Grover Cleveland
The distinction of serving as both the 22nd and 24th president of the United States belongs to Grover Cleveland alone — a fact that made him, at the time of his second inauguration in 1893, the only person in American history to return to the White House after a break in service, having first held the office from 1885 to 1889 and then again from 1893 to 1897.
Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University. He built his early career across several roles in law and public service, working as a lawyer before taking on the office of sheriff — a position in which he also served as an executioner. From there he moved through the ranks of civic life, serving as a mayor and then as a governor before arriving at the national stage. He was also a writer, working in the English language across the various demands that public life placed on the written word.
His election to the presidency in 1884 carried particular historical weight: he was the first Democrat elected to the office following the American Civil War, a fact that marked a significant shift in the political landscape of the post-war United States. That first term ran from 1885 to 1889, after which he left office, only to win the presidency again and begin his second term in 1893. No other American president had achieved this particular sequence before him, making his dual, nonconsecutive tenure a singular feature of the republic's history.
Cleveland died on June 24, 1908, in Princeton — the same city where he had received his education — closing a life that had moved from the sheriff's office in upstate New York through the highest elected position in the country. He was posthumously inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, an award that tied his legacy formally to the state of his birth. The Library of Congress catalogs him under the authorized label "Cleveland, Grover, 1837–1908," a designation that, in its quiet precision, marks the span of a career that stretched from local executioner to twice-elected head of state.
Quotes by Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland's insights on:
Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.
The trusts and combinations – the communism of pelf – whose machinations have prevented us from reaching the success we deserved, should not be forgotten nor forgiven.
And let us not trust to human effort alone, but humbly acknowledging the power and goodness of Almighty God, who presides over the destiny of nations, and who has at all times been revealed in our country’s history, let us invoke His aid and His blessings upon our labors.
The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune.
In the scheme of our national government, the presidency is preeminently the people’s office.
Being president means leaving one’s name in the history book of which few men are authors. It is my fortune to be blessed with a proud name, one that parents will employ for generations to instill the values of honesty, independence, and above all, courage in their sons.
I know that human prejudice – especially that growing out of race and religion – is cruelly inveterate and lasting.
If you are still in school, do not neglect your grades. Internships and other activities are fine, but when legal employers have to decide who to interview, grades play a big role in determining who makes that cut and who doesn’t.