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Grover Cleveland Born: March 18, 1837 Death: June 24, 1908 Democrat Term 1 // : // 1885-1889 Term 2: 1893-1897 Vice Presidents by Term: Thomas A. Hendricks Adlai E. Stevenson President Cleveland, a.k.a “Uncle Jumbo”, was a man that stuck to his morals and principles and did what he believed was right. As the first Democrat president since James Buchanan, he executed his beliefs not by his own actions, but more so in appointing good officials unlike the previous President Grant. His devotion to the gold standard and hard money helped pull America through one of its worse depression eras. Along with his avid avoiding of foreign expansion and entangling alliances, and making difficult decisions in a time where the country was struggling to get back in order, Cleveland is deserving of a B-. Cleveland  had many goals when he entered his first term. His first goal was to weaken the money-grabbing monopolies of the country and weaken the railroad system. The companies were giving individuals (like Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Carnegie) the majority of the wealth hurting the average citizen of the country by stealing their money. Cleveland initiated the Interstate Commerce Act to weaken the railroad systems of the country. The act was not only just for the people but it ended discrimination against small businesses. This act was not enforced well but it was started a trend for future Acts against monopolies. Another problem that arose when Cleveland was in office was the Hawaii issue. Hawaii was a protected by the United States but was not yet state because of the reigning queen. Americans wanted these islands for its economic value and movement west but Cleveland was always against annexation because he thought it was unfair to the native Hawaiians and the queen. He pushed for the veto of the annexation. Another Cleveland goal was to get rid of the silver currency. He fulfilled this goal when during of the domestic issues that Cleveland had to take care of, the Panic of 1893. This depression was caused by an unreliable gold reserve, bad crop harvests, and industrial overexpansion. To help the country out of the depression, Cleveland enforced the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and keeps the country on the gold standard. To do this, he sold gold bonds to Wall Street and made important deals with J.P Morgan in getting $65 million in gold. This helped bring the country out of a deep depression and keep the country on the gold standard. Overall, Cleveland had a so-so relationship with Congress. The good side of the relationship came from the Democratic House. On the other hand, the Republicans had control in the Senate and because of this many bills could not go through or were vetoed by Cleveland. By many I mean 584 vetoes by Cleveland, more than all the previous presidents combined. With the opposite goals between president and Senate Cleveland 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. However, many important laws were passed, including the Interstate Commerce Act, an attempt to end monopolies and requiring railroads to openly publish rates. The Dawes-Severalty Act of 1887, which gave Indian tribes 160 acres of land and the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act also took place during Cleveland’s terms. The most positive outcome of the Cleveland era was the way he handled foreign policy. Most of the time Cleveland practiced isolationism and focused on America. He did not get involved with the Cuba and Spain fighting and he did not annex Hawaii because he felt America was not yet ready. But what Cleveland did in foreign policy was positive by get involved in the Venezuela- Britain dispute. The dispute was over boundary lines. Cleveland insisted that it be arbitrated, and Britain accepted. By doing this, America gained a better relationship with Britain as well as brings the Monroe Doctrine back to life, which would prove to be useful down the road. The action with the worst outcome during Cleveland’s presidency was his refusal to grant pensions to Civil War veterans. He declared that "Public money appropriated for pensions should be devoted to the indemnification of those who in the defense of the Union and in the Nation's service have worthily suffered, and who in the day of their dependence resulting from such suffering are entitled to the benefactions of their Government." His view on pensions and private relief bills drew fire from the powerful Grand Army of the Republic and was not a good choice by any means.

Cleveland  passed one act that would change industry forever, The Interstate Commerce Act, which helped to regulate the issues on railroad abuse and discrimination. Under this act, so many regulations were put on large railroads/ businesses that it put a halt to an exponential rise in monopolies. Even though it is still a big industry in America today, it no longer can have supreme rule over the economy. In Grover Cleveland’s split terms a lot of good and a little bad happened around the country. The Interstate Commerce Act, the foreign policy and the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act all had huge positive impacts on the country while the Panic of 1893 and the resfusal of grant pensions to Civil War veterans were the negatives. I believe that the country was better off with Grover Cleveland, which is why I gave him a B-. Works Cited: "American President: Grover Cleveland." // Miller //// Center //// of Public Affairs //. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. [] "Grover Cleveland - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia." // Main Page - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia //. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. . "USA-Presidents.Info - Grover Cleveland." // USA-Presidents.Info - Biographies and Information on Every American President. // Web. 16 Apr. 2010. .