Elena+R.+Cleveland

**March 18, 1837 Caldwell, New Jersey- June 24, 1908 Princeton, New Jersey ** **Political Party: Democrat ** **Terms: Two nonconsecutive terms, 1885-1889 and 1893-1897 ** **Vice President: First term (1885-1889)- Thomas Andrews Hendricks to his death in November 1885; John Sherman, president pro tem of Senate, served as second in line for the presidency from twelve days after Hendricks’ death until the end of the term ** **Second term (1893-1897)- Adlai Ewing Stevenson ** There were many cultural changes and movements throughout Cleveland’s two nonconsecutive terms. Many major changes involved labor unions and changes for the working class. During Cleveland’s first term, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded. Samuel Gompers founded the AFL just after the Haymarket Square Episode, which was very harmful to the Knights of Labor, an older and more radical labor union. Unlike the Knights of Labor, the AFL included only skilled laborers as it was a federation of smaller craft unions. The AFL was able to gain more political and economic power by excluding unskilled laborers and was able to gain more support from the American people and government with its more conservative ideas.
 * Grover Cleveland **
 * Thematic Context **

An entirely different movement for American laborers was the Pullman Strike of 1894, during Cleveland’s second term. After the panic of 1893 and a consequential depression, the Pullman Palace Car Company cut their worker’s wages by about a third, but the price of the workers’ rental homes in the company’s model town remained the same. The American Railway Union, organized by Eugene V. Debs, helped the workers strike back against the company for the wage cut. The striking workers had fairly violent reactions, overturning Pullman cars and paralyzing railway traffic from Chicago and westward. While this strike showed the discontent of American laborers, it failed to gain the support of the American Federation of Labor and was ended with government intervention. Both the formation of the AFL and the Pullman Strike show how the plight of laborers and the different ways the workers tried to solve these problems played into American culture during Cleveland’s presidency.

President Grover Cleveland was one of America’s most unique presidents, mostly because he was the only to serve two nonconsecutive terms. This was something that made Cleveland’s presidency very complicated because he faced very different time periods and issues in America. Also, during his second term he had to deal with problems he did not cause, namely the Panic of 1893 and a severe economic depression. President Cleveland was fairly successful, though at times he was better at sticking to his goals then actually accomplishing them. First faced with a surplus and later with a depression, Cleveland brought importance to the tariff issue and the silver issue and his viewpoints brought deep divisions between the parties, but stayed true to his ideas despite loss of support from some members of his own party. Cleveland was not entirely successful, but he should receive A- for his commitment to improving America even if it cost him popularity and for usually sticking to his beliefs.
 * Thesis **

Though Harrison only served one term between Cleveland’s, Cleveland was president during two very different times in America and saw very different issues. Going into his first term, Cleveland supported ideas of northern reform, a stable currency, equality of bounties and veteran pensions, and opposition to corruption in corporations, among other things. He was mostly unsuccessful with reforms because he was pressured into firing many federal employees to make room for Democrats. He was more successful in his goals with pensions and corporations with the veto of many “Pension and Private Relief Bills” and the passing of the Interstate Commerce Act. However, the tariff issue mostly eclipsed these issues. With a surplus in the American treasury, Cleveland supported lowered tariffs as a solution, but he was unsuccessful in lowering the tariff during his first term. Going into his second term, Cleveland’s main goal was to lower the tariff. Faced with economic panic and depression rather than a surplus, Cleveland saw little success in this goal. He did allow the Wilson-Gorman Tariff to pass in 1894, but it can hardly be considered a triumph because it only slightly lowered the tariff. Overall, he was only somewhat successful at achieving his goals.
 * Goals **

During most of Cleveland’s presidency, the Republicans held the majority in the Senate and his own party, the Democrats, held the majority in the House of Representatives. During his second tern, the Democrats held the majority in both houses from 1893-1895 and neither from 1895-1897. For much of Cleveland’s presidency, him and Congress were in agreement on many issues, especially towards the beginning of his first term when the two major parties were not divided over any major issues. However, when faced with a surplus during his first term, Cleveland decided that he favored lowering the tariff as a solution to the problem; a decision that finally divided the two parties on a real issue. He did not have a strong enough relationship with Congress to actually lower tariffs during his first term. During his second term, Cleveland was faced with a severe depression that he believed was caused in part by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Though successful in his aim to remove it, he further divided the parties over the silver issue during his second term with the repeal of the act in 1893, losing much support even from his own party. Cleveland’s ability to divide the parties on new issues weakened his relationship with Congress.
 * Relationship with Congress **

One of Cleveland’s actions that had the most positive outcomes for the country is the creation of the Interstate Commerce Act during his first term. This act created the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was meant to ensure that interstate railroad rates were “reasonable and just” as well as stop many corrupt practices such as rebates that allowed the railroad companies to favor big businesses over farmers and small businesses. This act was a landmark in the fight against corruption in large corporations, something the working class of America needed very desperately. The positive outcomes from the Interstate Commerce Act were not immediate because the Interstate Commerce Commission had very weak enforcement powers until around Theodore Roosevelt’s administration. Still, this action of Cleveland had the most positive effects of all his actions, mainly because his other positive actions had many drawbacks or negative consequences, while the Interstate Commerce Act was strictly beneficial.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Outcomes **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Many issues came out of the Panic of 1893 and the depression that followed. The dwindling of gold reserves, industrial overspeculation, poor crop harvests, and economic issues in Europe were the main causes of the panic. President Harrison, rather than Cleveland, is partially responsible for this because he held the presidency in the years leading up to this panic and some of his actions, such as the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, helped cause these problems. While Cleveland tried his best to solve the economic crisis with the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, the government was still very much in debt and Cleveland was growing very desperate. In this desperation, Cleveland reluctantly turned to banker JP Morgan, who agreed to lend the Treasury $65 million in gold after a deal was struck. It may have been a necessary last resort, but the deal with JP Morgan was arguably the action of Cleveland that had the most negative effects. Cleveland lost many of his supporters because of this deal and he stepped against his ideas and promises to stop favoring corrupt corporations. Even though his options were limited and the issue was not his fault, Cleveland’s handling of the Panic of 1893 and an economic depression, mainly the JP Morgan bailout, had some of the most negative outcomes. However, he should be given much credit for taking action to stop further catastrophe, something many previous presidents neglected to do, even if he didn’t go about it in the best way.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The Venezuela Boundary Dispute had a major influence on future administrations, though not in a way that Cleveland would approve of. A large portion of land between British Guiana and Venezuela had been in dispute for many years, but British interest peaked and the chance of peace came to an end when gold was discovered in the disputed territory. President Cleveland decided to protest British involvement, saying it went against the Monroe Doctrine, and wanted to solve the dispute through arbitration. Britain eventually accepted the new boundary that was set to avoid conflict with the United States. This was one of the first times the United States got involved with international affairs, and it led to the American involvement with imperialism in administrations to come. The irony of this situation is that Cleveland strongly opposed imperialism, as seen in his refusal to annex Hawaii, but this event under his administration began the United States’ involvement in foreign affairs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Future Influence **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">With two nonconsecutive terms, it is hard to say if America was better off at the beginning of his presidency or at the end. Taken as a whole, President Harrison’s term must be taken into consideration, which is not fair to Cleveland because the major economic issues he faced were partially caused by President Harrison. However, the country was definitely better off at the beginning of his first term than it was at the end of his second term. The effects of a severe depression were still in place and Cleveland divided the nation on many issues. It is probably fairer to look at Cleveland’s two terms individually. While he still divided the nation on major issues in both terms, his presidency had many benefits to the United States during his first term and he took action to help fix a nation that was suffering from economic hardships he did not cause. Individually, the country was mostly better off at the end of each of his terms. President Cleveland certainly had the nation’s best interest in mind during his presidency and was willing to lose supporters by sticking to his strong views and even reluctantly going against them at times in order to help and save America.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Conclusion **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Bailey, Thomas A., David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Works Cited **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Brands, H. W. "Upside-Down Bailout." Editorial. American History n.d.: n. pag. History Net. 3 June 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://www.historynet.com/upside-down-bailout.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Cleveland, Grover. “Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1893. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25826>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">DeGregorio, William A. The complete book of U.S. presidents. 6th ed. New York: Gramercy Books, 2005. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Democratic Party Platforms: “Democratic Party Platform of 1884,” July 8, 1884. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29583>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">"Party Division." U.S. Senate. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <[]>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">"Party Divisions." Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives Art & History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <[]>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Ushistory.org. "American Federation of Labor." U.S. History Online Textbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/37d.asp>.