Grover Cleveland

Time to throw another curve ball at everyone.  My obsession with the late 19^th century is probably not much of a secret.  I didn’t think a blog on all the US Presidents from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt would be all that interesting, so I split the difference on this one.

First off, here they are:  Lincoln (1860-1865), Andrew Johnson (1865-69), Ulysses Grant (1869-77), Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-81), James Garfield (1881 – assassinated by a disgruntled gov’t employee), Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885), Grover Cleveland (1885-1889), Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), Grover Cleveland (1893-1897), William McKinley (1897-1901)(assassinated by an anarchist) and Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909).

Cleveland served as mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York.  He was an upright Democrat – the only Democratic president between Lincoln and Roosevelt.  He served two non-consecutive terms, the only President to do so.  He attracted many Republicans who were fed up with James Blaine (the “Mugwumps”).  Back then, the US government had a tendency to corruption, a “spoils” system.  Tools like Roscoe Conkling and James Blaine were ideologically committed to such a system, but there were plenty who felt the stench of political manure needed be to blown away, which is how Cleveland defeated Blaine in 1884. 

Sure enough, on taking power he kept on competent Republicans rather than sweep in Democrats.  He opposed tariffs and vetoed many relief bills – this during economic depression.  He was non-interventionist in foreign policy, though he did help beef up the Navy by striking down shipbuilding based on pork rather than quality, including ordering the USS Maine (later blown up in Havana Harbor), which was itself a reaction to Brazil’s Riachuelo. 

Finally, to wrap up with two nuggets of trivia:  the rest stop on northbound New Jersey Turnpike, around Exit 11, is named after him, and I had to laugh at The Onion’s article, “Activision Reports Sluggish Sales for Sousaphone Hero”, in which the Activision spokeswoman promises that "if you score enough points, you can unlock the ultimate level: playing in the John Philip Sousa-led Marine Band at Grover Cleveland's inauguration."