Grover Cleveland Quotes

“On January 14, 1893, 160 Marines came ashore from the U.S. warship Boston. Bolstered by two artillery pieces, the Marines assisted the Outlanders, who deposed Queen Liliuokalani in a bloodless coup. Ambassador Stevens immediately recognized a new provisional government, raised the American flag over government buildings, and disenfranchised native Hawaiians.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Sanford Dole, the son of American missionaries who was born in Hawaii, but attended college and law school in the mainland, was appointed President of the Hawaiian Republic. On February 15, 1983, with Americans firmly in control of the government, President Harrison’s Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, drafted a treaty to annex Hawaii and submitted it to the Senate for ratification. The annexation of Hawaii had considerable support in the mainland.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“After Kalakaua’s sister, Queen Liliuokalani, ascended to the throne, she was determined to prevent the United States from seizing complete control of Hawaii. Consequently, the new Queen instituted reforms, returning control of the legislature to native Hawaiians and disenfranchising non-naturalized citizens (who, by now, owned 90 percent of the islands’ lands). Consequently, American and British business interests demonized Queen Liliuokalani as a tyrant, who opposed constitutional government.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“By 1887, the Outlanders were powerful enough to gain control of the Hawaiian legislature and force monarchial leader, King Kalakaua, to adopt their Constitution, without ever submitting the document to a popular vote. The newly-established legislature was empowered to dismiss Cabinet officers and override the King’s vetoes. Only those with sufficient land holdings were allowed to vote, which disenfranchised most natives. Conversely, all white males, who had resided in Hawaii for at least three years, were allowed to vote, even if they were not naturalized citizens. By the beginning of the 1890s, the so-called “Reformists” or “Annexationists” had stripped native Hawaiians of their independence.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“From the beginning, Cleveland had recognized Hawaii as an independent nation. During his first term as President, he carefully and deliberately obtained permission from the Hawaiian monarch, before establishing a naval base and coaling station in Oahu’s Pearl Harbor.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“In 1820, the first Americans, mostly Christian missionaries, arrived in the Hawaiian Islands. The missionaries taught the natives how to read and write, as well as develop their own alphabet. In the coming years, American and European whalers, merchant seamen, traders, and sugar planters settled in Hawaii. The foreigners, also known as “Haoles,” brought diseases with them (smallpox, mumps, measles, and tuberculosis), which devastated the native population.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Most of the states’ Governors supported President Cleveland’s use of federal troops to end the violence perpetrated by striking Pullman workers. A notable exception was the Democratic Governor of Illinois.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“While Debs would remain one of the nation’s most renowned labor leaders, the American Railway Union fell apart during his imprisonment. Debs studied the writings of Karl Marx while in prison, becoming an avowed socialist, and would remain a national figure for the next four decades. In later years, he formed the Industrial Workers of the World, nicknamed the “Wobblies.” After protesting America’s participation in World War I, Debs was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and sentenced to 10 years in the federal penitentiary.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“On July 2nd, Cleveland convened a Cabinet meeting to discuss the railroad strike. Prior to the meeting, the President had met with General Nelson Miles, Commander of the Army’s Western Department. In Miles’ opinion, it was not yet necessary to send in troops to quell the labor uprising, with Secretary of War Lamont in concurrence. When Attorney General Olney arrived at the Cabinet meeting and presented the telegram from the U.S. Marshall, which had also been endorsed by a Judge, P.S. Grosscup, and Thomas E. Milchrist, the U.S. Attorney for Chicago, Lamont changed his mind.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Unwilling to permit catastrophic civil obedience, President Cleveland sought and received a federal court injunction against the strike on July 2nd, which ordered Debs and the other union members “absolutely to desist and refrain from in any way or manner interfering with, hindering, obstructing, or stopping, any of the business of any of the railroads as common carriers of passengers and freight between or among a number of states…” When the strikers failed to obey the injunction, Cleveland not only authorized Attorney General Olney (a former railroad lawyer) to appoint a special counsel, Edwin Walker, to assist the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, but also dispatched 3,600 special deputies, funded by the General Manager’s Union (GMA), to the Chicago area, to operate railroads under federal government control. The President’s decision was made in spite of Governor Altgeld’s protests that local authorities could handle the disruption of mail service.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“All Pullman Palace Car Company laborers were required to live in the company town, even though the rent on their houses was 25 percent higher than that of neighboring municipalities. Pullman also charged his workers 10 cents per 1,000 gallons of water; water that he purchased in Chicago for four-cents-per-gallon. Company stores, which served the town, charged higher prices than retail merchants in nearby communities. While George Pullman may have considered his employees’ accommodations Utopian, many viewed it as frank exploitation.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“The labor unrest that had plagued the Harrison Administration persisted into Cleveland’s presidency. The Pullman strike of 1894 epitomized the contentious relationship between management and labor. George Mortimer Pullman designed the first railroad sleeping car, which made overnight train trips much more comfortable for travelers.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“When the group reached Washington D.C. on May 1, 1894, Attorney General Olney ordered government agents to trail them to the Capitol Building. The local police arrested a number of the marchers, including Carl Browne, for the misdemeanor charge of walking on the grass outside the Capitol Building; a handful of particularly unruly marchers were clubbed by the lawmen, before being arrested. When Coxey tried to break through a line of policeman and give an oral recitation of his “Address of Protest” (also referred to as the “Coxey Good Roads Bill”), he was arrested for trespassing. Coxey and a number of his followers were convicted, jailed, and ordered to pay $5 fines. After serving 20 days in jail, Coxey and his marchers returned home, and hereafter remain an interesting footnote in history.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“To dramatize his cause, Coxey proposed that jobless Americans walk across the country to Washington D.C. and present a “living petition” to Congress. Among the first to sign up as one of Coxey’s “marchers” was Carl Browne, a bearded California theosophist, who believed in reincarnation and claimed that he physically resembled Jesus Christ.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Amidst the Financial Panic, President Cleveland celebrated the birth of his second child on September 9, 1893. The girl, who was named Esther, was (and still is) the only child ever born in the White House.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Ever frugal, Grover Cleveland cut federal spending in each of his non-successive presidential terms. When he entered the presidency for the second time in 1893, the federal budget was $383,000,000. By 1896, Cleveland’s last full year as President, the budget had been reduced to $352,000,000.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Even though he was not happy about the proposed income tax, the President lodged no formal protest, as he was eager to see tariff reform make its way through Congress. After negotiating with Congressman Wilson, Cleveland consented to “a small tax upon incomes derived from certain corporate investments as a necessary corrective to treasury deficiencies.” In sharp contrast, Cleveland’s chief rival in the Democratic Party, William Jennings Bryan, the consummate Populist, was delighted with the addendum to the tariff reduction bill: “There is no more just tax upon the statute books than the income tax.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Even though the financial crisis began late in the Harrison Administration, many Americans blamed President Cleveland. When the President received threatening letters, a frightened First Lady convinced her husband to increase the number of patrolmen surrounding the White House from two to 25. A capitol city newspaper noted the impact of the angry threats against the President: “Mr. Cleveland not only keeps off the sidewalks; he seldom goes driving—and when he does, he is under the protection of two detectives, who follow the White House carriage in another vehicle.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“As a result of the contentious battle over silver, Cleveland and William Jennings Bryan emerged as the leaders of disparate factions of the Democratic Party. Bryan, who had supported Cleveland for President in 1884 and 1888, made it known that he had not done so in 1892, because Cleveland had become “completely dominated by the banking influence in New York City.” If Cleveland was concerned about Bryan’s accusations that he had “sold out” to big money interests, he was equally sure that his policies would benefit the country, regardless of the political ramifications.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Dr. Bryant and the other physicians maintained their silence about the surgery until after Cleveland’s death. In 1917, Dr. Keen, who was then 80 years old, published an article in The Saturday Evening Post, entitled The Surgical Operations on President Cleveland in 1893, revealing for the first time the true nature of Cleveland’s health problems. In that article, Keen opined that the late President’s tumor was a carcinoma. In the 1980s, the preserved tissue extracted from Cleveland’s jaw and palate was analyzed by pathologists, who characterized it as a venous carcinoma—a low grade epithelial tumor, with low potential for metastasis.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“During the second week of July, Dr. Kasson Gibson, a New York orthodontist, visited Gray Gables and fitted Cleveland with a vulcanized rubber jaw and palate prosthesis, which enabled him to speak clearly. On July 17th, the President and Dr. Bryant boarded the Oneida at Buzzards Bay, where Drs. Keen, Janeway, and Erdmann awaited (having previously boarded the yacht in New York City). A brief, second surgery was performed to make sure that the entire tumor had been removed and the prosthesis was not irritating surrounding tissues. Any unusual looking tissue was cauterized, before the procedure was concluded.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“The surgery, which took only 31 minutes, ended at 1:55 p.m. Cleveland awakened an hour later, and was administered one grain of morphine, which allowed him to rest more comfortably; the only dose of narcotic medication that he would receive. The next day, Cleveland was able to walk around inside his cabin. By the following morning, July 3rd, the President was well enough to venture deck side.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“On the morning of July 1st, Secretary of War Lamont and E.C. Benedict were ferried to the Oneida, where they would remain on deck in clear view, as if enjoying a pleasure cruise. After Cleveland ate breakfast, the physicians repeatedly irrigated and disinfected his mouth in preparation for surgery. Doctors Bryant and Keen were particularly concerned about administering anesthesia to their 56-year-old obese patient, fearing respiratory and cardiovascular complications.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Before Congress convened to address the silver issue, Cleveland was confronted with an unexpected medical crisis. On May 5, 1893, while brushing his teeth, the President noted a “rough spot” on the roof of his mouth. At first, he simply tried to ignore the lesion, until the pain progressively worsened. On June 18th, White House Physician, Dr. R.M. O’Reilly, examined the ulcerated area on Cleveland’s palate, noting that it was “as large as a quarter of a dollar, extending from the molar teeth to within one-third of an inch of the middle line and encroaching slightly on the soft palate,” and also discovered “some diseased bone.” After a small portion of the growth was excised for biopsy, Dr. William H. Welch, a pathologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, reported that the tissue sample was “strongly indicative of malignancy.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Rather than increasing the country’s money supply via government spending on public works programs (the very essence of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal), Cleveland believed that Americans lacked confidence that their paper money was backed by sufficient gold reserves.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Future Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt, who had been appointed by President Harrison to the three-man Civil Service Commission, was initially uncertain about his job security. Even though Roosevelt was Republican and had occasionally clashed with Cleveland (when Roosevelt was a state lawmaker and Cleveland was Governor of New York), the new President realized that he (Roosevelt) was an honest, dedicated, and tenacious public servant. Consequently, Roosevelt remained a commissioner for the first two years of the Cleveland Administration, before accepting appointment as New York City’s Police Commissioner.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“Compared to Cleveland’s two previous presidential campaigns, the 1892 election was relatively low key. While Harrison was forced to defend the policies of his administration, Cleveland shared no such liability. Worse yet, Harrison’s wife was dying of tuberculosis, limiting his participation in the campaign. When Caroline Harrison died on October 25th, just two weeks before Election Day, Cleveland respectfully halted his campaign activities.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“A majority of the convention delegates jubilantly agreed: “Grover! Grover! In he comes, out they go; (and) then we’ll be in clover!” The delegates nominated former Illinois Congressman and one-time Postmaster General of the United States, Adlai Stevenson, as Cleveland’s running mate (Stevenson’s grandson, also named Adlai, would run unsuccessful presidential campaigns against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956). Unlike Cleveland, Stevenson favored free coinage of silver, but his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate was a politically savvy concession to the pro-silver wing of the Democratic Party.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“On October 3, 1891, 54-year-old Grover Cleveland became a father for the first time. His daughter, Ruth, became a national sensation, and the still-famous Baby Ruth candy bar was named in her honor. Frances would give birth to four additional children over the next eight years.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President

“As the couple departed the White House on the morning of Harrison’s inauguration, Frances offered parting words to White House usher, Jerry Smith: “Now, Jerry, I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want to find everything just as it is now, when we come back again.” A puzzled Smith asked when the outgoing First Family planned to return. “We are coming back four years from today,” Frances boldly answered.”
― Jeffrey K. Smith, Grover Cleveland: The Last Conservative Democratic President