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Stephen Grover Cleveland


 * Born: **March 18, 1837 **-** Caldwell, New Jersey
 * Died: **June 24, 1908 **-** Princeton, New Jersey
 * Political Party: ** Democratic
 * Dates of terms of office **: March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889; March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897
 * Vice President: ** Thomas A. Hendricks, Adlai E. Stevenson

Grover Cleveland is the only president to have served two inconsecutive terms, but otherwise he does not deserve worthy recognition. While he wasn’t a terrible president, he did not significantly help our country either, and for this reason deserves a grade of a C. The Panic of 1893 and his handling of it certainly did not help his grade. However, foreign policy and the Interstate Commerce Act boosted it slightly.
 * Thesis: **

Coming into his first term, Cleveland’s main objective was to remain true to the Constitution. He wished to be guided by it; to above all “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Also in his First Inaugural Address, he wishes to avoid straying from previous foreign policies in history. This he accomplished in 1896, when he enforced the Monroe Doctrine in Venezuela. He goes on to say that he wants to “relieve the people of unnecessary taxation…and preventing the accumulation of a surplus in the Treasury to tempt extravagance and waste.” This goal would ultimately fail, though not for lack of trying. In 1886, a bill to reduce the tariff was defeated in the House of Representatives, and later yet another one was too. The tariff issue would become a major issue in the 1888 presidential election, which Cleveland would end up losing. Other ambitions included fair treatment of Native Americans and to “prohibit the immigration of a servile class to compete with American labor.” The former he hoped to accomplish with the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, which sold land to Native American individuals, instead of tribal ownership, but it hardly had the effect he wanted it to. To keep out immigrants, he extended the Chinese Exclusion Act, and signed the Scott Act, prohibiting Chinese to reenter the country after they had already left. In his second term, his primary concern was to provide a sound and stable currency.
 * Goals: **

Overall, one could say Cleveland had an okay relationship with Congress. After all, the Democrats had the control of the House while the Republicans maintained the Senate. This was the reason he couldn’t accomplish one of his main goals, reducing the tariff. A bill reducing the tariff from 47 to 40% narrowly passed the House, but in the Senate it died, as the Republicans couldn’t come to agreement with the Democrats. Cleveland wasn’t easy to work with either, and because he was faced with a Republican Senate, he used his veto power a whopping 584 times. Most notable of these was the rejection of the military pensions, granting benefits to deserters, criminals, and those who suffered injuries in no way related to the military. Almost as well known was the Texas Seed Bill, giving assistance, in form of seeds, to farmers in the west, who suffered from droughts. He believed that “Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character…” However, important laws were passed, including the Interstate Commerce Act, prohibiting rebates and pools, and requiring railroads to openly publish rates. It also established the Interstate Commerce Commission, enforcing this new law.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Relationship with Congress: **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">When Britain and Venezuela disagreed over a boundary dispute in 1895, Cleveland was asked to step in. His negotiations were the most positive aspect of his presidency. He reasoned that Britain’s attempt to gain more land was going against the Monroe Doctrine, and, threatening them with war, suggested they approve the United States ruling of where the line should fall. Four months later, London officials agreed. Not only was the Monroe Doctrine brought back as the basis of United States foreign policy in the hemisphere, but the event boosted America’s relationship with their Latin American neighbors; it showed the lengths they would go to to protect them. The conduct also brought about good relations with Britain.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Positive: **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The worst outcome of Cleveland’s presidency was his handling of the Panic of 1893. Overbuilding and speculation, labor disorders, and the agricultural depression contributed to the panic, and the shortage of gold worsened the problem. Eight thousand businesses collapsed, leaving 18% of the population unemployed. Soup kitchens and charities couldn’t keep up with the demands, and the federal government saw no way to relieve the people. Cleveland believed that interfering was unconstitutional. It was no surprise, then, that riots broke out. Coxey’s Armey marched on Washington, demanding a government unemployment program, supported by $500 million dollars in legal tender notes. They were arrested. The Pullman strike of 1894 occurred when the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages by one-third, resulting in 150,000 railroad workers striking. Because transportation was brought to a halt, Cleveland dispatches federal troops to put down the workers. This was seen as tyrannical and anarchical, and alienated Northern workers from the Democratic Party. Cleveland solves the problem by repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, and buying $65 million in gold from J. P. Morgan. However, this was very unpopular, and the public condemned the purchase as a sellout of the national government. Even more embarrassing was the Wilson-Gorman Tariff in 1894, which, even though it promised lower tariffs, wasn’t much better than the high McKinley Tariff rates. Cleveland’s utter failure to manage the worst depression the nation had seen so far resulted in a landslide victory for the Republicans in the 1894 election, losing everywhere but in the Deep South.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Negative: **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Cleveland affected future generations and administrations in several ways, and not all of them are positive. Most prominent that was helpful was the Interstate Commerce Act, an attempt restrain the railroad monopoly. It was the first attempt, in fact, by the federal government to control business. Cleveland himself also strengthened the executive office because as he vetoed countless legislation, the two branches, executive and legislative, were balanced. The Dawes Severalty had a huge impact on Native Americans. With the guarantee of citizenship in twenty-five years, he hoped to lift them out of poverty and absorb them into American society. This backfired and weakened the tribes, as individuals would sell the land they were given and keep the money. Ninety million acres of their land was lost before the act was repealed in 1932. It even influences future presidents. Dwight D. Eisenhower was unhappy with the “Indian New Deal” passed in 1934, and wished to return to the Dawes Act, hoping to terminate the tribes as legal entities and assimilate them back into society.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Impact on Future Generations/Administrations: **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">All in all, Cleveland had an average presidency. He didn’t help the help the nation during the economic panic, yet he introduced an era of friendliness with Britain through his negations between them and Venezuela. It’s this balancing theme that keeps his grade at a C. Most domestic affairs keep his grade from being too high, while foreign affairs keep it from dropping too low.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Conclusion: **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">**Works Cited** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">"American President: Grover Cleveland: Domestic Affairs." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/cleveland/essays/biography/4>. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">"Grover Cleveland: Second Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." //Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres39.html>. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">"Grover Cleveland." //The White House//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/grovercleveland24>. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">"Presidents of the United States (POTUS)." //Ipl2: Information You Can Trust//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. [].