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President: Grover Cleveland Birth: March 18, 1837 Death: June 24, 1908 Political Party: Democrat Terms: 1885-1889, 1893-1897 Vice President: 1st term Thomas Andrews Hendricks, 2nd term Adlai Ewing Stevenson

Grover Cleveland is the only president to ever serve two discontinuous terms. Although Cleveland was successful in his first term, he was not very successful in his second term. Cleveland deserves a C+ for his grade.

One of his goals was to stop imperialism. In Hawaii Cleveland believed that the nation had rightfully wronged the natives. He sent an investigator to Hawaii and found that the natives did not want to be annexed so Cleveland abandoned the move toward annexation of Hawaii. Another one of Cleveland’s goals was to create lower tariffs. It was unsuccessful and the tariffs weren’t lowered. A third goal of Cleveland’s was to keep corruption out of the government and make government more efficient. He didn’t grant favors and people were given jobs in his cabinet because of their qualifications.

Cleveland had a tough relationship with Congress. He had a tough time getting things passed. Congress was Republican dominated. Cleveland wanted lower tariffs. Congress would not allow that to happen, they were against it. Cleveland also used the veto a lot during his presidency. He vetoed more than any president at this time. He vetoed many private pension bills.

The Interstate Commerce Act was Cleveland’s most positive action. It created the first federal regulating agency. The law put an end to rebates and discriminating practices by railroads over large corporations over smaller businesses. It also helped set up the Interstate Commerce Commission which helped administer and enforce the law. The law provided a peaceful way for competing businesses to resolve their conflicts. During the Panic of 1893, Cleveland’s most negative action was doing nothing during this time. He thought that the panic couldn’t be solved by federal intervention. Cleveland believed it was unconstitutional to get involved with it. He just blamed the Republicans and the Sherman Silver Act for the panic. The only thing that he did do during this time was repeal the Sherman Silver Act.

The one decision the Cleveland made that influenced future generations of Americans was that government should not be responsible to finance the public. This has always been a trait of the Republicans, that it is not the government’s job. This issue has become a regular debate. This is still a debated issue to this day.

The country was not better off. Cleveland did not really do anything. He didn’t get any lower tariffs passed which was a main goal of his. He did not do anything in the Panic of 1893. He did prevent Hawaii from being annexed which the natives did not want. Overall Cleveland does deserve the grade of a C+.

Works Cited DeGregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents //. Fort Lee, N.J: Barricade, 2005. “Grover Cleveland’s Second Term.”__Suite101.com.__ 8 May 2008. 15 April 2010. []. Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Andrew Bailey, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. //The American Pageant: a History of the Republic //. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print. “President Cleveland’s First Term.” __Suite101.com.__ 8 May 2008. 15 April 2010. []. "Grover Cleveland." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 April 2010. [].