell U. S. Government bonds to New York City bankers for gold. This was one of the most unpopular things Cleveland ever did, because many Americans became alarmed over the dependence of the government on a syndicate of Wall Street bankers.

        Cleveland failed again to secure tariff reform. The Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894 did not fulfill the campaign promises of the Democrats in 1892 to lower the tariff. Although
Cleveland refused to sign the bill, he declined to veto it. But worse than this he gave no effective leadership in framing the measure. It was a sad conclusion to the crusade he had
launched in 1887.

        The reform phase of Cleveland's public career had ended. For the rest of his presidency his role was that of a protector of the status quo. In this he was successful. He vetoed the
seigniorage bill aimed at increasing the supply of the currency. Through subordinates he brusquely dismissed the petitions of angry wage earners, such as those who marched to
Washington with Coxey's Army of the unemployed in 1894.

        In the same year, he sent federal troops to crush the Pullman strike, which was obstructing the railroads and interfering with the mails. The strike soon collapsed, and at the same time Eugene V. Debs and other union leaders were sent to jail for violating a federal injunction. Cleveland's solution of the Pullman strike was costly. The imprisonment of Debs by a court order, without jury trial or conviction, and the use of a blanket injunction in the strike aroused serious concern in many Americans, even conservatives. All over the country
advocates of states' rights and supporters of organized labor launched a heavy attack on Cleveland, whose popularity was now definitely on the wane.

        The long-standing boundary dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela provided an opportunity for a partial recovery in the President's popularity. In response to Venezuela's
appeal, the United States asked Britain a number of times to arbitrate the matter, only to be turned down on every occasion. Cleveland, in his message to Congress in December
1895, asked Congress for authorization to appoint a commission to determine the true boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana. His message and his support of the
Monroe Doctrine were widely approved in the country, and Congress responded immediately with the authorization. The British agreed to submit the claim to arbitration.

        In two other developments in foreign relations Cleveland stood by his strong anti-imperialist convictions: he refused aid and encouragement to rebel movements in Hawaii and Cuba.

        Later Years

        In 1897, Cleveland settled in Princeton, N.J. The former president remained a public figure, lecturing and writing and engaging in business affairs. He died in Princeton on June 24,
1908.

        For all his faults and limitations, Cleveland was a symbol of civic staunchness in his own day. While few regarded him as a great constructive force in public affairs, they looked to
him to lead the reform movement in terms of honesty, economy, and efficient government. Cleveland performed his task so well that for his generation and later ones he was the
embodiment of this type of reform.

Source: Vincent P. De Santis ,  University of Notre Dame

        For Further Reading

Cleveland, Grover, Letters of Grover Cleveland, 1850-1908, ed. by Allan Nevins (Houghton 1933)
Gillis, J. A., A Hawaiian Incident (1897; reprint, Ayer 1977)
Hollingsworth, Joseph R., The Whirligig of Politics: The Democracy of Cleveland and Bryan (Univ. of Chicago Press 1963)
Marszalek, John, Grover Cleveland, ed. by Carol B. Fitzgerald (Meckler Pub. 1988)
Parker, George F., Recollections of Grover Cleveland (1909; reprint, Ayer 1970)
Vexler, Robert I., Grover Cleveland 1837-1908: Chronology, Documents, Bibliographical Aids (Oceana Pub. 1968)
Welch, Richard E., Jr., The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland Univ. Press of Kan. 1988)