Really Cool Stuff about Grover Cleveland
1. Grover had a pretty interesting lineage. His great-great grandfather, Aaron Cleveland, was a great friend of Benjamin Franklin and even died in Ben’s house! Aaron Cleveland’s son, another Aaron, “introduced the first bill in American history calling for the abolition of slavery” (p. 7). Even the city of Cleveland was named after Moses Cleveland, another of Grover’s relatives. “Named Cleaveland, in salute to Moses’ efforts, the little village, which had become a thriving town by the time Grover was born, finally dropped the ‘a’ in 1832, when, it was reported, the local newspaper had need to shorten its masthead” (p. 7). I just love historical facts like that!
2. In the race for governor of New York, Cleveland won by the largest margin of anyone yet. “On November 7, 1882, Grove Cleveland was elected by a majority of 192,000 votes, the largest margin ever registered in a contested election for the highest office in the state” (p. 28).
3. Preservation of lands was slowly becoming a national issue and while Cleveland was governor, he duly set aside lands at Niagra to safeguard the beauty there. “The legislature, with Cleveland’s hearty approval, set aside lands in the vicinity of Niagra Falls deemed necessary to preserving the scenery” (p. 41).
4. Before he became president of the United States, Grover Cleveland had never set foot in Washington DC.
5. If anyone has seen the movie National Treasure, then I have to include this for them. Although the Resolute desk was presented to Hayes, I only read about it in this biography and so will give the information here. “Cleveland could not but have been told the history of the elegant gift: Franklin’s ship, HMS Resolute, had been found crushed by the ice by an American ship captain. Rebuilt and returned to England, it was put back into service. When it was finally decommissioned and dismantled, some of its oak timbers were fashioned into this unique present delivered to President Hayes. Known in the White House today as the ‘Resolute desk,’ it served many presidents in the family quarters of the White House. President Kennedy moved it into the Oval Office where he and successors continued to enjoy its use” (p. 73).
6. Cleveland hated the media. “Cleveland remains the only president who refused to attend the annual dinner of the Gridiron Club, the insider association of Washington journalists founded in 1885, at which the president and the press attired in white tie and tails ‘singe but do not burn’ each other with more or less good-natured sallies” (p. 76).
7. When Grover Cleveland married, it was the first ever wedding of a president in the White House. “Being uncomfortable with social niceties, as we have seen, he relied on the advice of his married sister, Mary for the details of what would be the first wedding of a president ever held in the White House” (p. 79).
8. Grover’s oldest daughter, Ruth, would eventually give her name to a popular candy bar. “Ruth was destined not to reach the age of thirteen, dying of diphtheria in 1904. She lives in the national memory as Baby Ruth, the name that newspapers bestowed on her and that in 1921, the Curtiss Company decided to assign to a candy bar, still popular today” (p. 100).
9. As mentioned earlier, Cleveland was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
10. I've concluded that George Pullman was an asshole! George Pullman was the guy “whose sleeping car revolutionized overnight rail travel” (p. 118) but he’s also the guy who made all his workers live in a village built by the Pullman Company. “The rents Pullman charged were excessive, running about 25 percent higher than in neighboring towns. He sold at ten centers per thousand gallons of water that he brought from Chicago at four cents. He forced his tenants to buy their food and other necessities from company stores, where prices far exceeded those of regular outlets. The simmering cauldron of protest boiled over when in 1894 the company cut wages an average of 25 percent, without a comparable cut in rent or in the cost of necessities. Pullman refused to listen to complaints and dismissed from their jobs those who persisted in the outcry. He then closed the plant” (p. 118). Hence my earlier statement: George Pullman is an asshole.
11. In 1886, Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty.
12. Cleveland acquired Pearl Harbor. “In 1887 the United States acquired from the Hawaiian monarchy the right to establish a coaling and repair station at Pearl Harbor, the majestic landlocked bay on the south coast of the island of Oahu” (p. 120).
Henry Graff, the author, tried to remain unbiased on the subject of Grover Cleveland but I got the impression that Cleveland was not a helpful candidate for biography. Cleveland’s personality seemed to be extremely grim and straightforward, which, as you’ll agree, is hardly book worthy. However, you do have to hand it to old Grover. He had principles and he stood by them his entire life and throughout his two terms as president. Even thought the Republicans had been in office 24 straight years, he handled the change of party with decision and a commitment to his democratic ideals. He didn’t allow the party bosses and his position to change his opinions on what he saw was right and what was wrong. If you are annoyed and disillusioned with the politicians of today then please read about Grover Cleveland. You won’t be disappointed.
Graff does take the opportunity to mildly criticize Cleveland for his demeanor and his speechmaking ability. It was fortunate for Cleveland that people, during this time, primarily voted their party. The average voter knew very little about the candidates and certainly did not care whether they made good speeches or not. Cleveland won, for the most part, on the fact that the Democrats did a great job of getting people to the polls to vote the Democratic ticket.
I also found it interesting that Graff takes the time to discuss racism. Not the racism that we are familiar with today but the quotidian racism of everyday life in America in the late nineteenth century. Graff makes the assertion that racism, back then, was very common and quite normal. It’s hard for us to sometimes to understand the intolerance of our forebears but that was simply standard operating procedure at the time. Everyone was racist in some fashion (see my William Henry Harrison blog). And it really had nothing to do with slavery, per se, but was prevalent in all forms of society. For instance, during Cleveland’s presidencies, he had to deal with racism against the American Indians, against the Chinese, and against Catholics. Isn’t this the way of life?
No comments:
Post a Comment