Grover Cleveland: Man and Statesman: The Authorized Biography

By Robert McElroy

"What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?" - President Grover Cleveland Grover Cleveland - the only United States President to serve two non-consecutive terms (as the nation's 22nd and 24th leader, first from 1885-1889 and again from 1893-1897) - was largely underappreciated in his time. Professor Robert McElroy's marvelous work - two volumes now published as one - outlines the once Mayor of Buffalo and Governor of New York's stunning rise to twice becoming the nation's top Executive. As the first Democrat elected after the Civil War, Cleveland was the leader of the pro-business "Bourbon Democrats" and stood in opposition to high taxes, inflation, and broad imperialism - making him an icon across both Democrats and Republicans alike - winning hearts and minds for his liberal social commitments and fiscal conservatism. Universally regarded as an honest man, Cleveland's character was among the most formidable of his time. Yet in this volume, McElroy outlines for the first time in meticulous, engaging detail - utilizing Cleveland's own diaries and correspondence - Cleveland's rationale for critical decisions that plagued him during his first term, including his work opposing subsidies for businesses, farmers, and veterans of the Civil War, negotiations with American Native Americans and Samoa, his dealings with preeminent personalities of the time including J.P. Morgan and others - finally culminating in his defeat by Benjamin Harrison. As Cleveland said, "It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing subterfuge." While defeated, he would stage a stunning comeback - putting him in power once more, and managing conflicts in Venezuela while blocking the annexation of Hawaii, the repeal of the Sherman Law, the Wilson-Gorman Tarif and the Pullman (Railroad) Strike of 1894, and helping the nation navigate through the Panic of 1893 and the severe national depression that followed. McElroy also dives into Cleveland's own personal matters, including heartwarming details and heartbreaking loss - from his collection of animals to the loss of his youngest daughter, Ruth - through his retirement to become a professor at Princeton University. This volume is critical in understanding the remarkable, vindicated presidency of Grover Cleveland - and now includes a historic forward by Elihu Root, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt and Secretary of War under both Presidents Roosevelt and McKinley. About the Author: Robert McNutt McElroy was a professor of history at Princeton University and one of the most popular historians of his day. He succeeded Woodrow Wilson as the chair of the Princeton department of history and politics in 1912.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BP417579
• ISBN13: 9798363608254
• Release Date: November 2022
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"