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Grover Cleveland (March 18th, 1837- June 24th, 1908) Political Party: Democrat Terms: March 4th, 1893- March 4th, 1897 and March 4th, 1885- March 4th, 1889 (two terms) Vice Presidents: Adlai Stevenson (1893-1897) and Thomas Hendricks (1885-1889)  If Grover Cleveland were to be rated, he would be given a C. This is due to his inconsistency when comparing his goals and actual actions. This was mostly shown in his inability to dispose of the spoils system and not remaining neutral in foreign affairs. However, he did correctly negotiate the Venezuelan Boundary Crisis, opposed the possibly harmful annexation of Hawaii, and attempted to help the Indians through the Dawes Severalty Act. But then again, he did veto the Texas Seed Bill, veto private pension bills for veterans in order to save money, made no attempt to uphold reconstruction, and passed the embarrassing Wilson-Gorman Tariff. The linotype, commercially created in July of 1886 by a German immigrant named Ottmar Mergenthaler, greatly impacted not only the American identity, but also the presidency and the thought process of Americans. First used in the office of the New York Tribune, it allowed typesetters the ability to create four to seven lines of type a minute. This was a step up from the standard method of printing that had been used for the past 400 years. This also increased the size of newspapers because now pages could be printed four to five times faster than before. This machine revolutionized the newspaper business in which not only newspapers could produce a product faster, but allow more of it per issue. This allowed the general population to be more versed in the local, national, and global news. Additionally, it paved the way for future improvements and additions to the machine so in the future press became even more easier to create. This provided for even poorer citizens to release and speak their opinion so everyone could read it. This impacted the presidency because now the ongoings within the white house were more easily made public and the inner workings of politics were revealed. Thus, officials had to be more careful in what they did and said because one article could ruin their public reputation and cause them the election. Knowing this, it also led to bribery by senators and elected officials to not print stories in order to cover corruption. The thought process of Americans due to an increased circulation of press was more impressionable and they tended to believe what they read, whether it was true or not. This was demonstrated in the “yellow journalism” practiced by Pulitzer and Hearst who would do anything to beat out the other in circulation. This eventually caused the exaggeration of Spanish Hostilities within Cuba partially causing Americans to beg for war. News could now be printed sooner and information spread to the public with more ease. Americans now also became more democratic because newspapers were a place to write opinions and ideas, even if they contradicted society or the ruling minority. This changed the American Identity for the better because it helped instill a sense of democracy caused by freedom of the press by making printing and newspaper more accessible to the general public. Another monumental occurrence was the much disputed Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court case. The decision on this case which ruled in favor of Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of state laws that enforced separate but equal facilities among businesses. This impacted the thought process of Americans because it allowed the white majority to believe it was right for racial segregation. Because of this, more segregation laws were created and past reconciliation laws that were created within the reconstruction era were deemed null. Now, states had the power when dealing with questions of race which worried civil rights activists. Afterwards, blacks began being treated even more harshly and immigrated to the north, this only further caused the laws of segregation to migrate north and led to separate educational facilities, hotels, restaurants, beaches, and restrictions on interracial marriage. Additionally, Jim Crow laws grew even more popular as African-Americans were slowly being denied the right to vote through the use of literary tests and proof of land ownership. When the black voters stopped voting, any African-American political leader in the south lost any ground they had made after the civil war. Overall, it strengthened the belief that whites were better than blacks, demolished any progress that had been made in the reconstruction era after the civil war, and created blockades preventing from achieving racial equality. This shaped the American identity because it further allowed and approved racism and ingrained the idea of separation of races. It impacted the presidency because the president was scorned by many northerners for allowing this despite the fact that it had not been his decision. Cleveland’s goals remained much the same throughout both terms. He felt the need to limit public expenditures, remain neutral in our foreign policy, eliminate unnecessary taxation, protect public domain from “unlawful occupation and purloining schemes”, repress polygamy, treat the Indians fairly and honestly, prohibit immigrants that may threaten American labor, promote civil service reform, and dispose of the spoils system. Cleveland did not manage to dispose of the spoils system and in fact went back on his word. Despite the publics’ cries to eliminate this, the Democratic Party was hungry for federal positions after 24 years of republicans as president and eventually convinced Cleveland to follow his party. He did manage to limit public expenditures through resisting congressional efforts to use the federal surplus to hand out veterans pensions. This however was a limited amount. As for the issue on tariffs, he did urge congress to reduce tariffs due to the federal treasury surplus however congressional leaders were unable to follow up on it. In this case, he attempted to, but did not follow through on his goal. Relatively, he did tend to remain neutral in foreign affairs. He refused to annex Hawaii and withdrew recognition of the revolutionaries that overthrew the monarchy who wanted Hawaii to be annexed. Additionally, he refused to intervene with Cuba and the oppressive Spanish. However, he did interfere with Britain and Venezuela in the boundary crisis which established America as a world power. This was a huge step outside of the common isolationist policy of the early 1800’s. Cleveland seemed to begin to accomplish his goals, but never quite fully as shown in our part in the Venezuelan Boundary Crisis, his usage of the spoils system, his sub-par effort to lower the tariff, and his minimal savings in public expenditure. Cleveland quite often had a strained relationship with congress. This help especially true in 1896 when Congress wanted to declare war on Spain due to their harsh methods of repressing nearby Cuba. When congress replied that they had the right to declare war as stated within the constitution, Cleveland refused to mobilize the army and instead campaigned for the US to buy Spain. This came in the midst of “yellow journalism” and the citizens cries to free the Cubans however Cleveland refused to obey. This led to his general dislike in congress among his second term. During his first term, he led the 49th and 50th congressional sessions. The 49th session had a republican senate (42-34) and democratic house (182-141) while the 50th session also had a republican senate (39-37) and democratic house (167-152). During his second term, the 53rd and 54th sessions occurred. The 53rd session had a democratic majority in the house (218-124) while the senate had a democratic majority (44-40). The 54th session had a republican majority in the house (254-93) and in the senate (44-40). This drastic change in the republican majority in the 54th session was partly due to the Panic of 1893 caused by the free coinage of silver and the Wilson-Gorman Tariff. In his first term, he along with congress repealed the Tenure of Office Act which in the past had forbid the removal of certain officials by the president without the consent of the senate. This surprisingly was passed and in turn took power away from the senate and gave it to the president. This shows he had a good relationship with them at the start in order to pass this. However, he turned on congress when he refused to grant federal surplus as pensions to veterans. Into the end of his term, he attempted to lower the tariff with the help of congress; however they widely ignored him causing their relationship to be put into question. This pattern was again seen in his second term when he attempted to reform tariffs through the Wilson-Gorman Tariff however congress refused to cooperate and when the tariff was finally passed in 1894 it was considered a joke for the minimal amount it changed taxes. Overall, Cleveland was constantly at odd with congress especially in his second term when both voting bodies upheld a republican majority. The action of the president’s administration that had the most positive impact was the Venezuelan Boundary Crisis. This occurred in 1895 when Venezuela contained disputed territory claimed by both Britain and Venezuela. The US intervened under the Monroe Doctrine and forced Britain to agree to arbitrate the dispute or else America would go to war with Britain. This showed the global community that America was a dominant world power and would remain so. It also showed that the US would allow no nearby crisis to threaten their national security. By tempting an established old world country like Britain, it caused America to gain respect and authority. It was simply the transition from developing country, to dominant global leader. Additionally, even though Britain got mostly what they asked for, South American countries knew they had an ally in its northern neighbor and soon began to view them in admiration. The most negative decision and action was when Cleveland vetoed the Texas Seed Bill. The bill appropriated funds to several Texan counties after a devastating drought had occurred. It allowed for $10,000 to buy new grain, this was only one of his much used veto power. His reason behind this was that it was not the government’s responsibility to extend relief to individual suffering and “the government should not support the people”. This was negative not only because those farmers were unable to plant another harvest, but that it established a dangerous precedent that the government should not get involved in those who are suffering. It is commonly believed that the government was established for the people and exists solely to better them as a whole, not for them to create laws restricting the rights of citizens. It was not the fact that he vetoed the law, but why. As a president, his goal should be to increase the quality of life for those in his care, not downgrade it for the sake of saving money. The decision that impacted the lives of future generations the most was his decision not to annex Hawaii. He decided not to annex Hawaii because after it was heavily supported by Harrison, he investigated the overthrown government. He found that a majority of the population did not want to belong to the US. He also found out that neither side would budge, the Americans refused to yield their position while Liliuokalani (Hawaiian Queen) stated she would execute or banish the current government if placed in power. Instead of annexing Hawaii and causing an internal revolt which would lead to instability, the spending of US money, and fighting he let the issue go. If he would have annexed Hawaii, they most likely would have attempted to separate at the time anyways. This later paved the way for Hawaii to be annexed in the future without any infighting or rebelling. The country was better off afterwards then before when dealing with foreign affairs. He help the US move to the forefront as a powerful force to be reckoned with and made the right decision to not annex Hawaii. But, he often went back on words spoken during his candidacy. As stated earlier, he did not eliminate the spoils system and did not remain neutral. It is imperative for a president to honor his intentions and he was voted into office for these views and is expected to uphold them unless otherwise needed. Additionally, he refused to believe in reconstruction and in doing so inherently hurt the African American population. However, he attempted throughout both terms to lower the still high tariffs and passed the Scott Act which at the time limited Chinese immigrants from taking American jobs. Overall, Cleveland caused the country to be better off in some areas and others not so much.

Works Cited:

Peters, Gerhard. "Grover Cleveland: Inaugural Address." The American Presidency Project. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

"Plessy v. Ferguson." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

"President Grover Cleveland on Executive-Legislative Relations and War." Pileus. 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

Raney, Abigail. "Who Invented the First Linotype Machine?" EHow. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

"The Story Of President Grover Cleveland!" Short Stories. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .