"President Grover Cleveland", our twenty-fourth President was born in Caldwell, New Jersey, son of a Presbyterian minister. President Grover Cleveland could not go to college because he had to support his mother, and for this reason also, he hired a substitute to take his place in the Army during the "Civil War". President Grover Cleveland studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1859 and joined the Democratic Party.

President Grover Cleveland held a number of local political posts, was elected "Mayor of Buffalo, New York in 1881", and because of his efforts to reform the city government was elected "Governor of New York in 1882". In this position President Grover Cleveland was honest and capable, soon making an enemy of the corrupt New York political machine, "Tammany Hall", but gaining a reputation that got him the nomination for the Presidency at the "Democratic Convention in 1884".

The election campaign against "James G. Blaine", the Republican candidate, was one of the dirtiest in American politics. The Democrats found evidence that James G. Blaine was corrupt, and the Republicans accused President Grover Cleveland of having fathered an out of wed-lock child, which he courageously admitted. President Grover Cleveland won the election.

President Grover Cleveland was a candidate for re-election in 1888, but lost to "President Benjamin Harrison", although his popular vote was larger. President Grover Cleveland was nominated in 1892, and won the election. President Grover Cleveland's second term was stormy. In 1893 the country was struck by a financial panic.

Farmers lost their farms, railroads went bankrupt, and most of the gold was drained from the "Federal Treasury of 1893".  Presidnt Grover Cleveland opposed his party on a high tariff bill, then signed it because it provided for an income tax which he thought was necessary. The Supreme Court"  found the income tax proposal of 1893-1894 to be unconstitutional.

In 1893, President Grover Cleveland turned down a move to "take over Hawaii", demanded by a group of businessmen, on the ground that it was not the wish of the Hawaiian people. In 1894, strikers closed down the shops of the "Pullman Company", and soon railroad workers all over the country joined the strike.

Because the strike was interfering with the United States Mail, President Grover Cleveland sent Federal troops to end the strike immediately. "Governor Altgeld of Illinois" said that the Federal Government had violated "States Rights" by sending troops that were not requested and many people agreed.

President Grover Cleveland retired to Princeton, New Jersey, where he bacame a trustee of "Princeton University". There, in 1908 he died.

Written by:
Karen Palumbo
Photography "NOT" by:
Robert Palumbo
3/28/2010 (c)