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Grover Cleveland Born: 1837 Died: 1908 Democrat 1st Term: 1885-1889 Vice President: Thomas Hendicks 2nd Term: 1893-1897 Vice President: Adlai Stevenson

Grover Cleveland, one of the first Democrats nominated in a long time held up many moral standards, was conservative and strived for a non-corrupt government. Although Democrat, he held up many Republican view points like the gold standard and low tariffs. He lead America through the panic of 1893 and enforced the Monroe document. For these efforts he deserves a B-.

His goals during the first term focused more on lowering the tariffs from the Civil War. President Cleveland was notorious for vetoing any laws that could make tariffs get any higher. During his second term, however, the goal was more focused on upholding the gold-standard. Many of his fellow Democrats and radicals wanted Cleveland to give in to Silver. Due to the panic of 1893 Cleveland’s goal was to stabilize the economy during the turmoil the country was going through. By repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase he completed his goal. Although many radicals were upset over this decision, in the end it greatly benefited the economy.

His relationship with Congress did not go over so well as he may liked. In his first term many Republicans were afraid he would terminate their jobs. President Cleveland was a supporter of the Spoils System and allowed them to keep their jobs, just as long as they did their jobs correctly. The relationship was also stressed by the gold-standard issue. Many wanted silver to be accepted as well as gold. But, Cleveland held his stand. Although with these differences, congress and President Cleveland saw eye to eye on the Venezuelan Boundary issue. Congress and Cleveland both worked together to enhance and enforce the Monroe Document.

One of the most positive things Cleveland did in his presidency was the way he handled the Venezuelan situation. He enforced it because he believed the British were breaking the Monroe Document. This little situation ended up being beneficial to the U.S. Afterwards the arch enemy, Britain, became one of our biggest allies. However the lack of enforcing the 15th amendment and ignoring the situation of African Americans and Women’s rights was defiantly a negative for Cleveland. The President was also not fond of Chinese immigrants. He supported the Scott Act which prevented Chinese immigrants from coming over here to work.

In the end, Grover Cleveland was a positive impact for the United States. Through both terms he held up the gold-standard, lowered tariffs and lead us through the panic of 1893. He also provided us one of our biggest allies, Britain and set the stage for imperialism.

__Sources__

"Grover Cleveland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover

." //Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. — Infoplease.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6