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Portrait of Grover Cleveland

US Presidents · 19th century

Grover Cleveland

1837–1908 · American

Democratic

In office: 1885–1889; 1893–1897

Grover Cleveland, former mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York, was the first Democrat elected president after the Civil War and served two non-consecutive terms, making him both the 22nd and 24th president. A fiscal conservative famous for his vetoes, he won the popular vote three times but lost the electoral college to Benjamin Harrison in 1888. His second term was overshadowed by the Panic of 1893 and the Pullman Strike.

How to spot them

  • ▸Counted twice: the 22nd and 24th president, with non-consecutive terms (a feat repeated only by Donald Trump)
  • ▸The only president married in the White House, to Frances Folsom in 1886
  • ▸'Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?' – the 1884 scandal over his illegitimate child
  • ▸Secret surgery for a jaw tumour aboard a yacht in 1893
  • ▸Vetoed hundreds of bills, especially private Civil War pension claims

In office

Dedication of the Statue of Liberty (1886)

Presided over the dedication ceremony in New York Harbor

The Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

Created the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railways, the first federal regulatory agency

Federal troops sent to break the Pullman Strike (1894)

Sent troops to Chicago despite the Illinois governor's objections

Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1893)

Defended the gold standard during the Panic of 1893

Secret jaw cancer operation aboard the yacht Oneida (1893)

Kept hidden from the public until 1917

'Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?' campaign taunt (1884)

Republican jibe over his admitted child with Maria Halpin

Quick-fire facts

  • •The 22nd and 24th President of the United States
  • •Born Stephen Grover Cleveland in Caldwell, New Jersey
  • •As sheriff of Erie County, New York, he personally carried out two hangings
  • •Won the popular vote in 1884, 1888 and 1892, but lost the 1888 electoral college to Benjamin Harrison
  • •Frances Folsom, 21 when they married in the Blue Room, was the youngest First Lady
  • •Vetoed more bills in his first term than all previous presidents combined
  • •Withdrew the treaty to annex Hawaii from the Senate in 1893
  • •Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, during his second term

Drill it — 7 cards

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Sources