Host of the White House from 1885 to 1889, Democrat Grover Cleveland won a second term in 1892 after losing the previous election.
45th President of the United States, Donald Trump is preparing to become the 47th after winning the election of November 5, 2024. A resounding comeback to the White House which is not unprecedented. The former and new president is today following in the footsteps of a distant predecessor, Grover Cleveland, who in 1892 emerged victorious at the polls after suffering a defeat in 1888. He had previously occupied the offices of the White House in 1885 to 1889.
Mr. “anti-corruption”
But the comparison stops there because the Democrat Grover Cleveland has few traits in common with the flamboyant billionaire invested by the Republicans. Son of a Presbyterian pastor, this New Jersey native built his career on his reputation as a man of integrity. A lawyer, he entered the profession through the back door after interrupting his studies to support his family following the death of his father. In the city of Buffalo where he practices, he enters politics in the Democratic Party. Mayor of the city in 1882, he led an anti-corruption policy which attracted attention. And this is how his name was suggested to run for governor of New York State, an election he won the same year.
The way is open. Grover Cleveland is nominated by his camp, candidate for the presidential election of 1884. He is responsible for fighting the Republican James G. Blaine whose reputation is so dubious that he was dropped by the reformers of his party, the Mugwumps, who prefer to support the Democratic candidate.
Winner in November, the first Democratic president since the Civil War, took the oath of office in January 1885 at the age of 47 without ever having had, it seems, the ambition of reaching the supreme office. This is what was noted at the time Le Figaro. The newspaper, in November 1892, cited a passage from an unpublished letter from Governor Cleveland, dated October 20, 1884: “Imagine a man in my place without any ambition for a higher position than the one he occupies, constantly dreading being called to assume the heaviest and highest responsibilities and duties that can fall to a man . The prospect of success, instead of rejoicing, inspires me with a sort of terror. It has been the same all my life…”
«Ugly honest» se marie
Initially single, the 22nd President of the United States also made his mark in American history by being the only guest at the White House to organize his wedding there. Cleveland is, it is true, nicknamed «Ugly honest». Le Figaro paints his portrait thus: “Big and strong, he has the face of a bulldog. The eyes are small and the lips wide. The nose is short and large, especially at the tip. The hair is like weeping willow wands in winter. He brushes them back but they fall on either side of his face. He’s not a handsome man, it’s better, he’s a good man.”
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He who had had to endure attacks from his opponent during the presidential campaign on the subject of an affair and an illegitimate child, surprised by marrying in 1886 a very young girl of 21 years old of whom he was the guardian after the death of his father. The very charming Frances Cleveland, the youngest first lady in history, is also very charismatic. She wins the hearts of Americans. When her husband lost the next election in 1888 to Republican Benjamin Harrison, while winning the popular vote, she predicted their return “in four years exactly» and asks the butler to keep the furniture as it is.
The question of customs duties, which Cleveland had failed to lower despite his promises during his first term, still dominated the 1892 campaign after four years of protectionism and a considerable increase in the price of imported products. The Democrat, also opposed to bimetallism (two standards, gold and silver), a source of inflation, won once again. But this second mandate was quickly marred by «Panic of 1893»a financial crash which causes the stock market to fall, leads to an economic and monetary crisis and social movements. In 1896, he did not seek a third term. Grover Cleveland died in 1908 in Princeton. “I tried so hard to do well,” were his last words.
After him, only Theodore Roosevelt will attempt to run for a new term four years after leaving the White House. In vain.
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