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An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland is known primarily as the only president to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms. But his record as a staunch reformer is equally from fighting powerful bosses in both political parties and vetoing bills he considered raids on the Treasury to resisting American imperialism and robber barons alike. And when he became embroiled in scandal -- from fathering a child out of wedlock to (legally) evading the Civil War -- he faced his past truthfully and confronted his demons directly. In graceful and enduring prose, H. Paul Jeffers gives us the first full look at a president whose moral timber and courageous administrations have more to say to today's politicians than perhaps that of any other leader in American history.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
H. Paul Jeffers
88 books19 followersH. Paul Jeffers was an established military historian and author of seventy books. He worked as an editor and producer at ABC, CBS and NBC, and is the only person to have been news director of both of New York City's all-news radio stations. He taught journalism at New York University, Syracuse University, and Boston University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
March 25, 2019
If anything, this book proves that the only thing interesting about Cleveland was that he was the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
December 25, 2012
Grover Cleveland is portrayed in this book as an unbendingly honest and upright individual while many of the most significant "compromises" which he made during his two non-consecutive terms in the Presidency as well as his overall inefficiency and inflexibility are overlooked. Jeffers glides by the wholesale firing of tens of thousands of Republican office holders and replacement of them with "good Democrats" in a Spoils System run wild during 1885 and 1893, and also Cleveland's undiplomatic handling of the gold/silver issue which divided his own party and secured Republican control of the Presidency for 16 years following his terms. Jeffers swallows the self-promotional image of "unshakable integrity" put forth by the Cleveland Administration to unsophisticated voters of the day, but neglects to give sufficient attention to Cleveland as an effective, deal-cutting politician who manage to get his party's presidential nomination three times in succession. Even more ludicrous is the silly attempt by Jeffers to sanctify Cleveland at the expense of Bill Clinton without giving the slightest attention to the vast differences in the respective eras and the overall results of their two term administrations. --- At best, this is a pleasant "coffee table" book which draws almost exclusively from secondary, published sources and is not recommended for serious research and study. Cleveland was a good and important president. He deserves attention such as that provided in Richard E. Welch's excellent piece of scholarship entitled "The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland" (1988, University Press of Kansas).
August 9, 2021
Another book that I enjoyed, but didn't really capture me.
I didn't know much about Cleveland. While I know more than I did before I read it, I still can't tell you what I think of the man.
There were some fun points, who can forget the anecdote, "In the senate maybe, but not the house." (If you don't know the reference, read the book or look it up.)
I didn't know much about Cleveland. While I know more than I did before I read it, I still can't tell you what I think of the man.
There were some fun points, who can forget the anecdote, "In the senate maybe, but not the house." (If you don't know the reference, read the book or look it up.)
December 27, 2018
An adequate if less than thrilling bio of the only President to ever serve two non-consecutive terms as President. This period after the Civil War but before the Progressive Era just lacks so much of the drama that makes other presidential biographies so compelling. Despite two terms in a 12 year period, there just doesn’t seem to be a whole lot to the Cleveland presidencies that is truly remarkable. The most interesting parts of Cleveland’s story revolve around his pre-presidential years and his personal life. I thought it interesting he basically went from an unknown mayor of Buffalo to President in just over a 2-year period. His romantic relationships certainly were fodder for the press (accused of fathering an illegitimate child in his younger days and eventually marrying a much younger woman after he was President). The most annoying part of this book is the repeated comparison to Bill Clinton, his sexual escapades, and relationship with the press. It might have been relevant at the time this book was written but it just seems bizarrely out of place comparison reading it today. His professional relationship with reform-minded Republican and fellow New Yorker Teddy Roosevelt is also explored at length and I thought was covered very well. Overall, this one covers the basics.
What follows are my notes on the book:
He was raised in a disciplined household. His father was a respected clergyman and accepted a missionary position in New York. As one of nine kids, Grover got a job to help out his family. His dream of going to Hamilton College was shattered when his father passed away in 1853 while he was 16. He would have to work to provide for his destitute mother and 4 younger siblings still in the house.
He followed his oldest brother to New York City to teach at a school for the blind. Grover was disgusted with the treatment of the students there, like something out of a Dickens novel. He resigned and moved to Buffalo to study law. Buffalo was a rough and tumble town at that time. He earned his law license and begin working in a local firm. At age 25 he won his first run for electoral office as the supervisor for the Second Ward. He became the assistant District Attorney and was a rising star. Although he faced financial hardships himself, he continued to provide for his younger brothers and sister. The potential that he might be conscripted into the Civil War would have been a devastating hardship on his family. However, when Lincoln signed the Conscription Act, Grover was able to pay for a replacement soldier. He was aided in this by abusing his position as assistant DA. He had countless criminals who would pay to take his place rather than spend time in prison.
Cleveland would work from 8 AM well into the late night hours (usually 2 or 3 AM) every night on his cases and then go out drinking in the bars afterwards, living something of a double life. He was elected county sheriff age 33. It was a rather corrupt area to be sheriff, full of bars and brothels. As Sheriff, he displayed remarkable integrity, clamping down on shady contracts of businesses in the county. He personally carried out hangings rather than pay someone else to do them.
Maria Halpin accused Grover of being the father of her child born out of wedlock. Grover never married her but did provide for the child. Maria was eventually committed to an asylum and Grover paid for the boy to go to Northridge. This matter would be dredged up later and his political career. Ten years after his stint as sheriff, he was chosen as his party’s standard bearer for the Buffalo mayoral election. In an overwhelmingly Republican town, this was not a promising prospect. However, as a former Sheriff, DA with an exemplary record, and friends with many in the social scene (bars) of Buffalo, Cleveland was elected mayor overwhelmingly. The rest of the ticket went Republican. He campaigned on reform and like his time as sheriff before, he vetoed bills and contracts that were shady. He scrutinized public expenditures that were not in the interest of the people.
Party bosses took notice of the “veto mayor” and he was thrust into the fray as a gubernatorial candidate. His reform mantra might just help them capture the governorship as the NY Republicans were fractured at the moment. He won the nomination on the fourth ballot. Cleveland won the governorship in the largest landslide victory in New York history to that date. However being governor of the state of New York would be much more challenging than mayor of Buffalo. He had tackled small issues (purity of water wells, adding sidewalks, etc). Now he would have to address much more complex issues like civil service reform, regulation of financial institutions, tax policy, affairs of New York City harbor, etc. Albany was also a different beast politically. The two chambers of the New York House were wrought with intra-party factions and rivalries among bosses and reformers.
His term as Governor was marked by a flurry of vetoes. He appointed professionals over politicians for key posts. Governor Cleveland found an unlikely ally in the young republican assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was appalled by the living and working conditions of cigar makers in New York City. He personally visited the governor to make his case that he not veto a bill that would improve their working conditions. Cleveland was moved by Roosevelt’s description of their conditions and promised to sign the bill if he could get it passed. The bill passed and Cleveland signed but it would eventually be ruled unconstitutional.
Cleveland wrote a letter attempting to prevent the reelection of a machine politician that became public. At The time the time the letter was viewed as potentially career ending. But it would prove to be the turning point in his career as the he would be forever seen by the country as an honest politician fighting the corruption of Tammany Hall.
Chester A. Arthur became president after Garfield was assassinated. When Arthur backed civil service reform, corrupt machine Republicans nominated Senator Blaine of Maine in the next election striking a blow to reform-minded Republicans. Facing an utterly corrupt Republican, only a year and a half into his first term as governor, honest Cleveland was bolted to the top of his party’s presidential ticket.
He campaigned on the slogan “public office is a public trust”. This campaign slogan would be tested almost immediately as an anti-Cleveland newspaper in Buffalo publish the sensational story of his out-of-wedlock child with great moralistic fervor. Because the newspaper had exaggerated the story so wildly, investigators led the newspaper to print attractions that much of the story wasn’t true. Cleveland responded with the truth, that there was an immoral dalliance with the woman but that he had responded honorably afterwards by providing for the child.
In a campaign devoid of serious issues, this contest became one of character and mudslinging: Blaine being attacked for his corrupt machine politics and Cleveland being attacked as a coward who didn’t serve in the Civil War and who was a drunk with a bastard child. TR, back from his adventures in the Dakotas, did not endorse Cleveland, most likely because he was determined to make a future in the Republican Party and didn’t want to break any connections or lose any influence for future political office.
By a razor thin margin (50K votes) Cleveland was elected president over Blaine. He was the first Democrat since the Civil War. As the first Democrat in a generation, he was deluged with thousands of applications and petitions for appointed positions in the Federal government. Still committed to civil service reform, this was a first early test.
Cleveland called for the end of mandatory coinage of silver by the government, but offered little executive leadership to see it through Congress. He didn’t want to influence another branch of the government and many considered the nation be leaderless. Meanwhile, William Jennings Bryan gave his famous “cross of gold” speech that would catapult him into fame as a potential presidential candidate.
Cleveland vetoed the Civil War veteran pension bill that would have added greatly to the debt and encouraged fraudulent claims. He made a careless decision to allow the return of captured Confederate battle flags that sparked a national outrage. While he viewed it as an opportunity for reconciliation, it infuriated veterans, their families, and the electorate. Cleveland quickly retreated from the situation, saying the matter should be decided by Congress. He canceled the trip to a veteran’s convention in St. Louis to avoid bringing embarrassment on the office of the presidency. Instead, he chose to attend the dedication of the new colossal statue in New York Harbor that was gifted by people of France. Around this time he proposed and became engaged to the much younger Francis Folsom. She was the daughter of a good, widowed friend. Francis had known Cleveland since she was a child and had always called him Uncle Cleve. This rumor of engagement spread like wild fire and led to much speculation in DC. The press hounded him like modern day paparazzi. The press spread blatantly false accusations that he was a wife-beater. Cleveland detested the press and their treatment of him and his new wife. Francis proved to be lighthearted and popular in D.C.
He vetoed the Texas seed bill to support Texan farmers struggling in drought, not finding a basis for this largess in the constitution. With a substantial government surplus, Grover Cleveland called for tariff reform. This was the year before the election and would likely determine its outcome. Contemporary sources argue that calling for a reduction in tariff rates was one of the boldest acts of political courage for an honest man and the sound money president.
He appointed Lucius Lamar from Mississippi to the Supreme Court. Blaine refused to run again and threw weight behind Indiana Senator Benjamin Harrison. Harrison was a general in the Civil War but had a very frigid personality. The issues of this campaign were veteran’s pensions, tariffs, and silver. The Republicans built a much stronger grassroots campaign and did an effective job of painting Cleveland as a lackey of Great Britain because his proposal to lower tariffs would raise taxes on American workers. This would cost him his home state of New York in the election. Harrison would win the Electoral College though Cleveland was slightly ahead in the popular vote. Following his loss, he took a job in a New York law firm.
He was disheartened with the change in course by the Harrison administration. He felt his frugal administration was vindicated when Harrison and the GOP suffered overwhelming losses in the midterm elections. He made speeches against the free coinage of silver that his friends believed were a horrible mistake. They thought he had thrown away any chance of returning to the presidency by focusing on silver.
More exciting than any potential return to politics, Francis gave birth in 1891 to baby girl named Ruth. The birth of the baby was a national sensation and one shrewd candy manufacturer put the baby’s nickname on the rapper: Baby Ruth.
Democratic opponents called a snap convention in hopes of nominating someone other than Cleveland. The timing meant the delegates from New York may not be able to make it through the inclement weather. Following a clash at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant between Pinkerton security guards and 5000 union members (10 died, 60 injured), Grover gave his only public speech of the campaign in which he sided heavily with labor. One of his biggest concerns about returning to office was his desire to shield his wife from the innuendo of the press.
He was reelected to the presidency in 1892, the only president ever to have two nonconsecutive terms. The country had changed greatly since his last term. Mounting strikes between newly formed unions and bosses foreshadowed the coming progressive era. But at the time, it didn’t see that out of the ordinary…just stories in the newspaper about current events.
Newly inaugurated, he considered new tariffs to overcome perilously low government reserves as a result of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (which required the government to buy 4M ounces of silver a month at market prices and make silver and greenbacks exchangeable for gold). His allies encouraged him to seek its immediate repeal. Mishandling and misstatements by his administration on payments by the government in gold led to a panic which Cleveland tried to calm. His wife was pregnant with their second daughter Esther. She was the first baby boy born in the White House. Doctors detected cancer in his mouth. In total secrecy he met with surgeons in New York where they removed portions of his jaw and fit him with a rubber prosthesis.
Though it took several months of debate in Congress, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed. Though a success for Cleveland, it failed to halt the depression of 1893. The “Cleveland depression” was blamed by many in his own party on his anti-silver policies. The government was rescued by a bond sale to J.P. Morgan (which many construed as the government and big banks being in cahoots).
Eugene Debs led strike of Pullman railroad car workers. When the Pullman strike in Illinois turned violent, Cleveland sent in federal troops to break the streak. He was criticized for interfering in local issues and his actions allowed his opponents to portray him as in the pockets of Gilded-Age capitalists. Clarence Darrow would defend Eugene Debs in court for his role in the violent strike. They would lose their case and Debs would spend six months in jail. His time there was spent in reflection and he would emerge the leading figure in the push for socialism in the years ahead.
Before Cleveland’s second inauguration, Americans in Hawaii deposed the queen. They sent up the treaty to annex Hawaii but it took too long to get through Congress before Harrison left office and Cleveland killed it because it offended his sense of morality. Hawaii would become a republic and the queen would not return to power. Four years later, after the Spanish-American War, Hawaii would be annexed.
In the upcoming election, Grover thought the free silver position of his party’s candidate William Jennings Bryan was foolish. He didn’t much like McKinley and his position on tariffs, but at least he was for the gold standard. Mrs. Cleveland was sad to leave the White House, having been married there and having had several children there. Grover was not as sad to leave as the country had largely rejected his policies.
The handoff to William McKinley went smoothly. Francis gave birth to a baby boy. In need of funds, he began writing magazine articles on his presidential experiences. He was distraught by the lack of any realistic job prospects for presidents after their term in office. Lawyer was an option but not ideal. He continued to be combative with the press. He spoke out quite a bit but usually off the record, being distrustful of the press.
When Roosevelt ascended to the presidency, his first major challenge was a coalminer strike. TR was hesitant to follow Cleveland’s example as president with the Pullman strike and sought arbitration rather than sending in soldiers. Both parties refused the president’s offer. Cleveland wrote a letter of support that helped to deflect criticism from Democrats. TR did decide to send troops, but not to break the streak. Rather they would oversee and run the mine. This forced parties to consent to arbitration. Cleveland had sold his mining stocks at a loss to participate in the arbitration. TR informed him he would not be participating as he had previously asked because the main owners insisted the “radical” Cleveland not be a member of the commission.
Shortly after Teddy Roosevelt was elected in his own right, 12-year-old Ruth Cleveland died. He took the loss hard, but after a period of time he came to terms with it. Growing up a minister’s son he took solace in the belief that she was in heaven.
He served on some tokens commissions (like life insurance reform) when asked by Teddy Roosevelt. Though his health was failing and he died at age 71.
What follows are my notes on the book:
He was raised in a disciplined household. His father was a respected clergyman and accepted a missionary position in New York. As one of nine kids, Grover got a job to help out his family. His dream of going to Hamilton College was shattered when his father passed away in 1853 while he was 16. He would have to work to provide for his destitute mother and 4 younger siblings still in the house.
He followed his oldest brother to New York City to teach at a school for the blind. Grover was disgusted with the treatment of the students there, like something out of a Dickens novel. He resigned and moved to Buffalo to study law. Buffalo was a rough and tumble town at that time. He earned his law license and begin working in a local firm. At age 25 he won his first run for electoral office as the supervisor for the Second Ward. He became the assistant District Attorney and was a rising star. Although he faced financial hardships himself, he continued to provide for his younger brothers and sister. The potential that he might be conscripted into the Civil War would have been a devastating hardship on his family. However, when Lincoln signed the Conscription Act, Grover was able to pay for a replacement soldier. He was aided in this by abusing his position as assistant DA. He had countless criminals who would pay to take his place rather than spend time in prison.
Cleveland would work from 8 AM well into the late night hours (usually 2 or 3 AM) every night on his cases and then go out drinking in the bars afterwards, living something of a double life. He was elected county sheriff age 33. It was a rather corrupt area to be sheriff, full of bars and brothels. As Sheriff, he displayed remarkable integrity, clamping down on shady contracts of businesses in the county. He personally carried out hangings rather than pay someone else to do them.
Maria Halpin accused Grover of being the father of her child born out of wedlock. Grover never married her but did provide for the child. Maria was eventually committed to an asylum and Grover paid for the boy to go to Northridge. This matter would be dredged up later and his political career. Ten years after his stint as sheriff, he was chosen as his party’s standard bearer for the Buffalo mayoral election. In an overwhelmingly Republican town, this was not a promising prospect. However, as a former Sheriff, DA with an exemplary record, and friends with many in the social scene (bars) of Buffalo, Cleveland was elected mayor overwhelmingly. The rest of the ticket went Republican. He campaigned on reform and like his time as sheriff before, he vetoed bills and contracts that were shady. He scrutinized public expenditures that were not in the interest of the people.
Party bosses took notice of the “veto mayor” and he was thrust into the fray as a gubernatorial candidate. His reform mantra might just help them capture the governorship as the NY Republicans were fractured at the moment. He won the nomination on the fourth ballot. Cleveland won the governorship in the largest landslide victory in New York history to that date. However being governor of the state of New York would be much more challenging than mayor of Buffalo. He had tackled small issues (purity of water wells, adding sidewalks, etc). Now he would have to address much more complex issues like civil service reform, regulation of financial institutions, tax policy, affairs of New York City harbor, etc. Albany was also a different beast politically. The two chambers of the New York House were wrought with intra-party factions and rivalries among bosses and reformers.
His term as Governor was marked by a flurry of vetoes. He appointed professionals over politicians for key posts. Governor Cleveland found an unlikely ally in the young republican assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was appalled by the living and working conditions of cigar makers in New York City. He personally visited the governor to make his case that he not veto a bill that would improve their working conditions. Cleveland was moved by Roosevelt’s description of their conditions and promised to sign the bill if he could get it passed. The bill passed and Cleveland signed but it would eventually be ruled unconstitutional.
Cleveland wrote a letter attempting to prevent the reelection of a machine politician that became public. At The time the time the letter was viewed as potentially career ending. But it would prove to be the turning point in his career as the he would be forever seen by the country as an honest politician fighting the corruption of Tammany Hall.
Chester A. Arthur became president after Garfield was assassinated. When Arthur backed civil service reform, corrupt machine Republicans nominated Senator Blaine of Maine in the next election striking a blow to reform-minded Republicans. Facing an utterly corrupt Republican, only a year and a half into his first term as governor, honest Cleveland was bolted to the top of his party’s presidential ticket.
He campaigned on the slogan “public office is a public trust”. This campaign slogan would be tested almost immediately as an anti-Cleveland newspaper in Buffalo publish the sensational story of his out-of-wedlock child with great moralistic fervor. Because the newspaper had exaggerated the story so wildly, investigators led the newspaper to print attractions that much of the story wasn’t true. Cleveland responded with the truth, that there was an immoral dalliance with the woman but that he had responded honorably afterwards by providing for the child.
In a campaign devoid of serious issues, this contest became one of character and mudslinging: Blaine being attacked for his corrupt machine politics and Cleveland being attacked as a coward who didn’t serve in the Civil War and who was a drunk with a bastard child. TR, back from his adventures in the Dakotas, did not endorse Cleveland, most likely because he was determined to make a future in the Republican Party and didn’t want to break any connections or lose any influence for future political office.
By a razor thin margin (50K votes) Cleveland was elected president over Blaine. He was the first Democrat since the Civil War. As the first Democrat in a generation, he was deluged with thousands of applications and petitions for appointed positions in the Federal government. Still committed to civil service reform, this was a first early test.
Cleveland called for the end of mandatory coinage of silver by the government, but offered little executive leadership to see it through Congress. He didn’t want to influence another branch of the government and many considered the nation be leaderless. Meanwhile, William Jennings Bryan gave his famous “cross of gold” speech that would catapult him into fame as a potential presidential candidate.
Cleveland vetoed the Civil War veteran pension bill that would have added greatly to the debt and encouraged fraudulent claims. He made a careless decision to allow the return of captured Confederate battle flags that sparked a national outrage. While he viewed it as an opportunity for reconciliation, it infuriated veterans, their families, and the electorate. Cleveland quickly retreated from the situation, saying the matter should be decided by Congress. He canceled the trip to a veteran’s convention in St. Louis to avoid bringing embarrassment on the office of the presidency. Instead, he chose to attend the dedication of the new colossal statue in New York Harbor that was gifted by people of France. Around this time he proposed and became engaged to the much younger Francis Folsom. She was the daughter of a good, widowed friend. Francis had known Cleveland since she was a child and had always called him Uncle Cleve. This rumor of engagement spread like wild fire and led to much speculation in DC. The press hounded him like modern day paparazzi. The press spread blatantly false accusations that he was a wife-beater. Cleveland detested the press and their treatment of him and his new wife. Francis proved to be lighthearted and popular in D.C.
He vetoed the Texas seed bill to support Texan farmers struggling in drought, not finding a basis for this largess in the constitution. With a substantial government surplus, Grover Cleveland called for tariff reform. This was the year before the election and would likely determine its outcome. Contemporary sources argue that calling for a reduction in tariff rates was one of the boldest acts of political courage for an honest man and the sound money president.
He appointed Lucius Lamar from Mississippi to the Supreme Court. Blaine refused to run again and threw weight behind Indiana Senator Benjamin Harrison. Harrison was a general in the Civil War but had a very frigid personality. The issues of this campaign were veteran’s pensions, tariffs, and silver. The Republicans built a much stronger grassroots campaign and did an effective job of painting Cleveland as a lackey of Great Britain because his proposal to lower tariffs would raise taxes on American workers. This would cost him his home state of New York in the election. Harrison would win the Electoral College though Cleveland was slightly ahead in the popular vote. Following his loss, he took a job in a New York law firm.
He was disheartened with the change in course by the Harrison administration. He felt his frugal administration was vindicated when Harrison and the GOP suffered overwhelming losses in the midterm elections. He made speeches against the free coinage of silver that his friends believed were a horrible mistake. They thought he had thrown away any chance of returning to the presidency by focusing on silver.
More exciting than any potential return to politics, Francis gave birth in 1891 to baby girl named Ruth. The birth of the baby was a national sensation and one shrewd candy manufacturer put the baby’s nickname on the rapper: Baby Ruth.
Democratic opponents called a snap convention in hopes of nominating someone other than Cleveland. The timing meant the delegates from New York may not be able to make it through the inclement weather. Following a clash at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant between Pinkerton security guards and 5000 union members (10 died, 60 injured), Grover gave his only public speech of the campaign in which he sided heavily with labor. One of his biggest concerns about returning to office was his desire to shield his wife from the innuendo of the press.
He was reelected to the presidency in 1892, the only president ever to have two nonconsecutive terms. The country had changed greatly since his last term. Mounting strikes between newly formed unions and bosses foreshadowed the coming progressive era. But at the time, it didn’t see that out of the ordinary…just stories in the newspaper about current events.
Newly inaugurated, he considered new tariffs to overcome perilously low government reserves as a result of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (which required the government to buy 4M ounces of silver a month at market prices and make silver and greenbacks exchangeable for gold). His allies encouraged him to seek its immediate repeal. Mishandling and misstatements by his administration on payments by the government in gold led to a panic which Cleveland tried to calm. His wife was pregnant with their second daughter Esther. She was the first baby boy born in the White House. Doctors detected cancer in his mouth. In total secrecy he met with surgeons in New York where they removed portions of his jaw and fit him with a rubber prosthesis.
Though it took several months of debate in Congress, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed. Though a success for Cleveland, it failed to halt the depression of 1893. The “Cleveland depression” was blamed by many in his own party on his anti-silver policies. The government was rescued by a bond sale to J.P. Morgan (which many construed as the government and big banks being in cahoots).
Eugene Debs led strike of Pullman railroad car workers. When the Pullman strike in Illinois turned violent, Cleveland sent in federal troops to break the streak. He was criticized for interfering in local issues and his actions allowed his opponents to portray him as in the pockets of Gilded-Age capitalists. Clarence Darrow would defend Eugene Debs in court for his role in the violent strike. They would lose their case and Debs would spend six months in jail. His time there was spent in reflection and he would emerge the leading figure in the push for socialism in the years ahead.
Before Cleveland’s second inauguration, Americans in Hawaii deposed the queen. They sent up the treaty to annex Hawaii but it took too long to get through Congress before Harrison left office and Cleveland killed it because it offended his sense of morality. Hawaii would become a republic and the queen would not return to power. Four years later, after the Spanish-American War, Hawaii would be annexed.
In the upcoming election, Grover thought the free silver position of his party’s candidate William Jennings Bryan was foolish. He didn’t much like McKinley and his position on tariffs, but at least he was for the gold standard. Mrs. Cleveland was sad to leave the White House, having been married there and having had several children there. Grover was not as sad to leave as the country had largely rejected his policies.
The handoff to William McKinley went smoothly. Francis gave birth to a baby boy. In need of funds, he began writing magazine articles on his presidential experiences. He was distraught by the lack of any realistic job prospects for presidents after their term in office. Lawyer was an option but not ideal. He continued to be combative with the press. He spoke out quite a bit but usually off the record, being distrustful of the press.
When Roosevelt ascended to the presidency, his first major challenge was a coalminer strike. TR was hesitant to follow Cleveland’s example as president with the Pullman strike and sought arbitration rather than sending in soldiers. Both parties refused the president’s offer. Cleveland wrote a letter of support that helped to deflect criticism from Democrats. TR did decide to send troops, but not to break the streak. Rather they would oversee and run the mine. This forced parties to consent to arbitration. Cleveland had sold his mining stocks at a loss to participate in the arbitration. TR informed him he would not be participating as he had previously asked because the main owners insisted the “radical” Cleveland not be a member of the commission.
Shortly after Teddy Roosevelt was elected in his own right, 12-year-old Ruth Cleveland died. He took the loss hard, but after a period of time he came to terms with it. Growing up a minister’s son he took solace in the belief that she was in heaven.
He served on some tokens commissions (like life insurance reform) when asked by Teddy Roosevelt. Though his health was failing and he died at age 71.
September 21, 2024
What an honest US president for the most part. I knew very little about him and his life.
December 4, 2021
Cleveland is one of those rare Gilded Age Presidents and politicians who deserve the full biography treatment and that is primarily because of his rare character. While he was only one of two Presidents between Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt to succeed in being elected twice to the Chief Executive office (famously the only to do so in non consecutive terms), he was also the only successful Presidential candidate from the Democratic party between Buchanan and Wilson. That's the longest stretch of dominance in the executive office by one party to date and Cleveland was the outlier.
How and why did this lawyer from Buffalo rocket up the ranks? As always, it was a combination of the right qualities at the right time, a solid record, and a bit of luck as well. Cleveland truly was a principled and honest person. His decisions, as illustrated in this briskly written book, almost never came from self-interest or even political interest, in an age where the opposite was the norm. He became mayor of Buffalo and then quickly Governor, and his instant impact there led to attention by the party on the national level. It also turns out that the time the Democrats turned to him nationally, the Republicans were in a bit of a low point, as Garfield's unfortunate assassination placed Chester Arthur into the office, a man the nation also considered throughly bought and sold to Tammany Hall and corruption. Scandals from the Grant Administration and the corruptly decided 1876 election led to a thirst for an honest Administration and Cleveland was there to fill the post.
Cleveland's two nonconsecutive terms were an era where America was hurtling towards the twentieth century, with significant developments and evolutions on the part of organized labor and a number of accomplishments that set the executive apart from the legislative branch and led the way to the rise of the truly independent White House and the Imperial Presidency. His second Presidency was marred by a serious economic depression and his stubborn refusal to employ the national powers at this disposal to remedy. However, that was his policy; remember that the political parties were pretty well reversed in political philosophy back then, with the Republicans preferring robust federal government and activist policies and the Democrats preferring states rights, restraint in the government, and economic conservatism and balance. Cleveland stuck to his policy for better or for worse.
Cleveland was an interesting man and until recently, consistently ranked above average amongst the better presidents. Other than Grant, he was one of the Presidents who remained a popular national figure post-Presidency and always remembered for his merits and positive character attributes. It's a viewpoint readers of this book will share. (For more on the era, with a focus on the significant cancer operation he underwent while in office, see the great book The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman Who Dared Expose the Truth, which also covers his biography pretty well.)
How and why did this lawyer from Buffalo rocket up the ranks? As always, it was a combination of the right qualities at the right time, a solid record, and a bit of luck as well. Cleveland truly was a principled and honest person. His decisions, as illustrated in this briskly written book, almost never came from self-interest or even political interest, in an age where the opposite was the norm. He became mayor of Buffalo and then quickly Governor, and his instant impact there led to attention by the party on the national level. It also turns out that the time the Democrats turned to him nationally, the Republicans were in a bit of a low point, as Garfield's unfortunate assassination placed Chester Arthur into the office, a man the nation also considered throughly bought and sold to Tammany Hall and corruption. Scandals from the Grant Administration and the corruptly decided 1876 election led to a thirst for an honest Administration and Cleveland was there to fill the post.
Cleveland's two nonconsecutive terms were an era where America was hurtling towards the twentieth century, with significant developments and evolutions on the part of organized labor and a number of accomplishments that set the executive apart from the legislative branch and led the way to the rise of the truly independent White House and the Imperial Presidency. His second Presidency was marred by a serious economic depression and his stubborn refusal to employ the national powers at this disposal to remedy. However, that was his policy; remember that the political parties were pretty well reversed in political philosophy back then, with the Republicans preferring robust federal government and activist policies and the Democrats preferring states rights, restraint in the government, and economic conservatism and balance. Cleveland stuck to his policy for better or for worse.
Cleveland was an interesting man and until recently, consistently ranked above average amongst the better presidents. Other than Grant, he was one of the Presidents who remained a popular national figure post-Presidency and always remembered for his merits and positive character attributes. It's a viewpoint readers of this book will share. (For more on the era, with a focus on the significant cancer operation he underwent while in office, see the great book The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman Who Dared Expose the Truth, which also covers his biography pretty well.)
March 17, 2022
Audible.com 9 hours 40 min. Narrated by Raymond Todd(B)
After the conclusion the author tells how while writing a two-volume bio of Theodore Rossevelt, he kept coming across Grover Clevelan about whom he realized he knew little. He also states his purpose in writing this biography: to give the general reader a easy, enjoyable biography of the most overlooked and underrated President of the U. S. He succeeded.
I heartily recommend this biography. Steven Grover Cleveland lived quite a remarkable life and never dreamed that he would end up in the Executive Mansion not once but twice. He wasn't a politician. He was earning a living as an honest, conscientious friend, lawyer, sheriff, mayor and doing his best to always remember that he worked for the good of those who had elected him. This brought his rising star to the attention of New York states democratic party who scooped him out of obscurity to run for governor and then president. However, Cleveland went into each office with no strings of payback attached. What refreshing novelty, even 40 years after the Civil War.
His personal life was also remarkable. In his early years he loved nothing more than a good meal with beer at local bar, singing with friends, mostly male, but a few women. He was single when he elected President, but his heart was attached to his best friend's daughter. After she graduated from college, they married despite the large age gap and enjoyed a loving marriage which included five children. Cleveland had a droll wit and was quite an interesting writer.
What kind of President was he? Read the book and draw your own conclusions based on what your prerequisites are in a President.
After the conclusion the author tells how while writing a two-volume bio of Theodore Rossevelt, he kept coming across Grover Clevelan about whom he realized he knew little. He also states his purpose in writing this biography: to give the general reader a easy, enjoyable biography of the most overlooked and underrated President of the U. S. He succeeded.
I heartily recommend this biography. Steven Grover Cleveland lived quite a remarkable life and never dreamed that he would end up in the Executive Mansion not once but twice. He wasn't a politician. He was earning a living as an honest, conscientious friend, lawyer, sheriff, mayor and doing his best to always remember that he worked for the good of those who had elected him. This brought his rising star to the attention of New York states democratic party who scooped him out of obscurity to run for governor and then president. However, Cleveland went into each office with no strings of payback attached. What refreshing novelty, even 40 years after the Civil War.
His personal life was also remarkable. In his early years he loved nothing more than a good meal with beer at local bar, singing with friends, mostly male, but a few women. He was single when he elected President, but his heart was attached to his best friend's daughter. After she graduated from college, they married despite the large age gap and enjoyed a loving marriage which included five children. Cleveland had a droll wit and was quite an interesting writer.
What kind of President was he? Read the book and draw your own conclusions based on what your prerequisites are in a President.
December 14, 2014
http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2014/...
“An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland” was written by H. Paul Jeffers and published in 2000. Jeffers was an editor and producer at ABC, CBS and NBC and was the news director at two radio stations. He was also a prolific author, having written about seventy books on a diverse range of topics (fiction as well as non-fiction). He died in 2009 at the age of seventy-five.
Jeffers’s biography of Cleveland is entertaining and moves more quickly than the book’s length (353 pages) might suggest. Throughout the book, the author seems to combine a fiction-writer’s sense of plot and perspective with a newsman’s eye for the most salient themes and details.
Topics that could have been dull and burdensome were efficiently covered in plain language and dispatched before slowing the book’s pace. Jeffers’s background in journalism seems to have provided him the ability to carefully calibrate the level of detail he provides: enough to ensure a substantive discussion but without the risk of losing his audience.
Jeffers is also careful to focus on Cleveland’s public as well as private lives. The narrative frequently focuses on his interactions with his wife and children, providing insight into this unusual politician’s life which would otherwise be lost with disproportionate focus on his political career.
Scholars, however, will quickly observe that this biography breaks no new historical ground; Jeffers admitted as much in an interview shortly after the book’s publication. This is not the work of an academic who has carved a new biographical trail through the Gilded Age forest. Rather, it is the story of Grover Cleveland’s life as told by someone who has walked the path already blazed by previous Cleveland biographers.
While Jeffers re-tells the story in his own unique way he frequently refers to observations and opinions made by those earlier biographers. Jeffers’s favorable view of Cleveland is obvious throughout the narrative, but his tendency is to provide the reader with a wide range of perspectives on Cleveland as provided by the likes of Allan Nevins, Richard Welch and Horace Samuel Merrill.
Some readers may notice a small number of curious factual errors (such as the date of Cleveland’s gubernatorial term) but most probably won’t notice or care. Jeffers also has a habit of referring to his subject as “Grover” – as if they were best friends. And there were intermittent comparisons of Cleveland’s character with that of Bill Clinton – but these felt more like needless jabs at the latter’s unique failures rather than helpful insights into Cleveland.
Overall, H. Paul Jeffers’s biography of Grover Cleveland is an interesting and painless introduction to this lesser-known president. Readers seeking thorough coverage of Cleveland with significant detail and groundbreaking insights will be disappointed. But Jeffers’s biography tells the life story of its subject in a way that will appeal to most readers – from the perspective of a journalist and storyteller, rather than that of a long-tenured history professor.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
“An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland” was written by H. Paul Jeffers and published in 2000. Jeffers was an editor and producer at ABC, CBS and NBC and was the news director at two radio stations. He was also a prolific author, having written about seventy books on a diverse range of topics (fiction as well as non-fiction). He died in 2009 at the age of seventy-five.
Jeffers’s biography of Cleveland is entertaining and moves more quickly than the book’s length (353 pages) might suggest. Throughout the book, the author seems to combine a fiction-writer’s sense of plot and perspective with a newsman’s eye for the most salient themes and details.
Topics that could have been dull and burdensome were efficiently covered in plain language and dispatched before slowing the book’s pace. Jeffers’s background in journalism seems to have provided him the ability to carefully calibrate the level of detail he provides: enough to ensure a substantive discussion but without the risk of losing his audience.
Jeffers is also careful to focus on Cleveland’s public as well as private lives. The narrative frequently focuses on his interactions with his wife and children, providing insight into this unusual politician’s life which would otherwise be lost with disproportionate focus on his political career.
Scholars, however, will quickly observe that this biography breaks no new historical ground; Jeffers admitted as much in an interview shortly after the book’s publication. This is not the work of an academic who has carved a new biographical trail through the Gilded Age forest. Rather, it is the story of Grover Cleveland’s life as told by someone who has walked the path already blazed by previous Cleveland biographers.
While Jeffers re-tells the story in his own unique way he frequently refers to observations and opinions made by those earlier biographers. Jeffers’s favorable view of Cleveland is obvious throughout the narrative, but his tendency is to provide the reader with a wide range of perspectives on Cleveland as provided by the likes of Allan Nevins, Richard Welch and Horace Samuel Merrill.
Some readers may notice a small number of curious factual errors (such as the date of Cleveland’s gubernatorial term) but most probably won’t notice or care. Jeffers also has a habit of referring to his subject as “Grover” – as if they were best friends. And there were intermittent comparisons of Cleveland’s character with that of Bill Clinton – but these felt more like needless jabs at the latter’s unique failures rather than helpful insights into Cleveland.
Overall, H. Paul Jeffers’s biography of Grover Cleveland is an interesting and painless introduction to this lesser-known president. Readers seeking thorough coverage of Cleveland with significant detail and groundbreaking insights will be disappointed. But Jeffers’s biography tells the life story of its subject in a way that will appeal to most readers – from the perspective of a journalist and storyteller, rather than that of a long-tenured history professor.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
October 7, 2020
Is there any two-term president as forgotten as Stephen Grover Cleveland? The average person at best probably only knows him as the only president to serve non-consecutive terms. Interested in Cleveland primarily because of a local history connection, this first biography of Cleveland I have read. I chose it simply because it was available from my local library.
This book is an overview of Cleveland's life including his rapid rise from lawyer to mayor to governor to president in a four year span. About 2/3 of the book deals with Cleveland's two terms in office. A closing note from the author accurately sums up the book: "My purpose was...to tell Grover's story as I came to understand appreciate it - the tale of a an and president long ago who was intensely human, vulnerable, courageous, occasionally stupid in things he did, charming, romantic, sometimes infuriating; who could be petty at times and wonderfully magnanimous and gracious at others, and even funny."
Jeffers is a journalist who prior to this wrote two volumes about Theodore Roosevelt, a young contemporary of Cleveland. The two lives intersected several times, first and foremost when they both served in the New York state government at the same time. Jeffers eschews citations and his bibliography is only two pages. This biography feels very much like a synthesis of existing works. There are not deep analyses of the several controversial episodes in Cleveland's life to be found here. The book's title, "An Honest President", is not missing a question mark, nor intended sarcastically. The author is at least sympathetic to his subject, if not an outright fan. There are a few passing references to Bill Clinton and this book was writing during his administration, although I couldn't pin down any particular way this seemed to have influenced the book.
My conclusion from reading this book is that Grover Cleveland was an interesting fellow. He championed Civil Service Reform. He rose to prominence not only outside of a political machine, but in opposition to Tammany Hall. He was a veto-happy governor and president, surpassed in that regard only by Franklin Roosevelt (who served 3+ terms) and well ahead of third place (Truman). He was a strict fiscal conservative - in an era when Democrats were fiscal conservatives and Republicans were fiscal liberals - but somewhat friendly in regard to labor relations. His first term in office was relatively successful and he was narrowly defeated by Benjamin Harrison when running for reelection. His second term was marred by a recession, caused in part by the policies of the Harrison administration, and he left office unpopular even in his own party which had mostly embraced bimetallism (one of the most period-specific political issues in US history, and one for which I would need to consult a panel of expert economists before I could come to a strong opinion on the matter). During both terms in office, the Cleveland family spent much of their time living out of the White House at another home in Washington, DC (different houses in the first and second terms). He was studious and seemingly principled.
Now having an understanding of Cleveland's politics, it seems clear to me why he is mostly forgotten. Modern Democrats don't wish to embrace him because he was a fiscal conservative. Modern fiscally-conservative Republicans don't wish to embrace him because he was a Democrat. Southern conservatives would never embrace him because he was a New Yorker. He was president through no wars and did not have a famous estate that appeals to tourists. His life outside his terms in office was not particularly remarkable, except for its rapid rise. He was not memorably charismatic. He vetoed more legislation than he championed. I think the only people in the 21st century who want to celebrate Grover Cleveland are Libertarians.
On a personal note (but also illustrative of the limited depth of this book), Grover Cleveland's several vacations South Florida go unmentioned except for a passing general comment about the first one. Of of these trips occurred immediately after his first term in office, on which he was joined by several of his ex-cabinet members.
If you only read one book about Grover Cleveland then this one would be an okay choice. It's a fairly easy read and covers the subject reasonably well. However, if you've ever read another book about Cleveland or are looking for a more in-depth analysis, I wouldn't bother. Overall: mild recommendation.
This book is an overview of Cleveland's life including his rapid rise from lawyer to mayor to governor to president in a four year span. About 2/3 of the book deals with Cleveland's two terms in office. A closing note from the author accurately sums up the book: "My purpose was...to tell Grover's story as I came to understand appreciate it - the tale of a an and president long ago who was intensely human, vulnerable, courageous, occasionally stupid in things he did, charming, romantic, sometimes infuriating; who could be petty at times and wonderfully magnanimous and gracious at others, and even funny."
Jeffers is a journalist who prior to this wrote two volumes about Theodore Roosevelt, a young contemporary of Cleveland. The two lives intersected several times, first and foremost when they both served in the New York state government at the same time. Jeffers eschews citations and his bibliography is only two pages. This biography feels very much like a synthesis of existing works. There are not deep analyses of the several controversial episodes in Cleveland's life to be found here. The book's title, "An Honest President", is not missing a question mark, nor intended sarcastically. The author is at least sympathetic to his subject, if not an outright fan. There are a few passing references to Bill Clinton and this book was writing during his administration, although I couldn't pin down any particular way this seemed to have influenced the book.
My conclusion from reading this book is that Grover Cleveland was an interesting fellow. He championed Civil Service Reform. He rose to prominence not only outside of a political machine, but in opposition to Tammany Hall. He was a veto-happy governor and president, surpassed in that regard only by Franklin Roosevelt (who served 3+ terms) and well ahead of third place (Truman). He was a strict fiscal conservative - in an era when Democrats were fiscal conservatives and Republicans were fiscal liberals - but somewhat friendly in regard to labor relations. His first term in office was relatively successful and he was narrowly defeated by Benjamin Harrison when running for reelection. His second term was marred by a recession, caused in part by the policies of the Harrison administration, and he left office unpopular even in his own party which had mostly embraced bimetallism (one of the most period-specific political issues in US history, and one for which I would need to consult a panel of expert economists before I could come to a strong opinion on the matter). During both terms in office, the Cleveland family spent much of their time living out of the White House at another home in Washington, DC (different houses in the first and second terms). He was studious and seemingly principled.
Now having an understanding of Cleveland's politics, it seems clear to me why he is mostly forgotten. Modern Democrats don't wish to embrace him because he was a fiscal conservative. Modern fiscally-conservative Republicans don't wish to embrace him because he was a Democrat. Southern conservatives would never embrace him because he was a New Yorker. He was president through no wars and did not have a famous estate that appeals to tourists. His life outside his terms in office was not particularly remarkable, except for its rapid rise. He was not memorably charismatic. He vetoed more legislation than he championed. I think the only people in the 21st century who want to celebrate Grover Cleveland are Libertarians.
On a personal note (but also illustrative of the limited depth of this book), Grover Cleveland's several vacations South Florida go unmentioned except for a passing general comment about the first one. Of of these trips occurred immediately after his first term in office, on which he was joined by several of his ex-cabinet members.
If you only read one book about Grover Cleveland then this one would be an okay choice. It's a fairly easy read and covers the subject reasonably well. However, if you've ever read another book about Cleveland or are looking for a more in-depth analysis, I wouldn't bother. Overall: mild recommendation.
August 14, 2022
I rarely bother writing reviews. I will make an exception for this book because I thought it was exceptionally well done. What the author managed to do was capture the essential character of Grover Cleveland while also managing to avoid the Trap so many other authors fall into. That is the Trap of "I learned about it therefore so will you." Jeffers essentially curated a story of Cleveland's life and I couldn't be happier with how he approached it. You get the full measure of the person without an absurd amount of detail or extraneous information about the period. You understand the life and times, without understanding every single minute detail. Great job, would read anything this author writes
October 12, 2018
A few random notes and quotes from the biography of the 22nd & 24th POTUS (D):
- "When a man in office lays out a dollar in extravagance, he acts immorally to the people."
- Cleveland vetoed a measure that would've given the Comm'r of Agriculture to appropriate $10k to TX farmers who had been hit hard by a drought for buying seeds because he found no basis for it in the Const. He said that the power & duty of the federal gov't shouldn't be expended to the relief of individual suffering which is not related to public service or benefit.
- "Public office is a public trust."
- "Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people."
- "The simple and plain duty owed to the people is to reduce taxation to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the government and restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in the treasury through the perversion of governmental powers."
- Cleveland believed in 1- old-fashioned democratic ideas of the Const.; 2- economies; 3- merit as the ultimate test for appointment to office; 4- tariff reform; 5- the gold standard.
- Cleveland fiscal policy as a 3-legged stool: 1- opposition to federal paternalism (the government does not support the people; 2- the gold standard; and 3- reduction if not elimination of protective tariffs (he believed they hurt the American consumer and provoked tariff retribution by foreign governments against American exports).
- "When we give our manufacturers tariff-free raw materials, we unshackle American enterprise and ingenuity, and these will open the doors of foreign markets to the reception of our wares, and give opportunity for the continuous and remunerative employment of American labor."
- Proper role of government in disputes between labor and capital: arbitration.
- "The US cannot be properly put in the position of countenancing a wrong after its commission any more than of consenting to it in advance." (re: Q of annexation of HI)
- One historian (McElroy) wrote of Cleveland, "Living, he dared to disregard party in the service of principle. Dying, he named no Party as his heir..."
- See also Alan Nevins crowning biography of Cleveland.
- Cleveland trusted that the people knew better where they ought to be in the future than could any man in the White House.
- Cleveland advocated the reform of personal behavior, not the reform of the governmental structure.
- Cleveland's oldest daughter Ruth is the namesake for the Baby Ruth candy bar (not Babe Ruth, the baseball player).
- Francis Cleveland (wife) correctly predicted they would return to the White House 4 years after Cleveland first left office.
- Once cannot deal with Teddy Roosevelt without encountering Grover Cleveland almost every step of the way.
- "When a man in office lays out a dollar in extravagance, he acts immorally to the people."
- Cleveland vetoed a measure that would've given the Comm'r of Agriculture to appropriate $10k to TX farmers who had been hit hard by a drought for buying seeds because he found no basis for it in the Const. He said that the power & duty of the federal gov't shouldn't be expended to the relief of individual suffering which is not related to public service or benefit.
- "Public office is a public trust."
- "Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people."
- "The simple and plain duty owed to the people is to reduce taxation to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the government and restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in the treasury through the perversion of governmental powers."
- Cleveland believed in 1- old-fashioned democratic ideas of the Const.; 2- economies; 3- merit as the ultimate test for appointment to office; 4- tariff reform; 5- the gold standard.
- Cleveland fiscal policy as a 3-legged stool: 1- opposition to federal paternalism (the government does not support the people; 2- the gold standard; and 3- reduction if not elimination of protective tariffs (he believed they hurt the American consumer and provoked tariff retribution by foreign governments against American exports).
- "When we give our manufacturers tariff-free raw materials, we unshackle American enterprise and ingenuity, and these will open the doors of foreign markets to the reception of our wares, and give opportunity for the continuous and remunerative employment of American labor."
- Proper role of government in disputes between labor and capital: arbitration.
- "The US cannot be properly put in the position of countenancing a wrong after its commission any more than of consenting to it in advance." (re: Q of annexation of HI)
- One historian (McElroy) wrote of Cleveland, "Living, he dared to disregard party in the service of principle. Dying, he named no Party as his heir..."
- See also Alan Nevins crowning biography of Cleveland.
- Cleveland trusted that the people knew better where they ought to be in the future than could any man in the White House.
- Cleveland advocated the reform of personal behavior, not the reform of the governmental structure.
- Cleveland's oldest daughter Ruth is the namesake for the Baby Ruth candy bar (not Babe Ruth, the baseball player).
- Francis Cleveland (wife) correctly predicted they would return to the White House 4 years after Cleveland first left office.
- Once cannot deal with Teddy Roosevelt without encountering Grover Cleveland almost every step of the way.
September 6, 2023
I always wanted to like Grover Cleveland. He's just a fascinating figure. In general I wouldn't say that I like him at this point but this book was probably the best I've read on him. Jeffers wrote this book in response to the Clinton scandals bringing Cleveland back to the limelight and it's hard not to see the late 90s appreciation of compromise and rationality in his assessment of Cleveland. Jeffers says he wanted to write an accessible book outlining Cleveland's life and presidencies and he has done that. Interestingly, the 22nd President emerges as a potential reformer while the 24th president (both Cleveland if you weren't aware) seems more reactionary. Cleveland did call for tariff reform in his first term and espoused the rights of workers to collectively bargain and spoke out against capitalists. But by his second term he was so deeply ensconced in the gold standard of the eastern bankers he chose to send the troops in to protect the capitalist owners. However, during the TR administration, when Roosevelt asked Cleveland to help him settle a coal mine strike, the former president suggested some kind of compromise where the mines would open so enough coal could be produced for the public and then the issues settled. Obviously, this was hopelessly naïve as the alleviation of the crisis would remove the leverage of the workers and the owners wouldn't compromise in any way. But Jeffers believes it may have informed Roosevelt's eventual threat to run the mines through the military while the bargaining continued. It is a fact, however, that the owners rejected Cleveland's involvement because he was "too radical".
Jeffers is very pro-Cleveland (the title itself suggests it) and this colors some of the conclusions. He accepts the charge that Cleveland fathered an illegitimate child in his Buffalo sheriff days, despite the admittedly thin evidence. But he finds Cleveland's honesty refreshing, noting that people said of Cleveland, the top four reasons to support him were, "He is honest, he is honest, he is honest, and he is honest," and that the same would probably never be said of Bill Clinton. Jeffers admits some of the less savory elements of Cleveland's worldview, including a dismissive view of indigenous folk and African-Americans, which, while not outright bigoted, was certainly not very informed. But he tends to gloss it over quickly as simply "of the times" (despite the fact that a fair number of his contemporaries called him out on it). He does fairly note that Cleveland had a different view of government and the presidency than future presidents and we cannot hold him accountable for not being a Franklin Roosevelt. But there were reformers pointing the way even then so it's hard to say he couldn't have pushed the government in a more progressive direction. And while he rejected the injustice of the Harrison administration's grab of Hawaii, he then went on to recognize the "Hawaiian Republic" which was shorthand for American occupation.
The book is extremely readable and definitely helps readers begin to get a grip on a guy that was strangely compelling in his own time. He won three straight popular votes for President and after narrowly losing the Electoral College to Benjamin Harrison when seeking a second term, came back and won in a landslide four years later. He was welcomed before, during and after his presidency. If nothing else we should understand him for what he tells us of America in his time and what lessons he could possibly have for our own. For all his shortcomings, men like Grover Cleveland represented an older view of the American presidency. I highly recommend.
Jeffers is very pro-Cleveland (the title itself suggests it) and this colors some of the conclusions. He accepts the charge that Cleveland fathered an illegitimate child in his Buffalo sheriff days, despite the admittedly thin evidence. But he finds Cleveland's honesty refreshing, noting that people said of Cleveland, the top four reasons to support him were, "He is honest, he is honest, he is honest, and he is honest," and that the same would probably never be said of Bill Clinton. Jeffers admits some of the less savory elements of Cleveland's worldview, including a dismissive view of indigenous folk and African-Americans, which, while not outright bigoted, was certainly not very informed. But he tends to gloss it over quickly as simply "of the times" (despite the fact that a fair number of his contemporaries called him out on it). He does fairly note that Cleveland had a different view of government and the presidency than future presidents and we cannot hold him accountable for not being a Franklin Roosevelt. But there were reformers pointing the way even then so it's hard to say he couldn't have pushed the government in a more progressive direction. And while he rejected the injustice of the Harrison administration's grab of Hawaii, he then went on to recognize the "Hawaiian Republic" which was shorthand for American occupation.
The book is extremely readable and definitely helps readers begin to get a grip on a guy that was strangely compelling in his own time. He won three straight popular votes for President and after narrowly losing the Electoral College to Benjamin Harrison when seeking a second term, came back and won in a landslide four years later. He was welcomed before, during and after his presidency. If nothing else we should understand him for what he tells us of America in his time and what lessons he could possibly have for our own. For all his shortcomings, men like Grover Cleveland represented an older view of the American presidency. I highly recommend.
March 21, 2012
H. Paul Jeffers does not like footnotes, and he shares this opinion with Theodore Roosevelt, because footnotes `ruin the narrative'. Well, I like footnotes, it makes looking up information that much easier, but I am willing to let the author have his preferences, after all, he does have a brilliant narrative. Jeffers describes the life of President Grover Cleveland and the world in which he lived.
One of the things that becomes very apparent when reading this book is what a nice an honest man Cleveland really was--hence the title. That may sound amusing but I am serious! When looking at his life and political career, it is easy to spot things that one may disagree with, but it is a respectful disagreement that requires no question into the ethics of his character. Cleveland is a Democrat but his politics are difficult to place in a modern left/right spectrum, since what consists of the political `left' and `right' changes over the decades it is hard to tell where he would fit in, some of his positions on issues could go either way.
Born Stephan Grover Cleveland, and like the author of his book, choose to answer by his middle name amongst friends and professionals. He was born in 1837, and during the Civil War he did not fight but paid a replacement, so it can be said he was our first draft dodger president, although his action was legal. It is important to point out that he never tried to cover this up and, if asked, openly admitted to it.
Cleveland's profession, like many presidents, was the law. As a lawyer, he began at law firm before starting his own practice and he later went on to become an assistant district attorney, running for the top job but losing the election to his own roommate in 1865. In 1870, Cleveland was elected the Sheriff of Erie County, as Sheriff he refused to have his deputies perform the gruesome task of an execution, and handled both that occurred under his watch. After his two-year term was over, he would go to private practice.
Cleveland would resume a political career that would launch him straight to the presidency in four years. In 1880, he was approached by local Democratic Party officials to run for mayoralty of Buffalo, he accepted and defeated his opponent Milton C. Beebe in the general election. Mayor Cleveland began to tackle corruption at City Hall. When the City Council accepted the highest bid for a street cleaning project because of the political connection of the bidder, the new Mayor vetoed that decision in his first stand against corruption.
This would launch a campaign for the governor's mansion. In 1882, Cleveland ran and won the office of Governor of New York, defeating his opponent Charles J. Folger rather handily. As Governor, Cleveland would earn many admires including a young state legislator named Theodore Roosevelt. His elevated train veto was the mark of a reform in government that the state had not seen in a good deal of time. People started to think they would like to see this action at the national level.
"He did so not because he was paying a political debt, as critics charged. He rejected it, like so many other bills placed before him as mayor of Buffalo and governor, because he considered it poorly drafted. This was an objection in which the author of the measure eventually concurred, calling his own bill `a very shabby piece of legislation, quite unfit to find a place in the statute book.' Roosevelt was not assuaged and said so in harsh language in a widely published speech. Grover discounted it as typical but momentary Roosevelt passion." p.91
After a convention, battle Governor Cleveland won the Democratic Presidential Nomination of 1880. His election against the Republican James G. Blaine of Maine would be labeled, the public sinner vs. the private sinner. Blaine's corruptions were laid bare and Cleveland's personnel life was attacked. Cleveland prevailed however and defeats Blaine in the general election.
"With election day drawing closer, Grover remained in Albany in the welcome company of Oscar Folsom's widow and their pretty daughters, Frances, officially his ward. Awaiting the vote, he was assured of the support of two of New York's mightiest newspapers. The influential Herald had informed its readers, `We are told that Mr. Blaine had been delinquent in office but blameless in public life, while Mr. Cleveland has been the model of official integrity, but culpable in his personnel relations. We should therefore elect Mr. Cleveland to the public office which he is so well qualified to fill, and remand Mr. Blaine to the private station which he is admirably fitted to adorn.'" p.117
As the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland continued his reforming ways by taken on a fight on corruption that was started by Chester A. Arthur as the Civil Service Reform. Cleveland created the Inter-State Commerce Commission. He also reduced tariffs and upheld the gold standard.
He also decide to get married, he married Frances Folsom, a young woman in her twenties who was the daughter of his late friend Oscar Folsom. The couple would go on to have five children together.
"He proposed to Frances about a year earlier, in a letter to her when she was visiting relatives in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She accepted and they agreed to keep the engagement secret until such time as Grover was ready to announce it. Mary and others of the family who learned of the betrothal honored his request to keep that fact to themselves. This soon would prove to be difficult as Washington, D.C., stirred with rumors and heated speculation that the president would not be a bachelor much longer. The nominee for bride among the gossips was the widow Folsom. The more daring stated with certitude that it would be her daughter." p.171
Not all was well, however, Cleveland would, although re-nominated by the Democrats, would lose the general election of 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William Henry Harrison. Cleveland won the popular vote but the Electoral College kicked him out.
The former President would try to return to law practice, which he felt foolish, arguing before judges whom he appointed. As time went on, he was critical at what the government was doing and in 1892 threw his hat back into the ring. Nominated by the Democrats for President for the third time in a row*, Cleveland headed into the rematch. This was only election in history in which the incumbent president faced his own predecessor. This time Cleveland won both the popular and Electoral College vote. The twenty-second president had just become the twenty-fourth.
Unfortunately, for Cleveland the second term began with a financial panic, and labor unrest. The Pullman strike was a threat to the nation, since it crippled the railroads, and President Cleveland had to send troops out to suppress it. President Cleveland also had to deal with more foreign policy issues then he had in the past. He did successful arbitrate a dispute between the British Empire and Venezuela over territory.
The President would retire after his second term and be replaced by William McKinley; although of the other party, McKinley was the candidate who Cleveland preferred. He would have a quiet retirement as a trustee of Princeton University. He would perform one last act of public service; President Theodore Roosevelt had him serve on the Commission on the Coal Strike of 1902, which ended positively for all.
When he died in 1908, the last words that the former President had said was, "I tried so hard to do right." H. Paul Jeffers captures not just President Cleveland but also his world, everything from Eugene V. Debs and Lizzy Borden can be found here.
*No one had done that since Andrew Jackson.
One of the things that becomes very apparent when reading this book is what a nice an honest man Cleveland really was--hence the title. That may sound amusing but I am serious! When looking at his life and political career, it is easy to spot things that one may disagree with, but it is a respectful disagreement that requires no question into the ethics of his character. Cleveland is a Democrat but his politics are difficult to place in a modern left/right spectrum, since what consists of the political `left' and `right' changes over the decades it is hard to tell where he would fit in, some of his positions on issues could go either way.
Born Stephan Grover Cleveland, and like the author of his book, choose to answer by his middle name amongst friends and professionals. He was born in 1837, and during the Civil War he did not fight but paid a replacement, so it can be said he was our first draft dodger president, although his action was legal. It is important to point out that he never tried to cover this up and, if asked, openly admitted to it.
Cleveland's profession, like many presidents, was the law. As a lawyer, he began at law firm before starting his own practice and he later went on to become an assistant district attorney, running for the top job but losing the election to his own roommate in 1865. In 1870, Cleveland was elected the Sheriff of Erie County, as Sheriff he refused to have his deputies perform the gruesome task of an execution, and handled both that occurred under his watch. After his two-year term was over, he would go to private practice.
Cleveland would resume a political career that would launch him straight to the presidency in four years. In 1880, he was approached by local Democratic Party officials to run for mayoralty of Buffalo, he accepted and defeated his opponent Milton C. Beebe in the general election. Mayor Cleveland began to tackle corruption at City Hall. When the City Council accepted the highest bid for a street cleaning project because of the political connection of the bidder, the new Mayor vetoed that decision in his first stand against corruption.
This would launch a campaign for the governor's mansion. In 1882, Cleveland ran and won the office of Governor of New York, defeating his opponent Charles J. Folger rather handily. As Governor, Cleveland would earn many admires including a young state legislator named Theodore Roosevelt. His elevated train veto was the mark of a reform in government that the state had not seen in a good deal of time. People started to think they would like to see this action at the national level.
"He did so not because he was paying a political debt, as critics charged. He rejected it, like so many other bills placed before him as mayor of Buffalo and governor, because he considered it poorly drafted. This was an objection in which the author of the measure eventually concurred, calling his own bill `a very shabby piece of legislation, quite unfit to find a place in the statute book.' Roosevelt was not assuaged and said so in harsh language in a widely published speech. Grover discounted it as typical but momentary Roosevelt passion." p.91
After a convention, battle Governor Cleveland won the Democratic Presidential Nomination of 1880. His election against the Republican James G. Blaine of Maine would be labeled, the public sinner vs. the private sinner. Blaine's corruptions were laid bare and Cleveland's personnel life was attacked. Cleveland prevailed however and defeats Blaine in the general election.
"With election day drawing closer, Grover remained in Albany in the welcome company of Oscar Folsom's widow and their pretty daughters, Frances, officially his ward. Awaiting the vote, he was assured of the support of two of New York's mightiest newspapers. The influential Herald had informed its readers, `We are told that Mr. Blaine had been delinquent in office but blameless in public life, while Mr. Cleveland has been the model of official integrity, but culpable in his personnel relations. We should therefore elect Mr. Cleveland to the public office which he is so well qualified to fill, and remand Mr. Blaine to the private station which he is admirably fitted to adorn.'" p.117
As the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland continued his reforming ways by taken on a fight on corruption that was started by Chester A. Arthur as the Civil Service Reform. Cleveland created the Inter-State Commerce Commission. He also reduced tariffs and upheld the gold standard.
He also decide to get married, he married Frances Folsom, a young woman in her twenties who was the daughter of his late friend Oscar Folsom. The couple would go on to have five children together.
"He proposed to Frances about a year earlier, in a letter to her when she was visiting relatives in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She accepted and they agreed to keep the engagement secret until such time as Grover was ready to announce it. Mary and others of the family who learned of the betrothal honored his request to keep that fact to themselves. This soon would prove to be difficult as Washington, D.C., stirred with rumors and heated speculation that the president would not be a bachelor much longer. The nominee for bride among the gossips was the widow Folsom. The more daring stated with certitude that it would be her daughter." p.171
Not all was well, however, Cleveland would, although re-nominated by the Democrats, would lose the general election of 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William Henry Harrison. Cleveland won the popular vote but the Electoral College kicked him out.
The former President would try to return to law practice, which he felt foolish, arguing before judges whom he appointed. As time went on, he was critical at what the government was doing and in 1892 threw his hat back into the ring. Nominated by the Democrats for President for the third time in a row*, Cleveland headed into the rematch. This was only election in history in which the incumbent president faced his own predecessor. This time Cleveland won both the popular and Electoral College vote. The twenty-second president had just become the twenty-fourth.
Unfortunately, for Cleveland the second term began with a financial panic, and labor unrest. The Pullman strike was a threat to the nation, since it crippled the railroads, and President Cleveland had to send troops out to suppress it. President Cleveland also had to deal with more foreign policy issues then he had in the past. He did successful arbitrate a dispute between the British Empire and Venezuela over territory.
The President would retire after his second term and be replaced by William McKinley; although of the other party, McKinley was the candidate who Cleveland preferred. He would have a quiet retirement as a trustee of Princeton University. He would perform one last act of public service; President Theodore Roosevelt had him serve on the Commission on the Coal Strike of 1902, which ended positively for all.
When he died in 1908, the last words that the former President had said was, "I tried so hard to do right." H. Paul Jeffers captures not just President Cleveland but also his world, everything from Eugene V. Debs and Lizzy Borden can be found here.
*No one had done that since Andrew Jackson.
January 11, 2025
As far as a biography this is a 3.5-4⭐️ book; Cleveland was definitely a 3⭐️ President, maybe less. He is probably best known for being the only (at least for the next 10 days…) president with two non consecutive terms, for being the first sitting president to get married at the White House, for (his wife) having the first baby in the White House, and for being a quite rotund man. He’s not as well known (or at least not as well remembered) for being the president who signed the Chinese exclusion act, the hatch act, presided over the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, fought for the gold standard and against the free silver movement,, established the Interstate Commerce Commission which standardized railroad rates, and generally hated the press (though he hired a press secretary to push his PR/propaganda between his terms, which was very unusual for the time.) Cleveland was also very anti-“welfare state” saying “the people should support the government, but the government shouldn’t support the people.” In his pre-political years he paid another man $150 to fight in the Civil War on his behalf (relatively common at the time), and he fathered a child out of wedlock (scandalous but he never denied it in his politics). Bill Clinton was reportedly a fan of Cleveland’s while in office, though I think the 2000 pub date of this book in the wake of the Clinton Lewinsky scandal was more influential in this book than it needed to be.
Some other “fun” facts:
-Cleveland’s wife Frances was 25ish years his junior, and he actually bought her a dollhouse when she was a child…which feels particularly creepy now and I’m sure was also creepy then… (She was rather interesting, writing a book about George Eliot’s poetry, advocating for feminist causes and was said to conjugate Greek verbs in her head while enduring the tedium of the receiving line in the White House. She also married a man after Cleveland died whose name was John Preston, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Carrie Bradshaw was in some way inspired by Frances Cleveland…🤭)
-Grover and Frances’ firstborn was named Ruth, and press loved and reported on Baby Ruth so much that a candy bar company created the now iconic candy bar in her honor. No, it’s not named for baseball’s Babe Ruth. (sadly, Baby Ruth died of diphtheria at age 12)
-while in his 2nd term as President, Cleveland had a cancerous tumor removed from his jaw and a prosthetic jawbone implanted. To avoid panic and concern, the surgery was performed at sea aboard a yacht under secrecy (it wasn’t actually known for 25 years that this went down…!)
Some other “fun” facts:
-Cleveland’s wife Frances was 25ish years his junior, and he actually bought her a dollhouse when she was a child…which feels particularly creepy now and I’m sure was also creepy then… (She was rather interesting, writing a book about George Eliot’s poetry, advocating for feminist causes and was said to conjugate Greek verbs in her head while enduring the tedium of the receiving line in the White House. She also married a man after Cleveland died whose name was John Preston, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Carrie Bradshaw was in some way inspired by Frances Cleveland…🤭)
-Grover and Frances’ firstborn was named Ruth, and press loved and reported on Baby Ruth so much that a candy bar company created the now iconic candy bar in her honor. No, it’s not named for baseball’s Babe Ruth. (sadly, Baby Ruth died of diphtheria at age 12)
-while in his 2nd term as President, Cleveland had a cancerous tumor removed from his jaw and a prosthetic jawbone implanted. To avoid panic and concern, the surgery was performed at sea aboard a yacht under secrecy (it wasn’t actually known for 25 years that this went down…!)
January 31, 2023
What if a man with a plodding work ethic and unbending honesty became president? In the case of Grover Cleveland, we have an example of a man with limited political experience and average intellect, but who shines as an example of character. He was known for four things, according to one newspaper at the time: "1. He is an honest man; 2. He is an honest man; 3. He is an honest man; 4. He is an honest man" (p. 117).
Before becoming president, he was a county sheriff (3 years), mayor of Buffalo (1 year), and governor of NY (2 years). He is known as the only president to be elected to two non-consecutive terms (president #22 and #24), the only president to be married in the white house, and the first president to have a child born in the white house.
But he really should be known for his strict adherence to principles over party. He was willing to lose friends and support over his convictions. "What is the use of being elected or re-elected," Cleveland asked, "unless you stand for something?" (p. 200). He was against a welfare state (the government does not support the people). He supported low tariffs and the gold standard. He was against the annexation of Hawaii, and he was willing to defend the Monroe Doctrine at the risk of war with Great Britain (Venezuela border).
His dying words were, "I have tried so hard to do right" (p. 340).
Before becoming president, he was a county sheriff (3 years), mayor of Buffalo (1 year), and governor of NY (2 years). He is known as the only president to be elected to two non-consecutive terms (president #22 and #24), the only president to be married in the white house, and the first president to have a child born in the white house.
But he really should be known for his strict adherence to principles over party. He was willing to lose friends and support over his convictions. "What is the use of being elected or re-elected," Cleveland asked, "unless you stand for something?" (p. 200). He was against a welfare state (the government does not support the people). He supported low tariffs and the gold standard. He was against the annexation of Hawaii, and he was willing to defend the Monroe Doctrine at the risk of war with Great Britain (Venezuela border).
His dying words were, "I have tried so hard to do right" (p. 340).
July 11, 2022
An era of forgotten presidents, where the most interesting thing about Cleveland remains that he served two non-consecutive terms.
Just because political cartoons from the Gilded Age hit different:
"Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people" - Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)
Just because political cartoons from the Gilded Age hit different:
March 6, 2021
Rushed and derivative.
Jeffers' 2002 bio of the only President to serve two non- consecutive terms relies far too heavily on secondary sources and biographies published well after Cleveland's death to be of any real merit. I felt I got a better sense of what other writers thought about Cleveland than Jeffers' own conclusions.
To be fair, Jeffers does portray Cleveland as a principled character who was not afraid to take politically damaging positions but he was also very much a party man (though not necessarily a machine man). But while Jeffers tries to bookend the work with a couple of anecdotes about Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt, it feels forced and instead the impression is very much of a staunch partisan.
The book is also very very short and feels rushed. Despite having one of the more unique presidential careers, Jeffers barrels through both of Cleveland's terms and the interregnum at blinding speed. In the afterword he tries to defend against this by saying he doesn't judge biographies by their "heft." That's fine, but heft can be measured on both page count or depth of research.
This work is on the lighter side of the scale.
Jeffers' 2002 bio of the only President to serve two non- consecutive terms relies far too heavily on secondary sources and biographies published well after Cleveland's death to be of any real merit. I felt I got a better sense of what other writers thought about Cleveland than Jeffers' own conclusions.
To be fair, Jeffers does portray Cleveland as a principled character who was not afraid to take politically damaging positions but he was also very much a party man (though not necessarily a machine man). But while Jeffers tries to bookend the work with a couple of anecdotes about Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt, it feels forced and instead the impression is very much of a staunch partisan.
The book is also very very short and feels rushed. Despite having one of the more unique presidential careers, Jeffers barrels through both of Cleveland's terms and the interregnum at blinding speed. In the afterword he tries to defend against this by saying he doesn't judge biographies by their "heft." That's fine, but heft can be measured on both page count or depth of research.
This work is on the lighter side of the scale.
January 6, 2022
An entertaining and engaging treatment of Cleveland and his two non consecutive terms. The book’s title tips off that Jeffers intends to show Cleveland in the most positive light possible. He glosses over some of Cleveland’s personal foibles, his inefficiency to react to a recession, and the fact that he left his second term as a very unpopular president. His reputation was rehabilitated somewhat post presidency. Nonetheless, this was a fun read.
October 1, 2017
He sure doesn’t come off as one of my favorite presidents.
July 13, 2017
An excellent treatment of his life. He was indeed a principled man. So much so he lost re-election to a second consecutive term. He was re-elected four years later; and thus, both the 22nd and 24th president.
May 22, 2021
Exceptionally mediocre President. The writing is good though
February 24, 2021
Mediocre at best. Superficial and lacking any semblance of diligent research or incisive analysis. Not recommended.
December 8, 2020
From the start let me say this suffers from a fault I am finding in all biographies of the last couple decades; the author feels the need to make it "relevant" and "relatable" by tying it into the present day, events, personalities. In this case the Clinton administration which leave the obvious problem, for most people 25 years ago isn't relevant now.
Other than that I enjoyed the book and learned much and found much to admire in Pres Cleveland. I recommend the book but you need to brush up on your 1990's knowledge as it is assumed whereas the 1890's are far better explained.
Other than that I enjoyed the book and learned much and found much to admire in Pres Cleveland. I recommend the book but you need to brush up on your 1990's knowledge as it is assumed whereas the 1890's are far better explained.
November 30, 2020
(Audiobook) Cleveland, like most presidents between Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, tends to fall into the group of Presidents generally overshadowed by other figures in American history. Given that they all tended to be bigger white guys with prodigious facial hair of some kind, that most were 1 termers, and the far reaching significance of their actions does not always measure up to other presidents and eras, they don't have a lot of biographers beating down the doors to write the definitive tomes on them. For Cleveland, if he is given any regard, it is the fact that as of this review, he is the only man to serve two non-consecutive terms as President. However, this work attempts to reveal that there is more to the man than just that bit of historical trivia.
Jeffers seeks to use the limited amounts of direct correspondence and the relatively few volumes written about the man to define his life and his actions as a political leader. Cleveland, who started out as the poor-ish son of a Presbyterian minister, manages to find his way in Buffalo, NY, becoming a lawyer and political figure. His stock really rose in the late 1870s, when he parlayed his sheriff position into becoming a Democratic Mayor in a strong Republican town (definitions were a little different back then). He then went from mayor, to governor of New York to eventual President.
What I came to find out was that he was a deliberate leader, while not brilliant, who put in the work to get to the right decisions, and he would stick with those decisions. Cleveland generally ran on his record of fighting corruption and the spoils system. He was not a perfect president, a victim of the prejudices of his time and perhaps he was too friendly with JP Morgan in the crash of 1893, but on the whole, he was probably a better president than his reputation suggests. The stories of the child out of wedlock, the marrying of the daughter of a family friend (age different of nearly 30 years) and the secret cruise he undertook as president to hide a cancer operation are covered, but Jeffers tried to go beyond that.
This was a fascinating read, even if perhaps lacking the detail and narrative of other biographers. Either there is not near as much material to work with, or Cleveland does not inspire the same academic fervor as others. I suspect that in some circles, his life story would become very popular, serving as an example of what could be. Still, a decent read, and the rating is the same either for audiobook or e-copy/hard copy.
Jeffers seeks to use the limited amounts of direct correspondence and the relatively few volumes written about the man to define his life and his actions as a political leader. Cleveland, who started out as the poor-ish son of a Presbyterian minister, manages to find his way in Buffalo, NY, becoming a lawyer and political figure. His stock really rose in the late 1870s, when he parlayed his sheriff position into becoming a Democratic Mayor in a strong Republican town (definitions were a little different back then). He then went from mayor, to governor of New York to eventual President.
What I came to find out was that he was a deliberate leader, while not brilliant, who put in the work to get to the right decisions, and he would stick with those decisions. Cleveland generally ran on his record of fighting corruption and the spoils system. He was not a perfect president, a victim of the prejudices of his time and perhaps he was too friendly with JP Morgan in the crash of 1893, but on the whole, he was probably a better president than his reputation suggests. The stories of the child out of wedlock, the marrying of the daughter of a family friend (age different of nearly 30 years) and the secret cruise he undertook as president to hide a cancer operation are covered, but Jeffers tried to go beyond that.
This was a fascinating read, even if perhaps lacking the detail and narrative of other biographers. Either there is not near as much material to work with, or Cleveland does not inspire the same academic fervor as others. I suspect that in some circles, his life story would become very popular, serving as an example of what could be. Still, a decent read, and the rating is the same either for audiobook or e-copy/hard copy.
November 14, 2013
This is the story of the President who was born in my old home town and the only one who managed to serve non-consecutive terms. I found it interesting to read about a President whom most high school and college textbooks tend to ignore, and about a time when the most important issue facing the nation was the increasingly complex relationship between labor and management. There were no wars during Cleveland's tenure, and nobody tried to kill him. But there was a fairly severe economic crisis that saw the rise of labor unions and the still rather infamous Pullman strike that placed Eugene Debs on the national stage. There are, no doubt, more thorough treatments of this man and the era he lived in. But this book was an excellent introduction to the topics, well written and fun to read.
February 5, 2018
Zzzzzzzzz. Very dull. Not sure if that was due to the subject matter or the writing....
December 12, 2019
A quick glance at my reading history reveals my affinity for presidential history. When I recently encountered a reminder of Grover Cleveland’s unique status as the only president to serve non-consecutive terms, I decided to add our 22nd and 24th president’s biography to my reading list. As Shakespeare noted, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Put another way, President Lyndon Johnson once commented that he “didn’t want to be known as a war president,” but the Vietnam War proved to be a central element of his presidency. Presidents do not necessarily choose the events that shape their presidency. Since Grover Cleveland had no great wars or events that occurred during his presidency, history treats him more as the answer to an interesting trivia question rather than a man to be studied. Yet his is a unique history that warrants exploration, and I in turn enjoyed learning more about Grover Cleveland’s rise from mercantile apprentice and teacher to lawyer, mayor, and president.
Here are some of the observations and lessons I learned from An Honest President by Paul Jeffers:
• The prologue of Jeffers’s book highlights one reason why I so admire Teddy Roosevelt. When Grover Cleveland was governor of New York, Cleveland vetoed a popular bill that would have impaired the constitutional power of contracts. Roosevelt, who had voted for the bill, acknowledged he was wrong after the veto message and changed course.
• Another of Cleveland’s biographers, Robert McElroy, noted upon looking at Cleveland’s ascension to power: “Americans had long since learned that, as the devil can quote Scripture, so the most dangerous type of demagogue can sing of ideals in false notes not easily distinguishable from true. Cleveland was the antithesis of a demagogue, but McElroy’s observation is an important one for voters to remember.
• Cleveland had an excellent quote in a speech on the presidency: “If your President should not be of the people and one of your fellow-citizens, he would be utterly unfit for the position, incapable of understanding the people's wants and careless of their desires. That he is one of the people implies that he is subject to human frailty and error. But he should be permitted to claim but little toleration for mistakes; the generosity of his fellow-citizens should alone decree how far good intentions should excuse his shortcomings.
Watch well, then, this high office, the most precious possession of American citizenship. Demand for it the most complete devotion on the part of him to whose custody it may be entrusted, and protect it not less vigilantly against unworthy assaults from without.
Thus will you perform a sacred duty to yourselves and to those who may follow you in the enjoyment of the freest institutions which Heaven has ever vouchsafed to man.”
• It is interesting how many points Cleveland differed on with his party. There was a lack of unity on cutting tariffs, sticking with the gold standard, and other issues. Yet the party nominated him because of his principles and his striving to do the right thing.
• James Garfield once noted that many men ruined their careers by loss of character due to “White House Fever.” Despite multiple presidencies, this “illness” never seemed to afflict Grover Cleveland. He was willing to serve out of duty but he did not seem eager to hold the position. More accurately, he seemed more interested in giving up the position. Both Garfield and Cleveland seemed to appreciate that lust for power—particularly the power of the presidency—could easily interfere with the responsibility to serve with character.
As the opening of "An Honest President" referenced a Teddy Roosevelt quote, so too did the conclusion. After Grover Cleveland died, Roosevelt observed that Cleveland “quailed before no hostility when once he was convinced where his duty lay.” Duty and character seemed to be the reoccurring descriptions from those who knew Cleveland best. Jeffers did an excellent job of drawing on the theme of character without veering into hagiography with his writing. My only critique is that the book’s ending—both Cleveland’s second term and his post-presidency life—seemed very truncated. I would have welcomed more content to hear about how marriage and fatherhood changed or affected Cleveland. Still, Jeffers wrote a crisp book that was enjoyable and informative. There are other biographies that offer a deeper analysis, but "An Honest President" provides a welcome introduction to President Cleveland.
Here are some of the observations and lessons I learned from An Honest President by Paul Jeffers:
• The prologue of Jeffers’s book highlights one reason why I so admire Teddy Roosevelt. When Grover Cleveland was governor of New York, Cleveland vetoed a popular bill that would have impaired the constitutional power of contracts. Roosevelt, who had voted for the bill, acknowledged he was wrong after the veto message and changed course.
• Another of Cleveland’s biographers, Robert McElroy, noted upon looking at Cleveland’s ascension to power: “Americans had long since learned that, as the devil can quote Scripture, so the most dangerous type of demagogue can sing of ideals in false notes not easily distinguishable from true. Cleveland was the antithesis of a demagogue, but McElroy’s observation is an important one for voters to remember.
• Cleveland had an excellent quote in a speech on the presidency: “If your President should not be of the people and one of your fellow-citizens, he would be utterly unfit for the position, incapable of understanding the people's wants and careless of their desires. That he is one of the people implies that he is subject to human frailty and error. But he should be permitted to claim but little toleration for mistakes; the generosity of his fellow-citizens should alone decree how far good intentions should excuse his shortcomings.
Watch well, then, this high office, the most precious possession of American citizenship. Demand for it the most complete devotion on the part of him to whose custody it may be entrusted, and protect it not less vigilantly against unworthy assaults from without.
Thus will you perform a sacred duty to yourselves and to those who may follow you in the enjoyment of the freest institutions which Heaven has ever vouchsafed to man.”
• It is interesting how many points Cleveland differed on with his party. There was a lack of unity on cutting tariffs, sticking with the gold standard, and other issues. Yet the party nominated him because of his principles and his striving to do the right thing.
• James Garfield once noted that many men ruined their careers by loss of character due to “White House Fever.” Despite multiple presidencies, this “illness” never seemed to afflict Grover Cleveland. He was willing to serve out of duty but he did not seem eager to hold the position. More accurately, he seemed more interested in giving up the position. Both Garfield and Cleveland seemed to appreciate that lust for power—particularly the power of the presidency—could easily interfere with the responsibility to serve with character.
As the opening of "An Honest President" referenced a Teddy Roosevelt quote, so too did the conclusion. After Grover Cleveland died, Roosevelt observed that Cleveland “quailed before no hostility when once he was convinced where his duty lay.” Duty and character seemed to be the reoccurring descriptions from those who knew Cleveland best. Jeffers did an excellent job of drawing on the theme of character without veering into hagiography with his writing. My only critique is that the book’s ending—both Cleveland’s second term and his post-presidency life—seemed very truncated. I would have welcomed more content to hear about how marriage and fatherhood changed or affected Cleveland. Still, Jeffers wrote a crisp book that was enjoyable and informative. There are other biographies that offer a deeper analysis, but "An Honest President" provides a welcome introduction to President Cleveland.
December 22, 2020
I'll admit to picking this book primarily because of its length and more recent printing. I expected Cleveland not to be very interesting as a president. But he turns out to have been pretty fascinating.
For one, his meteoric rise in politics struck me as inspiring but also incredibly lucky. He performed well as an ADA in Buffalo and then took advantage of Republican dissension to with the governor's race. I suppose he made his own luck by vetoing on principle dozens of unnecessary bills from the legislature. And good on him for that, quite frankly. He then spent one year in office before being nominated for the presidency and won by a margin of 1,047 votes in New York (with some allegations of fraud, I might add). So he's then POTUS. An amazing rise.
As for his tenure as President, I found him exceedingly charming. For one, his "public office is a public trust" mantra really resonates, especially in the modern age where we have lost our collective belief in politicians. He also pushed issues that he knew would cause party dissension, such as lowering tariffs and eliminating free silver. (TBT to when the parties really disagreed on free trade. Though they disagree again now, albeit on different sides than before). I respected his willingness to do that because he believed in it. Same for his vetoes of superfluous pensions to vets.
His second presidency is a more mixed bag. Some of it probably wasn't his fault, though Jeffers makes it sound like he could have done a better job showing confidence in the gold standard of the economy. But it sounds like a credible case could be made that he didn't push enough for what he wanted. Part of that returns to what I found charming - it is amazing to read about presidents that let Congress reach it own conclusions. That isn't the case now, so much is run through the White House. But there is some room for that. I also found his interactions with organized labor very interesting. He touted the cause of workers, but then sent in troops when things had gotten so bad in Chicago after the Pullman riot.
As for his personal life, I do find his marriage a bit on the creepy side considering the age difference, but they ended up having five kids so there was probably true love there. And I'll admit that his frustration with the press mirrors some of today's frustrations with the fourth estate.
All that said, there is some unexpected depth to Cleveland. I therefore wish that I picked a more fulsome treatment of his life. This book, while written in a very engaging and fast-paced manner, glosses through a few very interesting episode (such as his deal with JP Morgan to buy bonds). It also gives only a surface-level treatment to his more problematic views towards blacks in the South and Chinese laborers in the West. Those omissions make me question whether Cleveland was as great as Jeffers says, though his approach to public service still comes through loud and clear. Finally, Jeffers wrote this in 2000, with the Clinton presidency on everyone's minds. As a result, he makes a few tortured connections between Cleveland, who had a love child before his first presidency, and Clinton in the realm of sexual scandals. Although I did not read this book in that same time, these connections grated on me. Thankfully, they are few and far between, but the book does end on that note, which is less than ideal.
Overall, a fun read that might make me find another bio of Cleveland sometime down the road.
For one, his meteoric rise in politics struck me as inspiring but also incredibly lucky. He performed well as an ADA in Buffalo and then took advantage of Republican dissension to with the governor's race. I suppose he made his own luck by vetoing on principle dozens of unnecessary bills from the legislature. And good on him for that, quite frankly. He then spent one year in office before being nominated for the presidency and won by a margin of 1,047 votes in New York (with some allegations of fraud, I might add). So he's then POTUS. An amazing rise.
As for his tenure as President, I found him exceedingly charming. For one, his "public office is a public trust" mantra really resonates, especially in the modern age where we have lost our collective belief in politicians. He also pushed issues that he knew would cause party dissension, such as lowering tariffs and eliminating free silver. (TBT to when the parties really disagreed on free trade. Though they disagree again now, albeit on different sides than before). I respected his willingness to do that because he believed in it. Same for his vetoes of superfluous pensions to vets.
His second presidency is a more mixed bag. Some of it probably wasn't his fault, though Jeffers makes it sound like he could have done a better job showing confidence in the gold standard of the economy. But it sounds like a credible case could be made that he didn't push enough for what he wanted. Part of that returns to what I found charming - it is amazing to read about presidents that let Congress reach it own conclusions. That isn't the case now, so much is run through the White House. But there is some room for that. I also found his interactions with organized labor very interesting. He touted the cause of workers, but then sent in troops when things had gotten so bad in Chicago after the Pullman riot.
As for his personal life, I do find his marriage a bit on the creepy side considering the age difference, but they ended up having five kids so there was probably true love there. And I'll admit that his frustration with the press mirrors some of today's frustrations with the fourth estate.
All that said, there is some unexpected depth to Cleveland. I therefore wish that I picked a more fulsome treatment of his life. This book, while written in a very engaging and fast-paced manner, glosses through a few very interesting episode (such as his deal with JP Morgan to buy bonds). It also gives only a surface-level treatment to his more problematic views towards blacks in the South and Chinese laborers in the West. Those omissions make me question whether Cleveland was as great as Jeffers says, though his approach to public service still comes through loud and clear. Finally, Jeffers wrote this in 2000, with the Clinton presidency on everyone's minds. As a result, he makes a few tortured connections between Cleveland, who had a love child before his first presidency, and Clinton in the realm of sexual scandals. Although I did not read this book in that same time, these connections grated on me. Thankfully, they are few and far between, but the book does end on that note, which is less than ideal.
Overall, a fun read that might make me find another bio of Cleveland sometime down the road.
July 8, 2021
For the casual reader, Jeffers's book delivers a succinct overview of Cleveland's life. He does not weigh or scrutinize the historical record, being more content to simply report on the details of Cleveland's life and use the analysis of other historians to present his findings. In so doing, he has crafted an adequate but forgettable portrait of the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
The text started off a little rocky, as if Jeffers wasn't sure exactly how to weave together the strands of 19th century America and Cleveland's ancestors to present a clear picture to the reader. I was also thrown off by his informal references to 'Grover' when Cleveland's given first name was Stephen. But once he finds his stride, the book sails smoothly enough through Cleveland's ascent from lawyer to politician. I was frankly surprised by Cleveland's meteoric rise from mayor to governor to president: he doesn't jump out as a charismatic individual, was notable more for his vetoes than legislative vision, and it was only a whisker thin victory in New York that got him to the presidency. Somehow those qualities left him popular enough within the Democratic Party to put his name on the ballot for a rematch with Harrison in 1892 and he won.
Cleveland definitely fell in the camp of small government, and his time in office reflects a hands off approach that left a lot of the nation's business to Congress. His fishing vacations ended up being of as much importance as fights over tariffs or the gold standard, and Jeffers paints a picture of a man who inhabited the presidency rather than shaped it. And while I don't think that Cleveland would be bothered by that assessment, it doesn't make for interesting reading in either of his terms as president.
The one area that left me feeling troubled was Cleveland's personal life. I recognize the difficulties in moralizing the past through the lens of today's sensibilities, but Jeffers does not challenge any of the criticisms of 'Big Steve' as an abusive individual. It was troublesome since he had no problem taking Cleveland at his word, but then relished in excoriating Bill Clinton for his behavior in office (this book was released in 2000). Jeffers casts doubt on the notion that Cleveland had a child with Maria Halpin, and is quick to question her mental state and how she was committed to an asylum. While Cleveland admitted to the relationship and provided for the child, he also had the power to discredit Halpin and make her seem unbalanced and unhinged. His decision later in life to marry Francis Folsom, 27 years his junior and effectively his ward after her father died, also doesn't sit well with me given his past with Halpin. There has been some revisiting of Cleveland's personal life in the years since this book has been published, and I think Jeffers would have done well to explore it more critically.
Jeffers tries to conclude with an assessment of Cleveland being slightly above average in the pantheon of presidential occupants. He lists the opinions of a number of prominent historians and includes then current rankings of Cleveland (number 16 at the time of his writing, it has since dropped to 25). Cleveland's distinction at ranking higher probably has more to do with many others being far worse at the job rather than him being remarkable. So while I have a better picture of Cleveland's life having read this work, he still shares company with the likes of Coolidge, Arthur, and Ford as being relatively forgettable.
The text started off a little rocky, as if Jeffers wasn't sure exactly how to weave together the strands of 19th century America and Cleveland's ancestors to present a clear picture to the reader. I was also thrown off by his informal references to 'Grover' when Cleveland's given first name was Stephen. But once he finds his stride, the book sails smoothly enough through Cleveland's ascent from lawyer to politician. I was frankly surprised by Cleveland's meteoric rise from mayor to governor to president: he doesn't jump out as a charismatic individual, was notable more for his vetoes than legislative vision, and it was only a whisker thin victory in New York that got him to the presidency. Somehow those qualities left him popular enough within the Democratic Party to put his name on the ballot for a rematch with Harrison in 1892 and he won.
Cleveland definitely fell in the camp of small government, and his time in office reflects a hands off approach that left a lot of the nation's business to Congress. His fishing vacations ended up being of as much importance as fights over tariffs or the gold standard, and Jeffers paints a picture of a man who inhabited the presidency rather than shaped it. And while I don't think that Cleveland would be bothered by that assessment, it doesn't make for interesting reading in either of his terms as president.
The one area that left me feeling troubled was Cleveland's personal life. I recognize the difficulties in moralizing the past through the lens of today's sensibilities, but Jeffers does not challenge any of the criticisms of 'Big Steve' as an abusive individual. It was troublesome since he had no problem taking Cleveland at his word, but then relished in excoriating Bill Clinton for his behavior in office (this book was released in 2000). Jeffers casts doubt on the notion that Cleveland had a child with Maria Halpin, and is quick to question her mental state and how she was committed to an asylum. While Cleveland admitted to the relationship and provided for the child, he also had the power to discredit Halpin and make her seem unbalanced and unhinged. His decision later in life to marry Francis Folsom, 27 years his junior and effectively his ward after her father died, also doesn't sit well with me given his past with Halpin. There has been some revisiting of Cleveland's personal life in the years since this book has been published, and I think Jeffers would have done well to explore it more critically.
Jeffers tries to conclude with an assessment of Cleveland being slightly above average in the pantheon of presidential occupants. He lists the opinions of a number of prominent historians and includes then current rankings of Cleveland (number 16 at the time of his writing, it has since dropped to 25). Cleveland's distinction at ranking higher probably has more to do with many others being far worse at the job rather than him being remarkable. So while I have a better picture of Cleveland's life having read this work, he still shares company with the likes of Coolidge, Arthur, and Ford as being relatively forgettable.
September 17, 2019
This week our law firm Phillips Lytle celebrates 185 years since its founding in 1834. Grover Cleveland joined the firm 40 years later in 1874. So I thought it fitting to do a review of the biography I read last year of Grover Cleveland.
Cleveland was born in New Jersey. His father was a minister who moved the family to Fayetteville, NY (near Syracuse) and later Holland Patent (near Utica). At age of 22 after a few teaching appointments he decided to head "west" and make it on his own. He really did not know what "it" was. He stopped in Buffalo to visit his uncle and began working for him as a clerk. His uncle introduced Grover to many of the prominent men of Buffalo which led him to "reading the law" and was admitted to the bar in 1859. Although drafted by the Union Army he did not serve and paid another man to serve in his place. A legal and accepted practice of the day. He lived frugally in a boarding house and supported his mother and sisters. It was the support of his family that caused him not to accept the draft. He was active in civic affairs but shunned high society.
In 1865 he ran for District Attorney against his roommate Lyman Bass who was a partner in our predecessor firm. Interesting that two lawyers rooming together and political opponents could remain friends. Bass won the election. In 1870 Cleveland ran for Sheriff of Erie County. At that time sheriffs were compensated by fees paid for official duties. Cleveland did quite well making the equivalent of $836,000 for his 2 year term. Not bad. As Sheriff he refused to have his deputies perform the gruesome task of an execution, and handled both that occurred under his watch. After his two-year term was over, he would returned to private practice joined his former roommate and political opponent as a partner in the firm of Bass, Cleveland and Bissell.
One of the things that becomes very apparent when reading this book is what decent and honest man Cleveland really was. Not without flaws but almost universally well regarded as humble and honest. In a relationship gone sour he fathered a child out of wedlock. The fight between Cleveland and his former lover was ugly and played out publicly. With acrimony between the two he never denied the relationship or the parentage of the child and paid for her support voluntarily.
In 1882 he became the Mayor of Buffalo and gained a reputation for fighting political graft. His reputation as a leader willing to purge government corruption began to spread beyond Erie County and the next year he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of NY. The Republican party was in shambles due to in fighting and Cleveland took office as Governor in 1883. His reputation for fighting graft continued in his service as Governor. Cleveland's defiance of political corruption won him popular acclaim, and the enmity of the influential Tammany Hall organization in New York City. He also became close to Teddy Roosevelt then serving in the New York State Assembly, as they formed a centrist coalition that fought corruption and reformed municipal governments.
In 1884 as his reputation continued to rise he was nominated for president. Tammany still opposed him but he still won the nomination. He ran against James Blaine who had been involved in several questionable deals which led to the appeal of Cleveland as a man of integrity. Blaine's corruptions were laid bare and Cleveland's personnel life was attacked. Cleveland defeated Blaine in the general election. He won the presidency with the support of reformed minded republican Mugwamps and Democrats.
When looking at his life and political career, it is easy to spot things that one may disagree with, but it is a respectful disagreement that requires no question into the ethics of his character. Cleveland was a Democrat but his politics are difficult to place in a modern left/right spectrum, since what consists of the political left and right changes over time it is hard to say where he would fit in, some of his positions on issues could go either way. Which for me is part of his appeal.
With election day drawing closer, Cleveland remained in Albany awaiting the vote, he was assured of the support of two of New York's mightiest newspapers. The influential Herald had informed its readers, `We are told that Mr. Blaine had been delinquent in office but blameless in public life, while Mr. Cleveland has been the model of official integrity, but culpable in his personnel relations. We should therefore elect Mr. Cleveland to the public office which he is so well qualified to fill, and remand Mr. Blaine to the private station which he is admirably fitted to adorn.'" It is astounding that he could go from Sheriff of Erie County to the Whitehouse in four years.
As the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland continued his reforming ways by taken on a fight on corruption that was started by Chester A. Arthur as the Civil Service Reform. Cleveland created the Inter-State Commerce Commission. He also reduced tariffs and upheld the gold standard.
He also Frances Folsom, a young woman in her twenties who was the daughter of his late friend Oscar Folsom. The couple would go on to have five children together.
He proposed to Frances about a year earlier, in a letter to her when she was visiting relatives in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She accepted and they agreed to keep the engagement secret until such time as Grover was ready to announce it. This soon would prove to be difficult as Washington, D.C., stirred with rumors.
Not all was well, however, Cleveland would, although re-nominated by the Democrats, would lose the general election of 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William Henry Harrison. Cleveland won the popular vote but the lost Electoral College.
The former President would try to return to law practice, which he felt foolish, arguing before judges whom he appointed. As time went on, he was critical at what the government was doing and in 1892 threw his hat back into the ring. Nominated by the Democrats for President for the third time in a row, Cleveland headed into the rematch. This was only election in history in which the incumbent president faced his own predecessor. This time Cleveland won both the popular and Electoral College vote.
Unfortunately, for Cleveland the second term began with a financial panic, and labor unrest. The Pullman strike was a threat to the nation, since it crippled the railroads, and President Cleveland had to send troops out to suppress it. President Cleveland also had to deal with more foreign policy issues then he had in the past.
The President would retire after his second term and be replaced by William McKinley; although of the other party, McKinley was the candidate who Cleveland preferred. He would have a quiet retirement as a trustee of Princeton University. He would perform one last act of public service; President Theodore Roosevelt had him serve on the Commission on the Coal Strike of 1902, which ended positively for all.
When he died in 1908, his last words were, "I tried so hard to do right."
Cleveland was born in New Jersey. His father was a minister who moved the family to Fayetteville, NY (near Syracuse) and later Holland Patent (near Utica). At age of 22 after a few teaching appointments he decided to head "west" and make it on his own. He really did not know what "it" was. He stopped in Buffalo to visit his uncle and began working for him as a clerk. His uncle introduced Grover to many of the prominent men of Buffalo which led him to "reading the law" and was admitted to the bar in 1859. Although drafted by the Union Army he did not serve and paid another man to serve in his place. A legal and accepted practice of the day. He lived frugally in a boarding house and supported his mother and sisters. It was the support of his family that caused him not to accept the draft. He was active in civic affairs but shunned high society.
In 1865 he ran for District Attorney against his roommate Lyman Bass who was a partner in our predecessor firm. Interesting that two lawyers rooming together and political opponents could remain friends. Bass won the election. In 1870 Cleveland ran for Sheriff of Erie County. At that time sheriffs were compensated by fees paid for official duties. Cleveland did quite well making the equivalent of $836,000 for his 2 year term. Not bad. As Sheriff he refused to have his deputies perform the gruesome task of an execution, and handled both that occurred under his watch. After his two-year term was over, he would returned to private practice joined his former roommate and political opponent as a partner in the firm of Bass, Cleveland and Bissell.
One of the things that becomes very apparent when reading this book is what decent and honest man Cleveland really was. Not without flaws but almost universally well regarded as humble and honest. In a relationship gone sour he fathered a child out of wedlock. The fight between Cleveland and his former lover was ugly and played out publicly. With acrimony between the two he never denied the relationship or the parentage of the child and paid for her support voluntarily.
In 1882 he became the Mayor of Buffalo and gained a reputation for fighting political graft. His reputation as a leader willing to purge government corruption began to spread beyond Erie County and the next year he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of NY. The Republican party was in shambles due to in fighting and Cleveland took office as Governor in 1883. His reputation for fighting graft continued in his service as Governor. Cleveland's defiance of political corruption won him popular acclaim, and the enmity of the influential Tammany Hall organization in New York City. He also became close to Teddy Roosevelt then serving in the New York State Assembly, as they formed a centrist coalition that fought corruption and reformed municipal governments.
In 1884 as his reputation continued to rise he was nominated for president. Tammany still opposed him but he still won the nomination. He ran against James Blaine who had been involved in several questionable deals which led to the appeal of Cleveland as a man of integrity. Blaine's corruptions were laid bare and Cleveland's personnel life was attacked. Cleveland defeated Blaine in the general election. He won the presidency with the support of reformed minded republican Mugwamps and Democrats.
When looking at his life and political career, it is easy to spot things that one may disagree with, but it is a respectful disagreement that requires no question into the ethics of his character. Cleveland was a Democrat but his politics are difficult to place in a modern left/right spectrum, since what consists of the political left and right changes over time it is hard to say where he would fit in, some of his positions on issues could go either way. Which for me is part of his appeal.
With election day drawing closer, Cleveland remained in Albany awaiting the vote, he was assured of the support of two of New York's mightiest newspapers. The influential Herald had informed its readers, `We are told that Mr. Blaine had been delinquent in office but blameless in public life, while Mr. Cleveland has been the model of official integrity, but culpable in his personnel relations. We should therefore elect Mr. Cleveland to the public office which he is so well qualified to fill, and remand Mr. Blaine to the private station which he is admirably fitted to adorn.'" It is astounding that he could go from Sheriff of Erie County to the Whitehouse in four years.
As the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland continued his reforming ways by taken on a fight on corruption that was started by Chester A. Arthur as the Civil Service Reform. Cleveland created the Inter-State Commerce Commission. He also reduced tariffs and upheld the gold standard.
He also Frances Folsom, a young woman in her twenties who was the daughter of his late friend Oscar Folsom. The couple would go on to have five children together.
He proposed to Frances about a year earlier, in a letter to her when she was visiting relatives in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She accepted and they agreed to keep the engagement secret until such time as Grover was ready to announce it. This soon would prove to be difficult as Washington, D.C., stirred with rumors.
Not all was well, however, Cleveland would, although re-nominated by the Democrats, would lose the general election of 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William Henry Harrison. Cleveland won the popular vote but the lost Electoral College.
The former President would try to return to law practice, which he felt foolish, arguing before judges whom he appointed. As time went on, he was critical at what the government was doing and in 1892 threw his hat back into the ring. Nominated by the Democrats for President for the third time in a row, Cleveland headed into the rematch. This was only election in history in which the incumbent president faced his own predecessor. This time Cleveland won both the popular and Electoral College vote.
Unfortunately, for Cleveland the second term began with a financial panic, and labor unrest. The Pullman strike was a threat to the nation, since it crippled the railroads, and President Cleveland had to send troops out to suppress it. President Cleveland also had to deal with more foreign policy issues then he had in the past.
The President would retire after his second term and be replaced by William McKinley; although of the other party, McKinley was the candidate who Cleveland preferred. He would have a quiet retirement as a trustee of Princeton University. He would perform one last act of public service; President Theodore Roosevelt had him serve on the Commission on the Coal Strike of 1902, which ended positively for all.
When he died in 1908, his last words were, "I tried so hard to do right."
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