Cleveland, (Stephen) Grover

(born March 18, 1837, Caldwell, N.J., U.S.—died June 24, 1908, Princeton) 22nd and 24th president of the U.S. (1885–89, 1893–97). From 1859 he practiced law in Buffalo, N.Y., where he entered Democratic Party politics. As mayor of Buffalo (1881–82), he was known as a foe of corruption. As governor of New York (1883–85), his independence earned him the hostility of Tammany Hall. Elected president in 1884, he supported civil-service reform and opposed high tariffs.

Although he was narrowly defeated by Benjamin Harrison in 1888, he was reelected by a huge popular plurality in 1892. In 1893 he strongly urged Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which he blamed for the country's severe economic depression. Despite the repeal of the act, the depression continued, resulting in the Pullman Strike in 1894. An isolationist, Cleveland opposed territorial expansion. In 1895 he invoked the Monroe Doctrine in the border dispute between Britain and Venezuela. By 1896 supporters of the Free Silver Movement controlled the Democratic Party, which nominated William Jennings Bryan instead of Cleveland for president. He retired to New Jersey, where he lectured at Princeton University.

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