GROVER CLEVELAND - PARALLELS With DONALD TRUMP'S Historic 2024 Victory (NON-CONSECUTIVE TERMS!!)

Once upon a time, an extremely larger than life and popular figure quickly rose up the political ladder to become a candidate for President of the United States, won the election despite vicious attacks from the opposition even going so far as to call him a rapist, served four years as President, succeeding in foreign affairs, avoiding wars while reducing corruption from within. But, he lost in the next election, with the opposition promising better times for all Americans. Instead, prices rose and the economy tanked. So, American voted to bring back the previous President, who won both the popular vote and electoral college and went on the serve two non-consecutive terms. Sound familiar? Of course, I’m talking about Mr. Grover Cleveland, who served as both as the 22nd President of the United States and the 24th. For over 130 years, he was the only President to serve non-consecutive terms, but after the most recent presidential election, the country is about to experience this event once again as Donald J. Trump was voted in as the 47th President after already serving as the 45th, becoming the second ever president to serve non-consecutive terms and, as you may have noticed, their stories align in many ways.

Although it remains to be seen how well President Trump will govern the nation from the Oval Office during his second term, we do know how it went for President Grover Cleveland. Today, we’ll look back at both of his terms as well as what went on in the middle – during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison. You might be shocked to see just how similar the two points in time are as we look back at the executive branch from 1885 to 1897, the last time an individual served as president for two discontinuous terms. Although there were many differences – for instance, Cleveland was a Democrat and Trump is a Republican, it is amazing just how many parallels there are.

Before jumping into Cleveland’s presidency, we should do a quick recap of how he ascended to the highest office in the land. He was born in Caldwell, New Jersey March 18th, 1837 to Ann & Richard Cleveland. Richard was a pastor, who passed away in 1853 when Grover was 16 years old. This forced Grover to abandon school in order to help support his mother and younger sisters. He became a clerk at a law firm and as he gained experience, became more and more interested in the law and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1859 at 22 years of age.

A Young Grover Cleveland

By 1862, he had begun his own practice, but it was at this time the Civil War broke out. Although Cleveland was still young and able-bodied, he was able to pay $150 to a Polish immigrant to serve in his place, avoiding active service in order to care for his mother and continue his work as an assistant district attorney. This would be something his political opponents would use against him later in life, a similar tactic we’ve seen used against Donald Trump in the fact that he was able to avoid getting drafted during Vietnam.

Cleveland continued to work in law and became interested in politics during the 1860’s. He ran for sheriff of Erie County as a Democrat in 1870 and was elected. He served three relatively unremarkable years as Sheriff, although citizens considered him fair and efficient. His career in law had some ups and downs, but nothing spectacular. By 1880, just 5 years before he would become president, no one could have possibly predicted the meteoric rise that was about to take place in the life and career of Grover Cleveland. He was just a local lawyer and ex-county Sheriff with a tiny bit of political experience.

Grover Cleveland

Then, in 1881, he was nominated for mayor of Buffalo, New York by local Democrats who discussed him favorably in meetings, remembering his time as sheriff. Cleveland was surprised by the nomination, but accepted it and shockingly, won the election, becoming Mayor. He dedicated himself to cleaning up the streets and stopping corruption within the local government, and results were quickly produced as Cleveland worked longer and harder hours than any mayor in recent memory. The people were impressed not only with his ability to govern, but also by his intimidating physical stature at 280 lbs. His popularity quickly soared and he was nominated as governor of New York.

After winning the election, Cleveland continued to clean up corruption, which improved his popularity with the people but also created enemies within Tammany Hall, a New York City political machine that served as an engine for political corruption. The machine tried its best to turn the people against Grover Cleveland, but Americans were fed up with scandals and corruption and turned their support towards Cleveland, to the point he was now in discussions as the possible 1884 Democratic Nominee for President of the United States.

Chester A. Arthur

The President at the time, Republican Chester A. Arthur, had become President after James A. Garfield’s assassination and was completing what would’ve been Garfield’s term. Garfield, like Cleveland, was committed to ending corruption in Washington, but never got the chance as he was assassinated shortly into his presidency. Arthur, after completing the term and not really fighting corruption as Garfield had planned to, had chosen to not seriously seek re-election, as he was suffering from poor health and was unlikely to win anyway. So, the Republicans put out former Speaker of the House James G. Blaine as their new candidate. Blaine was a strong candidate in 1880, but fell short to Garfield in the Republican National Convention, but he attracted nationwide support, arguing for the gold standard and civil rights for freed black men. However, he also had a reputation as a corrupt politician, and this was the driving force when the Democrats nominated Cleveland as their candidate. Although the figure of speech “Drain the Swamp” didn’t exist back then, that was effectively what Cleveland was elected to do for the country, just as he had done at the county, city and state level.

Mudslinging and personal attacks defined the 1884 Presidential Election. It was discovered that Cleveland had a relationship with a woman years back and fathered a child out of wedlock. Cleveland was attacked hard for this and there were even accusations that he had raped the woman – an accusation that was never proven. Cleveland admitted that he and the woman and a consensual relationship and that she had a child. He said he had paid child support even though he wasn’t certain the child was his. Instead of losing voters, he gained support by his apparent honesty and continuous demands for the truth above all else and elimination of all corruption and dishonesty within the government. The election was close, but Grover Cleveland was victorious, mainly due to securing New York State, which he won by less than 1,200 votes. He was the first Democrat to elected U.S. President since before the Civil War. His Vice President was former Indiana Governor Thomas A. Hendricks, but Hendricks passed away of a heart attack shortly into the term and was not replaced.

As the 22nd President of the United States, Grover Cleveland continued to work day and night to accomplish his goals. He nullified fraudulent grants, vetoed unlawful bills, rejected corrupt measures and continued to improve his popularity with the people by being an actual honest politician who cared about the American People. He vetoed over 400 bills, more than any other previous president. He shocked the system almost right away by not immediately firing most of his cabinet members and bringing in his own people. If they were doing a good job, even if they were Republican, he allowed them to keep their job. No job was appointed based on the party of an individual, only on the person’s ability to perform the job. At the same time, he would not hesitate to fire a Democrat if they could not do the job or if he smelt a whiff of corruption.

During Cleveland’s first term, he helped enact the Interstate Commerce Commission, which would regulate railroads, eliminate rate discrimination and keep rates fair for all people concerning not just railroad travel but also bus lines. Another major act that is not as favorably looked back on that was passed during Cleveland’s first term was the Dawes General Alltoment Act, which allowed the US federal government to divide reservation land held Native American tribes into smaller plots and distribute them to individuals and small families. This aimed to assimilate them into mainstream American society by encouraging farming and individual land ownership. To break down all the ins and outs of the Dawes act would require its own video, but while it did help some Native Americans who could now buy and sell land more freely, as a whole it was also harmful to Native American sovereignty, culture, and identity.

Cleveland was also not too successful with the question of Civil Rights, as at this point, 20 years had passed since the Civil War and the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that freed the slaves, granted citizenship and equality to all born in the U.S., and allowed black men to vote. Yet, attempts to enforce civil rights laws had utterly failed. Years prior, the 18th President Ulysses S. Grant tried in vain to transform the country into one where every person was truly free, but all of his enforcement acts and attempts to outlaw racial discrimination failed in actual practice. A million laws could not take away the prejudice inside of many people along with their sense of entitlement to cheap black labor. With this in mind, Cleveland did not use federal power to enforce Civil Rights laws, and considered reconstruction a failure.

His foreign policy was to not be too ambitious and not get involved in foreign conflicts if at all possible. There were revolutions abroad during his term that he all but ignored. He opposed territorial expansion and squashed a proposal that would have allowed the United States to build a canal through Nicaragua to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He also withdrew a proposed treaty that would have expanded U.S. interests in the Congo. When foreign affairs occurred that he had to involve himself in, Cleveland moved with caution and tactfulness. For example, after Canadian authorities seized U.S. fishing boats for fishing in the North Atlantic, war with Canada seemed a distinct possibility, especially after the U.S. retaliated by capturing Canadian fishing vessels off the coast of Alaska. Cleveland helped negotiate a treaty with Great Britain, avoiding war and easing tensions over fishing rights. Although he avoided wars and major conflicts, he did ensure the military continued to modernize and was prepared at all times to defend its country.

Benjamin Harrison

Cleveland, who entered the White House as a Bachelor, got married during his first term to 21-year old Frances Folsom, who turned out to be a very popular First Lady. She was very open to the public and personally welcomed visitors to the White House. Her warmth and popularity only helped President Cleveland, who seemed like a people’s president, destined for a second term.

Cleveland was renominated in unanimous fashion at the Democratic Convention and he selected Allen G. Thurman of Ohio to be his running mate for a second term. The Republicans nominated a former U.S. Senator from Indiana, Benjamin Harrison. While campaigning, Harrison began to gain momentum, with aggressive fundraising and attacks against Cleveland’s tariff policy. Cleveland was for lower tariffs, which would result in lower prices for consumers, while Harrison argued a high tariff would be better for industrialism in general, resulting in higher profits, higher wages and an overall better economy. On Election Day, Grover Cleveland narrowly won the popular vote, but lost the key swing states of New York and Indiana, the home towns of Cleveland and Thurman respectively. Benjamin Harrison won the electoral college and thus, the Election of 1888.

Benjamin Harrison, who was the grandson of former President William Henry Harrison, became the 23rd President of the United States. The Ohio-Native served a Colonel in the Civil War and fought in multiple key battles before a promotion to Brigadier General. He was elected to the U.S. Senate, representing the state of Indiana, and became a major leader in the Republican Party. Like Cleveland, Harrison continued to favor the merit system, in which jobs were given to those best qualified regardless of their political affiliation.

Harrison’s presidency turned out to be a mixed bag, with some positives like the Land Revision Act of 1891, which established National Forests, and his admission of six new states to the Union, more than any other President. However, his economic policies set the country on a path towards financial disaster. The high tariffs he said would help the economy and improve wages were not showing the intended results and federal spending reached one billion dollars for the first time in U.S. history during his term. The McKinley Tariff, which was designed to protect domestic workers from foreign competition, became law during Harrison’s Presidency. Grover Cleveland deplored the tariff, which increased the tax rate on foreign products by nearly 50% and caused the price of goods to dramatically increase. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was also passed under Harrison. It required the government to buy a certain amount of silver per month, diminishing gold reserves It caused inflation to accelerate even faster and was another factor in an upcoming economic panic.

Frances Folsom Cleveland

By the time Harrison’s first term was coming to an end, the people of the United States were fed up with rising prices and the crumbling economy. Many regretted not voting for the previous president, Grover Cleveland, in 1888. As fate would have it, Cleveland decided to run for President again alongside running mate Adlai Stevenson and soundly defeated Harrison, this time winning his home state of New York. He won both the popular vote and the electoral college, becoming the first president to ever serve non-consecutive terms.

So, at this point, history meets up with the present day and some of the parallels are amazing – a tanking economy and broken promises led to the election of a President who spent four years on the sidelines and returned to the office to try and undo some of the damage done in the previous four years. We don’t know how President Trump will do in the present day, but we can look back at how things went for President Cleveland in his second term.

Unfortunately, the economy was on the verge of total collapse and Cleveland did not have time to repair it as the Panic of 1893 struck the stock market just as Cleveland’s second term began. It was the most severe depression on United States History at the time and wouldn’t be matched until the Great Depression. So, Grover Cleveland was kept very busy throughout his second term attempting to restore a broken economy during a financial panic.

The shortage of gold due to the Sherman Silver Purchase Act made things worse and Cleveland called a special session to support the repeal of the Act, and he eventually succeeded, making the beginning of the end of silver as a basis for American currency. He also tried to reverse the damage done by the McKinley Tariff with the Revenue Act, also known as the Wilson-Gorman Tariff, which would reduce tariff rates. The bill went through several changes and Cleveland was furious with the amendments and nullifications, but allowed the bill to go through without his signature as it was still an improvement over the McKinley Tariff.

Despite his efforts, Cleveland was widely blamed for the panic as thousands of businesses closed their doors and over 500 banks closed. Unemployment was close to 50% in some states and people were starving around the country.

Cleveland did experience a few positives during his second term including the continued modernization of the military, the statehood of Utah, and an effective foreign policy. But the depression overshadowed those accomplishments. One of the biggest disasters of his second term came from major strikes by railroaders known as the “Pullman Strike”, a widespread railroad strike and boycott that disrupted rail traffic in the midwest. The strike was becoming violent with fire being set and locomotives being derailed – some attached to U.S. Mail trains. A federal injunction was issued, allowing Cleveland to order the Army to stop the strikers from obstructing trains so that the mail could be delivered. This led to even more violence and eventually, the dissolution of the American Railway Union, one of the largest labor unions in the country. In a gesture of conciliation, Cleveland made Labor Day a National Holiday, but the Democratic Party suffered a massive blow for the panic and Cleveland’s crushing of the Pullman Strike. Of course, the panic was certainly going to happen whether he or Harrison had won the Election of 1892, but after the Republicans won the election of 1896 with William McKinley, the original framer of the McKinely Tariff, defeating William Jennings Bryan, the Democrats lost power of all branches and did not win the presidency again until Woodrow Wilson in 1912.

So, hopefully, the newly elected President Donald J. Trump does not experience a similar fate in his second term as Grover Cleveland did with an economy that collapsed into a depression just as he took office. It will be interesting to find out how the next four years go and how the two presidents compare when all is said and done, but regardless, there are many similarities in the journeys of both U.S. Presidents and many differences as well. I hope you enjoyed this look back in time at the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms up until this January when Donald Trump takes office and officially becomes the second.

Donald J. Trump