Grover Cleveland
22nd and 24th U.S. president; first to serve nonconsecutive terms.
Stephen Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey, and died on June 24, 1908. He served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, holding office from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897. He was the first Democrat elected president after the Civil War and remains the only U.S. president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.
Cleveland grew up in a large family, the fifth of nine children. His father was a Congregational and Presbyterian minister, and his mother was the daughter of a bookseller. On his father’s side, his ancestors were English, having emigrated from Ipswich, England, to Massachusetts in 1635. On his mother’s side, he was descended from Anglo-Irish Protestants and German Quakers. He was distantly related to General Moses Cleaveland, after whom Cleveland, Ohio, was named. Named Stephen Grover after a pastor, he went by Grover in adulthood. The family moved often, living in Fayetteville, New York, and later Clinton, New York, where his father worked for the American Home Missionary Society. Financial struggles forced Cleveland to leave school for a two-year mercantile apprenticeship in Fayetteville, though he later returned to his studies. His father died from a gastric ulcer in 1853, news Cleveland learned from a newspaper boy.
After his father’s death, Cleveland left school again to support his family. He worked as an assistant teacher at the New York Institute for the Blind in New York City, where his brother William taught. In 1854, he returned home to Holland Patent, New York, but declined an offer to have his college education paid for in exchange for becoming a minister. In 1855, he moved west, stopping first in Buffalo, New York. There, his cousin Lewis F. Allen gave him a clerical job and introduced him to influential locals, including partners at the law firm Rogers, Bowen, and Rogers.
Cleveland was elected mayor of Buffalo in 1881 and governor of New York in 1882. As governor, he worked closely with state assembly minority leader Theodore Roosevelt to pass reform measures, gaining national attention. He led the Bourbon Democrats, a pro-business faction that opposed high tariffs, free silver, inflation, imperialism, and subsidies to businesses, farmers, or veterans. His push for political reform and fiscal conservatism made him a hero to American conservatives of his era. He was praised for his
- born
- March 18, 1837, Caldwell, New Jersey
- died
- June 24, 1908
- field
- Politics, Law
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- 22nd and 24th U.S. president; first president to serve nonconsecutive terms; signed Interstate Commerce Act and Dawes Act
Lore & Background
Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, New Jersey, the fifth of nine children. His father, a Congregational and Presbyterian minister, died when Cleveland was a teenager, forcing him to leave school to support his family. He worked as an assistant teacher at the New York Institute for the Blind before moving west to Buffalo, New York, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1859. During the Civil War, he paid a substitute $150 to serve in his place. He later served as assistant district attorney of Erie County and, in 1870, was elected sheriff of Erie County, personally carrying out two executions.
Reader's Guide
Cleveland's significance lies in his role as a reform-minded Democrat who challenged political corruption, patronage, and bossism. As governor of New York, he cooperated with Theodore Roosevelt to pass reform measures. His presidency saw the signing of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, the first federal regulation of an industry, and the Dawes Act, which subdivided Native American tribal lands into individual allotments, leading to Native Americans ceding control of about two-thirds of their land. His second term was marked by the Panic of 1893, a severe depression, and his intervention in the Pullman Strike. An anti-imperialist, he opposed the annexation of Hawaii and called for the restoration of Queen Liliʻuokalani. His support of the gold standard and opposition to free silver alienated the agrarian wing of the Democrats, and he left office highly unpopular. After his presidency, he served as a trustee of Princeton University and joined the American Anti-Imperialist League.
Did You Know?
- Cleveland was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms.
- He personally carried out two executions as sheriff of Erie County.
- He paid a substitute $150 to serve in his place during the Civil War.
- He was distantly related to General Moses Cleaveland, after whom Cleveland, Ohio, was named.
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