Grover Cleveland

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Portrait, Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland 22nd and 24th President of the United States (March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1889 and March 4, 1893 to March 3, 1897) Nickname: “Veto Mayor”; “Veto President” Born: March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey Died: June 24, 1908, in Princeton, New Jersey

Father: Richard Falley Cleveland Mother: Anne Neal Cleveland Married: Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947), on June 2, 1886 Children: Ruth Cleveland (1891-1904); Esther Cleveland (1893-1980); Marion Cleveland (1895-1977); Richard Folsom Cleveland (1897-1974); Francis Grover Cleveland (1903-1995) Religion: Presbyterian Education: No formal education Occupation: Lawyer Political Party: Democrat Other Government Positions:

  • Sheriff of Erie County, NY, 1870-73
  • Mayor of Buffalo, NY, 1882
  • Governor of New York, 1883-85

Presidential Salary: $50,000/year

Presidential Election Results:
YearPopular VotesElectoral Votes
1884Grover Cleveland4,879,507219
James G. Blaine4,850,293182
1888tiny U.S. flag Benjamin Harrison5,447,129233
Grover Cleveland5,537,857168
1892Grover Cleveland5,555,426277
tiny U.S. flag Benjamin Harrison5,182,690145
James B. Weaver1,029,84622

Vice President: Thomas A. Hendricks (1885-89); Adlai E. Stevenson (1893-97) Cabinet:

Secretary of State
Thomas F. Bayard (1885-89)
Walter Q. Gresham (1893-95)
Richard Olney (1895-97)
Secretary of the Treasury
Daniel Manning (1885-87)
Charles S. Fairchild (1887-89)
John G. Carlisle (1893-97)
Secretary of War
William C. Endicott (1885-89)
Daniel S. Lamont (1893-97)
Attorney General
Augustus H. Garland (1885-89)
Richard Olney (1893-95)
Judson Harmon (1895-97)
Postmaster General
William F. Vilas (1885-88)
Donald M. Dickinson (1888-89)
Wilson S. Bissell (1893-95)
William L. Wilson (1895-97)
Secretary of the Navy
William C. Whitney (1885-89)
Hilary A. Herbert (1893-97)
Secretary of the Interior
Lucius Q. C. Lamar (1885-88)
William F. Vilas (1888-89)
Hoke Smith (1893-96)
David R. Francis (1896-97)
Secretary of Agriculture
Norman J. Colman (1889)
Julius Sterling Morton (1893-97)

Supreme Court Appointments:

Chief Justice
Melville Weston Fuller (1888-1910)
Associate Justice
Lucius Quintus C. Lamar (1888-93)
Edward Douglass White (1894-1910)
Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1896-1909)

Notable Events:

Internet Biographies:

Grover Cleveland — from The Presidents of the United States of America
Compiled by the White House.
Grover Cleveland — from American Presidents: Life Portraits — C-SPAN
Biographical information, trivia, key events, video, and other reference materials. Website created to accompany C-SPAN’s 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life Portraits.
Grover Cleveland — from U.S. Presidents
From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, in addition to information on the Presidents themselves, they have first lady and cabinet member biographies, listings of presidential staff and advisers, and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration.
Grover Cleveland’s Obituary — from The New York Times
Abstract and full text PDF download of Cleveland’s obituary from The New York Times, June 25, 1908.

Historical Documents:

First Inaugural Address (1885)
Second Inaugural Address (1893)
President Cleveland’s Message on Relations with the Nation of Hawaii (1893)
Ex-President Grover Cleveland on the Philippine Problem (1904)

Media Resources:

Audio
First minute of his 1892 campaign speech. Begins with the music “Hail to the Chief” (1:21)
MP3 (636K)
From the Vincent Voice Library at Michigan State University.

Other Internet Resources: Points of Interest:

  • He was born Stephen Grover Cleveland.
  • Cleveland is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
  • Cleveland discovered a cancerous growth on the roof of his mouth in the middle of the economic crisis of 1893. So that his illness would not cause a greater panic, he and several doctors snuck aboard a pleasure boat and removed the growth. The public thought he was on a fishing trip and never knew the truth until 1917.
  • While sheriff of Erie County, New York, Cleveland was also the public executioner and personally hanged two murderers.
  • Cleveland was the first executive movie star. In 1895, Alexander Black came to Washington and asked Cleveland to appear in “A Capital Courtship”, his photoplay. He agreed to be filmed while signing a bill into law. “A Capital Courtship” was a big hit on the Lyceum Circuit.
  • Since Cleveland was the sole supporter of his family during the Civil War, he paid a substitute to take his place.
  • Cleveland answered the White House phone, personally.
  • Cleveland vetoed 414 bills in his first term, more than double the 204 vetoes cast by all previous presidents. Cleveland used his veto powers 584 times during his two terms. This is the highest total of any president except tiny U.S. flag Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served three terms.
  • “Death and Destruction” was the name that Grover Cleveland gave to his favorite hunting rifle.
  • He was the only president married in the White House.
  • According to the Curtiss Candy Company (and now Nestle ®), the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Cleveland’s baby daughter, Ruth. Snopes.com, the Urban Legends Reference Pages, argues that this is false and that the candy bar was named after famous baseball player Babe Ruth.
  • The only president’s child born in the White House was Cleveland’s daughter Esther.
  • First Lady Frances Cleveland was the daughter of President Cleveland’s former law partner, Oscar Folsom.

First Term Previous President: tiny U.S. flag Chester Alan Arthur | Next President: tiny U.S. flag Benjamin Harrison Second Term Previous President: tiny U.S. flag Benjamin Harrison | Next President: tiny U.S. flag William McKinley


©1996-2008. Robert S. Summers. All rights reserved.

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