Grover Cleveland: Repeated

01VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents.

02Today we are talking about Grover Cleveland.

03When Americans remember him, it is mostly because he makes writing presidential timelines difficult.

04Cleveland was the nation's 22nd president, and also its 24th.

05He remains the only U.S.

06president to date whose second term did not immediately follow the first.

07Cleveland is also notable because of his personal life and because he held office during one of the country's worst economic crises.

08Music Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in the northeastern state of New Jersey and grew up mostly in New York.

09He was a middle child in a family of nine children.

10His father was a minister, and the family did not have much money.

11As a result, Cleveland had little formal education.

12He was one of the few presidents who did not go to college.

13But he was able to become a lawyer.

14He earned enough money and developed a good professional image.

15In time, he became a sheriff, a mayor, and the governor of the state of New York.

16In his early life, Cleveland did not marry and have children.

17Instead, he had many friends with whom he enjoyed hunting, fishing, and eating and drinking in restaurants.

18But Cleveland did have a relationship with a widow named Maria Halpin.

19She became pregnant and said Cleveland was the baby's father.

20Cleveland said he was not sure if he was.

21However, he gave the child some financial support, the name of one of his closest friends, and his own family name.

22The child was called Oscar Folsom Cleveland.

23Shortly after the boy was born, his mother was sent to an institution for the mentally unstable.

24Doctors quickly confirmed that her mental health was fine, but her son was taken from her and raised by another family.

25The story about Halpin and the child became an issue in the election of 1884.

26The Democratic Party had nominated Cleveland as their candidate for president.

27In general, voters liked his message of limiting federal spending, reducing the power of wealthy interests, and stopping political corruption.

28Some called him Grover the Good.

29But Cleveland's opponents said his history with Maria Halpin showed that he was an immoral man.

30At anti-Cleveland rallies, Republicans chanted, Ma, ma, where's my pa?

31Pa is another word for father.

32But Cleveland did not comment much on the matter.

33His defenders said, Cleveland's honesty as a public official was more important than his bad judgment as a private citizen.

34Voters seemed to agree.

35Cleveland narrowly won the election.

36His supporters answered the Republicans' chants of, Where's my pa?

37By saying, Gone to the White House.

38Ha, ha, ha.

39Ha, ha, ha.

40Grover Cleveland's presidency was unusual because he did not want to use the office to propose laws.

41Instead, he mostly aimed to keep the federal government operating efficiently.

42He also wanted to limit lawmakers' power to help special interest groups.

43As a result, Cleveland vetoed many bills in his first term.

44He set a record at that time for saying no to proposals from Congress.

45One of the few ideas that he supported was reducing tariffs.

46Many of his fellow Democrats liked that idea, too.

47But a number of Republicans did not.

48In the next election, their candidate, Benjamin Harrison, defeated Cleveland.

49Cleveland returned to being a lawyer in New York.

50In 1892, Cleveland was chosen to run against Benjamin Harrison again.

51The tariff issue returned.

52The Republicans' protective tariffs had hurt some industries.

53And voters answered this time by voting Harrison out of office.

54Cleveland returned to the White House.

55But this time, he was not alone.

56Two years into his first term as president, Cleveland married the daughter of his close friend, Oscar Folsom.

57The bride's name was Frances Folsom.

58She was 21 years old at the time.

59The president was 49.

60Cleveland was not the first president to get married while in office.

61But he was the first one to be married in the White House.

62The event captivated the public.

63What's more, Americans adored the new first lady.

64She was known for being social, charming, and beautiful.

65Historians conclude that she was the most popular first lady since Dolly Madison.

66She remains the youngest.

67When the Clevelands returned to the White House, the country was entering a severe economic recession.

68Some of the country's biggest businesses were failing, including a railroad and many banks.

69As a result, investors withdrew their money from the stock market.

70The withdrawal caused many other businesses to fail.

71The series of events is known as the Panic of 1893.

72Soon, more and more Americans were out of work.

73Many could not afford houses or food.

74Some begged President Cleveland to intervene.

75But he declined.

76He did not think it was the role of the federal government to create jobs in order to reverse the Depression.

77However, Cleveland did use the power of the federal government to intervene during a famous labor strike.

78In that event, workers in Chicago who helped keep the trains operating walked out of their jobs.

79They were protesting a major decrease in their pay that did not include a decrease in their living expenses.

80Since the owner of the company also controlled the price of housing and food, workers appealed to him to treat them more fairly.

81But the company owner refused even to meet with the workers.

82Soon, the workers' boycott grew.

83Workers at other rail yards stopped working.

84Farmers could not get their goods to market, and others could not get the supplies they needed.

85Even the mail stopped being delivered.

86So Cleveland sent federal troops to break the strike.

87In the short term, Cleveland's actions worked.

88The trains moved again, and both the courts and most of the public agreed with the president's decision.

89But in the long term, Cleveland's handling of the panic, depression, and workers' strike lost the support of many voters.

90At the next opportunity, they voted him out of the White House again.

91Cleveland returned to New York, and later settled in a large house in Princeton, New Jersey.

92There, he wrote, made speeches, sat on corporate boards, became a trustee of Princeton University, and enjoyed the respect of the people who lived in the town.

93He died at age 71 of problems with his stomach, heart, and kidneys.

94Several people said his final words were, I have tried so hard to do right.

95Then and now, many people agreed with that idea.

96Cleveland was generally an honest man who worked hard and tried to act independently as president.

97But he is not considered one of America's best leaders.

98He did not have a clear idea about how to guide the country.

99Yet the opposing party, at least, may have considered Cleveland's presidency a success.

100After Cleveland's final election defeat, six of the next seven presidents were Republicans.

101I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

102I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

103I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.