Why Grover Cleveland?

Grover Cleveland had been a lifelong bachelor when elected president in 1884. He took office as the second bachelor president in 1885 - Cory Booker, will you be the third?  Grover Cleveland liked to eat and drink, sure, and he liked to have a good time glad-handing constituents in the bars around Buffalo. He also spent long hours working at all of his jobs: as a lawyer, a deputy district attorney, as Sheriff, as the Mayor of Buffalo and as Governor of New York. He was legendary for his work ethic and his dedication and personal responsibility to doing his job often until the wee hours, personally writing and responding to correspondence with his own hand. So when the single President announced in late May 1886 he was engaged: pandemonium.  The nation’s press gave breathless coverage of Grover Cleveland’s new bride in early June, 1886. Frances Folsom, who turned out to be the daughter of Oscar Folsom, Grover’s best friend, became the first woman to be married in the Whit...

What’s so great about Grover Cleveland, a president so nice we elected him twice?  Here’s my short list: His name:   Stephen Grover Cleveland. His reputation for honesty. His commitment to personal responsibility. He was the second and last bachelor elected president. A beer drinker, h e opposed the temperance movement. He’s part of the cover story for the naming of the Baby Ruth Candy Bar. He’s (still) pictured on the  $1000 bill. His forlorn quote: “Someday I will be better remembered.” Grover was an anti-imperialist and  opposed American imperialism.  Amen. John Phillip Sousa led the band at his wedding He’s our only non-consecutive executive!   He was the Veto King!  He vetoed more bills than the first 21 presidents combined, often to stop special interests’ wasteful spending. He opposed high tariffs and federal subsidies for corporations and farmers. Still a good idea. He was a nti-patrona...