CLEVELAND, Grover-President (BEP engraved portrait)

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

's first term (1885-1889) was most notable "for its record number of vetoes (414), more than double the number issued by all his predecessors combined." During Cleveland's first term, controlling Congressional and "wasteful spending" was an important priority for him and his administration. Cleveland's vetoes (and other moves, such as issuing "an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

hich was later rescindeddirecting the return of captured

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

battle standards to their home states") angered the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

(GAR), a powerful organization advocating for

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

veterans. In his

State of the Union Address The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditi ...

in December 1887, President Cleveland called for lower

tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and po ...

and

tariff reform The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competitio ...

, making it a major issue in the upcoming 1888 U.S. Presidential election.

Democratic nomination

In order to ensure his renomination in 1888, Cleveland made sure to weaken the power and influence of his opponents and political enemies within the Democratic Party, especially

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

man Samuel J. Randall and

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...

David B. Hill David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897. In 1892, he made an u ...

. Cleveland was easily renominated at the 1888 Democratic National Convention, and in addition, he was able to get the Democratic party platform in 1888 to endorse his goal of lower tariffs and tariff reform. Cleveland went into the 1888 U.S. Presidential election as the first Democratic Presidential nominee to be re-nominated since

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

1840 Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * Janu ...

, almost half a century earlier. The respected former U.S. Senator Allen G. Thurman (from the electoral vote-rich state of Ohio) was picked as Grover Cleveland's Vice Presidential running mate. Cleveland's previous Vice President (

Thomas A. Hendricks Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...

) died in November 1885.

General election

The Republican Party nominated former U.S. Senator

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

(from the

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

) to run against Cleveland in 1888 after

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's '' Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price at ...

Republican Presidential nominee James G. Blaine (who lost to Cleveland by a razor-thin margin) refused to run again and after several other candidates failed to win enough support. President Cleveland's campaign managers in 1888 were " William Barnum, the Democratic national chairman, and Calvin Brice, a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

promoter." The Democratic campaign was greatly hurt by its lack of

funds Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

(by September 1888) and by Cleveland's "

lethargy Lethargy is a state of tiredness, sleepiness, weariness, fatigue, sluggishness or lack of energy. It can be accompanied by depression, decreased motivation, or apathy. Lethargy can be a normal response to inadequate sleep, overexertion, overwo ...

" and his unwillingness to help his re-election campaign much (even behind the scenes). The only major things that President Cleveland did for his campaign are writing a " letter of acceptance (in September) and a few publicized letters on policy." The 74-year-old Allen G. Thurman (Cleveland's Vice Presidential pick) did heavily campaign in favor of the Democratic ticket, mostly in the Midwest and Northeast. Thurman's brief speeches explained "why high tariffs were bad for workingmen and consumers and" delineated "his physical ailments, such as cholera,

head cold The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...

, and

neuralgia Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of one or more nerves, as in intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Classification Under the general heading of neural ...

." Possibly (at least in part) because Thurman "collapsed twice on stage" during his speeches, the press concentrated on Thurman's poor health rather than on the contents of his speeches (something which might have brought negative publicity to the Cleveland campaign). In contrast to Cleveland, Harrison ran a relatively active (for the time) campaign, giving almost 100 speeches throughout his

front porch campaign A front porch campaign is a low-key electoral campaign used in American politics in which the candidate remains close to or at home to make speeches to supporters who come to visit. The candidate largely does not travel around or otherwise acti ...

in which he defended the Republican platform (especially the call for higher tariffs) while simultaneously criticizing the policies of President Cleveland and his Democratic Party. The

Murchison letter The Murchison letter was a political scandal during the 1888 US presidential election between Grover Cleveland, the Democratic incumbent, and the Republican nominee, Benjamin Harrison. The letter was sent by Sir Lionel Sackville-West to "Charles ...

was released shortly before the 1888 election in an attempt to reduce Cleveland's support, but this apparently did not work, since Cleveland gained more Irish American votes in 1888 than in 1884. The general election was pretty close—Cleveland ended up winning the

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

by almost 1%, while Harrison managed to win the electoral vote 233 to 168 (and thus the election) by narrowly winning New York (Cleveland's home state) and Indiana (Harrison's home state) (both of which voted for Cleveland in 1884). Cleveland was hurt in New York (which he lost by 1.09%) by

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

's (and its "Boss" Richard Croker's) lukewarm support for him. Cleveland came very close to losing Connecticut, West Virginia, and the ex-Confederate state of Virginia to Harrison as well. Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Thurman's home state of Ohio also narrowly went for Harrison in 1888. Even though Benjamin Harrison won the 1888 U.S. Presidential election, outgoing U.S. President Grover Cleveland would eventually return to political life in a couple of years and challenge Harrison again for the U.S. Presidency in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

Democratic nomination

General election

See also

References

Further reading