Post Scripts: Presidents 22nd, 23rd, 24th

Seconding the nomination of the short and chubby Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) for president at the Democratic convention in 1884, General Edward S. Bragg cried: “They loved Cleveland for his character, but they love him also for the enemies he has made.” What kind of enemies? Corrupt politicians, in Buffalo, for one. As Mayor of that city, Cleveland had turned down so many crooked appropriation measures proposed by the city council he came to be known as the “veto mayor.” As Governor of New York, the “buxom Buffalonian” (who loved his food and beer) refused to accept many bills passed by the state legislature. Someone said he was the kind of man who would rather do something badly than have someone else do it well.

Cleveland continued to enjoy his food and beer after becoming Governor of New York but he put in long hours at his desk. He was hard at work in Albany when news came to him that the Democrats had nominated him for president. His Republican opponent James G. Blaine had been involved in railroad scandals so many Republicans voted for Cleveland instead. He took office in 1885. He was generally well accepted as president although he issued more vetoes than all former 21 presidents. He married his former law partner’s daughter, 21-year-old Frances Folsom, in 1886 after a short courtship when he decided he needed a hostess for special events. He was the only president married in the White House. Frances was 27 years younger than her husband.

Despite the friends he made among voters, Cleveland lost his bid for re-election in 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, Republican from Indiana. He won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote. He claimed that there was no happier man in the United States than he when he left the White House, but his wife was sure he would return to it. She told one of the servants on the morning of Harrison’s inauguration to take care of all the furnishings and ornaments in the house and not let anything get lost or broken as she wanted to find everything as it was when they returned in four years. She was right as in 1892 Cleveland whipped Harrison and did return with more pleasure than he had anticipated.

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), was the grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison. He was exasperated when people referred to him in this way. He said he believed every man should stand on his own merits. During his 1888 campaign for president, Democratic cartoonists pictured him as a little fellow standing in the shadow of his grandfather’s gigantic beaver hat, while Republicans campaigned for him with the song, “Grandfather’s Hat Fits Ben!” Harrison was a senator from Indiana when he received the Republican nomination for president in 1888. He was an effective public speaker who could move masses of people with his oratory. In face-to-face encounters, though, he had a way of turning people off.

When Harrison took office in 1889 he discovered he could not name his own cabinet; his party managers “had sold out every place to pay the election expenses.” His presidency was famous mainly for high tariffs, a treasury surplus and lavish spending by Congress on veterans’ pensions and special-interest projects. Harrison was called a narrow, unresponsive cold man. One senator said it was like talking to a hitching post, he stands silent. Outside the White House, he was called a courtly gentleman.

On his return to the White House in 1893, Grover Cleveland’s pleasure was short-lived. His second term was a stormy one. The Panic of 1893 touched off a long harrowing depression. He was unable to grasp the social realities and was utterly baffled by mass misery. When he left the White House in 1897 he was one of the most unpopular men in the country. However, as years passed people began to think more kindly of Cleveland. He had, after all, stood for honesty and integrity in government. His last words before his death in 1908 were: “I have tried so hard to do right.”