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Grover Cleveland
Born: March 18, 1837 Died: June 24, 1908 Political Party: Democrat Term 1: March 4, 1885 - March 4, 1889 Term 2: March 4, 1893 - March 4, 1897 Vice Presidents: Thomas A. Hendricks (1885), Adlai E. Stevenson (1893-1897)

Grover Cleveland's presidencies were not very significant in American History. Although Cleveland was not the best president, he also was not America's worst president. Cleveland had a few positives and negatives during his two terms as president. Cleveland showed good effort during his presidency but was not always successful, therefore, President Cleveland deserves a C for his terms as president. Grover Cleveland's grade is based off of the decisions he made and the outcomes that occured in events such as, the Britain - Venezuelan boundary dispute, the Depression of 1893, and a few of the acts passed by his administration.

Cleveland had many plans to better the nation during his time as president. One of Cleveland's goals was to improve the relationship between the North and South. President Cleveland added two former Confederates to his cabinet to help close the gap between North and South. Grover Cleveland also wanted more control over western lands and railroads. Cleveland achieved this goal by ordering the western railroads to return 81 million acres, and also by passing the Interstate Commerce Act which was the first law that tried to gain Federal regulation of the railroads. Cleveland was in favor of the gold standard, rather than silver. He and Treasury Secretary Daniel Manning attempted to minimize the amount of silver that the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 required government to coin. However, the majority of America prefered silver, due to the fact that it was cheaper, and Richard P. Bland proposed a bill in Congress that ordered government to coin unlimited amount of silver. Although the bill was rejected, another bill that Cleveland's administration proposed, to cancel any silver coinage requirement, was also rejected, ending in the result of the postponment of free silver. President Cleveland wished to lower the tariff rates, as well. But again, his attempt failed because the idea of a lower tariff was declined in the House, since the high tariff was bringing in so much revenue.

Cleveland was the first Democratic president since the Civil War, surrounded by a Congress full of Republicans. Eventhough he stated that he would not assign anyone based on their party or hire any Republican who was fit for the job, President Cleveland still ended up firing two thirds of the Republicans, which made up 120,000 federal employees, and replaced them with "deserving Democrats". While the majority of the Senate was Republican, Cleveland relied on his power to veto. Cleveland has been nicknamed the "Veto President" due to the fact that he vetoed more bills than any other president, totally 584, during his two terms. Besides the vetos, Cleveland was actually successful in passing a few helpful bills. One bill passed during his presidency was the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. This act discontinued many Native American tribes as legal individuals, striped tribes of their land ownership, and set up individual Native American families with 160 acres of free land. It was also agreed that the Indians would gain full citizenship, after twenty-five years, if they behaved like "good white settlers". The Interstate Commerce Act was also passed during Cleveland's presidency. This act did not allow rebates and pools, and demanded that the railroads openly publish their rates. The act also prohibited unjust discrimination against shippers and outlawed charging excessively for a short haul than for a long one over the same line. Eventually, the Interstate Commerce Act led to the Interstate Commerce Commision to manage and enforce new legislation.

Despite the fact that Cleveland did not have a completely successful presidency, he did have a few positive outcomes. President Cleveland's most positive outcome was the settlement of the Venezuelan boundary dispute. The British Guiana and the Venezuelans had been in an argument over the boundary for over half-a-century. Since Cleveland was not found of Britain, he did not mind sending his secretary of state, Richard Olney, to London to announce to them that they were in violation of the Monroe Doctrine. London denied that they were violating the doctrine and told the United States to mind their own business. After London's reply, Cleveland reacted by asking Congress to run the line where it should be, and if Britain did not accept, to let America fight for it. Both sides decided they did not want to risk a war, and that it was silly to fight over the boundary. This caused the enhancement of the Monroe Doctrine, and better relations with the Latin American countries that were greatful that the United States was so willing to fight for them.

The most negative outcome of Grover Cleveland's presidency was, of course, the Depression of 1893. The depression began right around the time that Cleveland was elected President for his second term (unconsecutively). This depression was caused by overbuilding and speculation, labor disorders, the ongoing agricultural depression, and also the free-silver agitation. In just six months, eight thousand businesses collapsed during the depression. As well as the large amount of railroad lines that were taken by receivers. Since many Americans were now unemployed, they relied on the soup kitchens to feed them and their families. The Treasury gold reserve dropped below the safe minimum of one hundred million dollars. Cleveland ordered a repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, and an extra session for Congress during the summer of 1893. Deperately, Cleveland relied on "the bankers' banker", J.P. Morgan, who lent the government sixty-five million dollars in gold. Government also charged a seven million dollar commission fee. The deal of Morgan loaning the government money was seen as the corruption in American politics, especially to the debtors and silverites.

President Cleveland and his administration had a slight impact on the future. The settlement of the Venezuela - Britain boundary dispute improved the Monroe Doctrine, and would affect future administrations to come. The Venezuelan boundary dispute also created a better realtionship with Latin America that would also affect presidents and administrations in the future. The Dawes Severalty Act impacted the future because it cleared land for Americans to settle further west and agreed to grant Native Americans legal citizen ship in twenty-five years if they acted the way the whites wanted them to. Grover Cleveland also helped welcome the start of federal regulation of commerce with the Interstate Commerce Act. Cleveland and his administration also passed the Succession Act in 1886 which declared that the line of succession would go chronologically through the cabinet in order of creation, if the death of the President and Vice President occured.

In conclusion, American was not significantly affected by Grover Cleveland's presidency. The nation may have been better off at the end of his presidency because of his minor successes, such as the Dawes Severalty Act, the settlement of the Venezuelan boundary dispute, and the Interstate Commerce Act and Interstate Commer Commision, however; President Cleveland is more known for the Depression of 1893 which was not handled very well. For these reasons, President Grover Cleveland has earned the grade of a C.

Sources: "Grover Cleveland - President of the United States (POTUS)." //POTUS -- Presidents of the United States//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. ."Grover Cleveland - 22nd President of the United States." //Presidents//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. ."Grover Cleveland - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia." //Main Page - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. .Kelly, Martin. "Grover Cleveland Biography - Twenty-Second and Twenty-Fourth President of the United States." //American History From About//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. [].