The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford History of the United States)

by Richard White

When Debs asked, “What is to be done?” part of the answer was easy, and Populists, Republicans, and most Democrats agreed on it: disavow Grover Cleveland and, as far as possible, prevent him from doing any more damage. So complete was the disaster of the Cleveland administration that the election should have been no contest at all. The events of the preceding four years had seemingly killed the chances of Democrats as the party of small government. Most members of Cleveland’s party treated him like an animated corpse, slowly decaying in the White House. He was an unpleasant and unfortunate reminder of the days not long before, when the party had lived and breathed. Henry George, who had campaigned for him, now denounced him as “more dangerous to the Republic than any of his predecessors.” The Democrats could not remove him, so most avoided him. The presidential election seemed simply about the Republicans replacing Cleveland with whomever they chose.