Morgen+S.+-+GC+-+SP10

President Grover Cleveland Terms (2): March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889 March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 Party: Democrat Vice President: First Term:  [|Thomas A. Hendricks] Second Term: [|Adlai E. Stevenson] President Cleveland was a man that stuck to his beliefs in what was right. He executed his beliefs not by his own actions, but more so in appointing competent officials. His devotion to hard currency and opposition to silver made for influential decisions, along with his avid avoiding of foreign expansion and entangling alliances. For being able to make the hard choices in a time where the country could go in so many directions, Cleveland is deserving of a C+. Cleveland’s goals while in office were focused on the economy and foreign relations, avoiding much involvement in social issues at the time. He was opposed to territorial expansion and foreign alliances. He mostly stayed true to this besides his eager involvement in the Venezuela dispute. He also wanted to lower tariffs but saw little success. One of his most important goals was to repeal pro-silver legislation and to reinforce the possibility of a gold standard for US currency. He put this plan to action when he repealed the Bland-Allison Silver Purchase Act during his first term, and the Sherman Silver Act during his second term. His final goal was to keep corruption out of the capital, which he did by giving positions based on merit as opposed to political alignment. Cleveland had a bad relationship with congress, to say the least. To put this in perspective, he used his veto 414 times in his first term; more than twice as much as all the presidents combined had in the past. He used a total of 584 vetoes over the course of his two terms in office. He had trouble dealing with the republican majority in the senate during his first term. In his second term, Cleveland’s unfavorable decisions in dealing with the Panic of 1893 caused a shift to republican wins everywhere besides the Deep South in the congressional election of 1894. There were difficulties in passing legislation when neither side was willing to make much of a compromise. The one time that Cleveland displayed his power over Congress was when he displayed defiance of the Tenure of Office Act and campaigned for its repeal. The most negative decision made by Cleveland was his action in handling the Panic of 1893. He was quick to blame the Sherman Silver Purchase Act for this economic downfall, when in reality it was caused by over speculation. Cleveland really just wanted to repeal the act, but after it was repealed people had to start cashing in their paper notes and the gold reserves docked below the dangerous level of $100 million. Cleveland’s decisions on how to deal with this was not optimal, when JP Morgan had to basically bail them out. Yet another consequence was the splitting of the Democratic Party which actually ended up causing his own demise when he lost the race for reelection. The most positive action taken by President Cleveland was his choice to remain neutral while Spain and Cuba were involved in their confrontation, but his congress disagreed. Basically, Cleveland just put off the Spanish American War to be fought once he was out of office. It was once again evident that Cleveland wasn’t afraid to make the unfavorable decision that would keep his country his country in the best situation which would be to remain neutral. The most influential action during the Cleveland administration was the Grover Cleveland’s less than reluctant decision to involve the country in the Venezuelan boundary dispute. Not only was he eager to help the Venezuelans when asked, but he actually threatened the British with war. Cleveland even sent a naval fleet down for the intimidation factor. Though the involvement was justifiable by citing the Monroe Doctrine, it was one of the first steps toward the Spanish American War in that America was stepping away from its usual neutrality.

The country was better off after Cleveland’s presidency in that if they would have stuck with some of his decisions, such as remaining neutral in Cuba, the country would have stayed on good terms. But because of the disagreements between Cleveland and his congress, the congress went and acted in the opposite way and pushed the country into a war. However, his decisions to deal with the financial crises would create a nasty precedent for private money getting involved in government. To say the least, the country had definitely moved forward over the course of his two terms and for this he deserves a C+.

SSources: "Grover Cleveland - President of the United States (POTUS)." //POTUS -- Presidents of the United States//. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. . "American President: Grover Cleveland: Domestic Affairs." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. . "Grover Cleeveland." //Estoric.com - A Stan Klos Company//. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. .