President Grover Cleveland - Research Paper Example

President Grover Cleveland (American President – Grover Cleveland) Grover Cleveland was the twenty second and twenty fourth president of United Sates. He was the only president in the history of United States who assumed president’s office in two non-consecutive terms; 1885–1889 and 1893–1897. He has won the president election as the Democratic Party candidate on both the occasions. Moreover, he was the first democratic president in America’s history after the civil war. He has vetoed number of resolutions and was often referred as the veto president. He was also nick named as Uncle Jumbo. His commitment towards truth and honesty can be witnessed in his famous words; “To be president, you should have honesty. Honesty is always telling the truth. Do you tell the truth? Above all tell the truth” (American President – Grover Cleveland). Cleveland has contributed heavily to American politics and social life. This paper analyses Cleveland’s life and his contributions to American politics and society. Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey. He grew up in New York. He started attending school at the age of 11. When his father died in 1853, Cleveland left school to work and support his family. He moved in 1855 to live and work with his Uncle in Buffalo, New York. He studied law in Buffalo and was admitted to the bar in 1859 (Kelly) Cleveland got married only after he became the twenty second president of America. Probably, he is the only president in the history of America who got married as a president of America. He was 49 at the time of his marriage and his wife Frances Folsom was only 21 at that time. He had five children (three daughters and two sons) in this relationship; however he was alleged to have another child in a premarital relationship. During the Civil War he had hired a substitute when drafted into the army. This was perfectly legal but certainly a disadvantage at a time when most successful northern politicians made much of their military achievements in defense of the Union. More serious still, Cleveland was the father of an illegitimate child. He had provided for the support of the child, but in those Victorian times knowledge of his transgression, should it become widely known, seemed sure to cost him heavily at the polls. Yet three years later he was elected president of the United States (Garraty) The election of Cleveland as America’s president is still mysterious to many people. Cleveland never possessed the normal qualities required for getting the candidature of Democratic Party. He was not much educated and had some illegal relationships while he was selected as the Democratic Marty candidate for presidential election. Military service was compulsory in American military; however he escaped from that using by drafting a substitute into the military. In short, none of his personal, academic or professional achievements or qualities were popular; yet he succeeded in winning the president election purely because of his anti-corruption stands and some other popular opinions he expressed on various issues. Cleveland started his political life during the latter half of nineteenth century after the completion of his law studies. He has gained immense publicity because of his anti-corruption stands since corruption was widespread in American political and social life circuits. He has taken Democratic Party membership and won the mayor election of Buffalo in 1882. Later, (during the period 1883-1885) he became the governor of New York. He has caught the attention of the people not because of his fight against corruption alone; but because of his stands against tariffs, inflation, imperialism etc. He has demanded political and economic reforms in America which made him the real hero of American politics during the latter part of nineteenth century. Cleveland's phenomenal political rise was not entirely due to his honesty and courage, which were considerable. His unusual success was possible because the American people had become disgusted with the rampant corruption in the Republican Party, which had been in power since the Civil War. The people were looking for a man like Cleveland, who seemed to be incorruptible. Part of Cleveland’s appeal was the fact that he was a newcomer to politics (President Grover Cleveland) Perhaps Cleveland’s greatest contribution to American social life was with respect to human liberty. He had high regards to human values and argued for equality and liberty. Cleveland was not a person who preaches many things and does very little to substantiate his preaches. He was a person of high integrity and honesty and has shown commitment and dedication to do hard work for the achievement of his targets and objectives. He has contributed many things to classical liberalism. He has argued for liberty, freedom of thought, religions, speech, free market etc. He disfavored over involvement of government in social life. At the time Cleveland, government has superior power and the principles of democracy were not met. He has argued that in a democratic country, people hold the ultimate power and the government is only an institution to assist the people in executing their power judiciously. Cleveland tried to redefine the role of government in American democratic setup. In his opinion, the government should take the role of a facilitator. His role as president was that of a righteous watchdog looking after other politicians and keeping them from granting favors and taking bribes. Thus he opposed tariff favors to business, pension favors to veterans, land favors to railroads, and economic benefits to farmers and workers. Cleveland's place in history is almost wholly as a negative President who believed it was his duty to prevent bad things from occurring but not to make good things happen (Sir Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)) As mentioned earlier, Grover Cleveland is often referred as the veto president because of the large number of bills vetoed by him during his tenure in president’s office. The wealthy people in America had a habit of influencing the congress men for making policies in favor of them. Political and social groups and other interest groups often tried to utilize governmental funds in different forms with the help of the policy making body Congress. Cleveland successfully blocked many such attempts using the veto power of the president. It is estimated that he had vetoed more than hundred bills during his tenure in President’s office. Cleveland vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. Vetoing a bill to appropriate $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, he wrote: "Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character. He also vetoed many private pension bills to Civil War veterans whose claims were fraudulent. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland vetoed it, too (Grover Cleveland) At the same time, he persuaded Congress to make some useful legislatures which favor the interests of ordinary people. He was always against increasing the taxes and tariffs and tried to reduce taxes whenever he got some opportunities. These policies made him highly popular in America; however he failed to win the president election in 1888. He got majority of the popular votes whereas he failed to achieve enough electoral votes to defeat his opponent Benjamin Harrison. It should be noted that in American president election, electoral votes are decisive. However, Cleveland succeeded to bounce back in 1892 president election. However, his second term in president’s office was not so good. Depression, treasury crisis and unemployment problems were haunting America during this period. When railroad strikers in Chicago violated an injunction, Cleveland sent Federal troops to enforce it. “If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a post card in Chicago," he thundered, "that card will be delivered". Cleveland's blunt treatment of the railroad strikers stirred the pride of many Americans. So did the vigorous way in which he forced Great Britain to accept arbitration of a disputed boundary in Venezuela (Grover Cleveland). Cleveland was a bold or stubborn president. He never succumbed to the pressure exerted by others. He was firm in his decisions and gone any extent to implement it. He had a commitment to his consciousness and did everything possible to overcome the resistances whenever his policies were challenged. Even though he was comparatively less educated than the other presidents in American history, perhaps he was the most determined president in the history of America. He had an uncanny knack to convince others and even some of the prominent world leaders of that time failed to convince Cleveland with their arguments. “As Sheriff of Eric County, New York, he personally hanged two men, putting the noose round their necks and pulling the trap himself. He believed that this was more honest than paying someone else to perform the deed for him” (The Independent). Some people argue that Cleveland was a cruel person citing the above incident. However, Cleveland justified the above incident with the help of his own moral philosophies. In his opinion, punishing a criminal on behalf of the criminal justice system is more important than the issue of who has executed the punishment. In short, he had no reluctance in doing things which were right according to his own moral standards and philosophies. Americans have different opinions about the contributions of Cleveland as the president of America. His first term in the office was widely regarded as a successful one whereas his second term as American president is regarded as a failure. “Cleveland retired from active political life 1897 and moved to Princeton, New Jersey. He became a lecturer and member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton University. Cleveland died on June 24, 1808 of heart failure” (Kelly) To conclude, Grover Cleveland’s contributions as America’s president and as a social reformer were great. He has redefined the role of government and the role of president in American political system. Even though he had not much academic qualifications, he was able to convince others with his charismatic leadership. He was adamant in implementing or blocking policies which he favored or disfavored. Even though his personal qualities were debatable, his visions about human life and respect towards equality, liberty, human rights etc were unmatchable. He was the only president in American history, who succeeded in becoming America’s president in two nonconsecutive terms. Works Cited 1. “American President – Grover Cleveland”. Web. 08 June 2011. 2. “Grover Cleveland”. Web. 08 June 2011. 3. Garraty, John A. “Grover Cleveland”. 2011. Web. 08 June 2011. 4. Kelly, Martin. “Grover Cleveland - Twenty-Second and Twenty-Fourth President”. Web. 08 June 2011. 5. “President Grover Cleveland”. Web. 08 June 2011. 6. “Sir Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)”. Web. 08 June 2011. 7. The Independent. 19 January 2009. “Grover Cleveland”. Web. 08 June 2011. Read More