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Born: March 18, 1837 Died: June 24, 1908 Political Party: Democrat Terms: (1885-1889) and (1893-1897) Vice Presidents: Thomas A. Hendricks (1885), Adlai E. Stevenson (1893-1897)
 * Grover Cleveland**

If the Cleveland administration were to be graded, Old Grover would receive a C+. He started to regulate the corrupt railroads, but also did not help the economy during the Panic of 1893. A man of loyalty and principal, he did what he thought was best.

With help from the “Mugwumps,” Grover Cleveland was the first Democrat elected into office since Buchanan. When Cleveland took office for the first time in 1885, many wondered if he could restore respect to the Democrats. Cleveland was a man of loyalty and wanted to help the Mugwumps with their issue of reform, but he would eventually fall prey to the Democrat‘s needs. “Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.” This powerful quote conveys the way Cleveland saw government, and ultimately how he made his decisions. Grover vetoed hundreds of bills dealing with private pensions for Civil War veterans with fraudulent claims. He could not pass them knowing that it was wrong, giving benefits to soldiers who never served. Reading every bill closely, Cleveland stuck to his morals. Even though he angered the Grand Army of the Republic, he did not budge. Another example of this was he thought that annexing Hawaii was wrong because the local people did not want it. Cleveland was a man of principle, and mostly stuck to what he thought was right throughout his terms.

Grover Cleveland’s relationship with Congress was mediocre. All the bills that he vetoed is a prime example of how he disagreed with Congress. While Democrats held the majority a few times, it was mainly a Republican Congress. Some legislation was passed, such as the Interstate Commerce Act, the Dawes Severalty Act, and the Hatch Act. Being known for vetoing, he did not have the best of relationships with his Congress.

The best decision to come out his administration was the Interstate Commerce Act. This in turn created the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission,) which regulated the railroad rates and ended rebates. This would end the practices of railroad companies favoring large corporations and being unfair to small businesses. This, however, was hard to enforce and would not see great improvement until Teddy Roosevelt’s administration.

On the other hand, the worst decision from Cleveland’s administration was the repeal of the Silver Sherman Act. The Panic of 1893 was mainly caused by over speculation of railroads, gold reserves declining, bad economy in Europe, and poor conditions for farmers. Cleveland was against the use of silver, and thought that it was the cause of gold being drained from federal reserves. After the repeal of the Sherman Silver Act, the depression continued, which led to Pullman Strike. This was the worst financial crisis of the century, and Old Grover was unable to fix it.

While being the worst decision, the repeal of the Silver Sherman Act would also influence Americans of future generations. The tough economic times led to the Pullman Strike, which was a railroad company in Illinois that cut the wages of its workers. Cleveland had to order federal troops to Illinois to settle down the strike. Cleveland thought he had solved the problem by keeping the gold reserve up with the aid of Wall Street and J.P. Morgan. The Panic of 1893 was a huge issue in debating whether to use silver or gold. The election of 1896 was also focused on bimetallism, and the pro gold William McKinley would win. Another effect of this was many people would move west, and the economy was restored during McKinley’s administration when there was another gold rush.

In conclusion, Cleveland was a decent President who did what he thought was right and stuck to his guns. He was faced with challenging economic times and wanted to please people from both sides of the spectrum. The country was not much better off after his administration, which is why he deserves a C+.

Bibliography:

DeGregorio, William A.. The complete book of US Presidents. 7th ed. Ft. Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2009. Print. "Grover Cleveland | The White House." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. . Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. The American pageant: a history of the Republic. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print.