Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland’s second term made him the 24th president. He served from 1893 to 1897. He is the same person as Cleveland the 22nd president — Uncle Jumbo still belonged to the same man. Besides Donald Trump, he is the only president who served two terms that were not consecutive. The numbering changed because Harrison sat in between; the party label did not. He was still a Democrat. Teachers point to the two numbers to show that the presidency is a sequence of terms: voters can hire you twice with a gap.

A second chance was not easier. The term began with the Panic of 1893. Banks and railroads failed, and many people lost jobs. It was one of the worst crashes of the 1800s. On money, Cleveland stuck to the gold standard — he wanted the dollar tied to gold. Other Democrats wanted more silver money. That fight split his party. In kid terms, gold versus silver was an argument about how the dollar should work. In 1894, during the Pullman Strike, he sent federal troops to keep the mail moving. Labor leaders were furious; he said the mail and order came first.

Utah became a state in 1896, the 45th state. Baby Esther Cleveland, born in 1893, was the first child of a president born in the White House. Cleveland’s line on work was “Honor lies in honest toil.” He declined to run in 1896; the two-term limit amendment came later, but he was out of favor. Democrats dropped him and nominated William Jennings Bryan, who lost to McKinley. After 1897 Cleveland retired and lived as a private citizen, later at Princeton. He left on schedule. McKinley took over.