The USA in the Time of Grover Cleveland
1885-1889
By Mike Donovan
Grover Cleveland vs. Blaine From Maine
The Hangman - Mr. Buffalo – Draft Dodger - Married in the White House - Thomas Hendricks - Lawyer – 23K – Go Orange - The Democrats finally return to the White House after the stigma of the Civil War. – Mugwumps – The Only President to Serve Two Non-consecutive Terms - “Cleve”
“We love him for the enemies he has made”
The Dems return to power after 24 years in the desert.
Cleveland beat James Blaine, the man from Maine in the election of 1884 by a score of 219-182. The popular vote was much closer. Benjamin F Butler, the snooty egomaniac from Massachusetts ran a distant third as the standard-bearer of the Greenback-Labor Party - John P. St. John finished fourth for the anti-booze party. The minor parties tally, plus the close election, meant that Cleveland was technically a minority president.
Popular vote 1884
Cleveland D) 4,874,000
Blaine R) 4,851,000
Butler GL) 175,000
St. John Pro) 150,000
Historians are hard-pressed to find glory in Cleveland’s first administration, but since most are biased towards the Democrats they do try. There were no major legislative achievements in his first four years so the best they can come up with is that he was personally honest, and that he used the veto with courage.
“What is the use of being elected or re-elected if you don’t stand for something?” - Grover Cleveland.
Although a Democrat, Cleveland was a friend of big business, just like the Republican Presidents of the era. From 1878 to 1898 there was little to choose between the parties. In foreign affairs there were no major international tensions to divide the nation.
At home in Cleveland's first term there were small controversies like civil service reform (CCR) and tariffs, but no depressions or sensational political scandals. Politicians could gloss over with vague rhetoric what issues there were. There were labor clashes and strikes, and historians like Howard Zinn maximize their importance, but relative to the average day in American history, Cleveland’s first term was smooth.
Grover Cleveland was a dependable progressive on Civil Service, partly because it was the right thing to do, and partly because he remembered what happened to Garfield (the assassin of president James A. Garfield claimed he was angry over lack of Civil Service reform and that's why he killed him.)
Many Tammany-styled Dems were steamed when Cleveland made put more government jobs on a competitive rather than on a party reward basis.
On the tariff, Cleveland favored some reduction of the high current rates and some business leaders were mad at him for this.
Cleveland was as anti-imperialist as it gets, but he was also as laissez-faire (“let do”) as it gets when it comes to big business. He had no interest in Trust-busting but he didn't interfere with legislation that passed in that direction either.
Cleveland’s cabinet 85-89
Secretary of State-----------------------Thomas Bayard—1885-1889
Secretary of War-------------------William C. Endicott—1885-1889
Secretary of Treasury------------Daniel Manning---------1885-1887
Charles S. Fairchild-----1887-1889
Att. General----------------------Augustus H. Garland---1885-1889
Sec. of Agriculture—-------------------Norman J. Coleman----1889
CABNOTES
Norm Coleman was the nations’ first Secretary of Agriculture.
Secretary of State Bayard was so much of an Anglophile that the Congress censured him for it. He went on to become Ambassador to England during Cleveland's second term from 1893 to 1897.
Auggie Garland was the grandfather of actress Judy Garland.
BIO
Grover Cleveland was born on the eighteenth of March 1837 in Caldwell NJ, the only president born in the Toll Booth State. His father Richard Falley Cleveland was a Presbyterian minister who traveled a lot. RFC replaced an admired minister named Claude Grover and that’s how Steven Grover got his middle name, which he later adopted as his first.
There was never any poverty in Cleveland’s life. At the time Steven was born his dad was making about $600 a year, a solid middle-class income.
Young Stephen bounced around a youngster, spending the most time in Fayetteville, New York, near Syracuse. Grover was a 16-year-old clerk in a Fayetteville grocery store when his father died. He then went to NYC to work with his brother at the NY Institution for the Blind and from there went to Buffalo as a law clerk and passed the bar along the way.
It’s safe to say that Cleveland did not have a distinguished record in the Civil War. By modern standards one could say he was a “draft-dodger.” He paid a guy to do his fighting for him.
Grover even borrowed money so he could pay fifty bucks to a Polish immigrant named George who would suffer depravation and risk death for him in the Union Army. This was the substitute bounty system. The Union allowed this creepy practice because it helped raise money and the Union needed money just about as badly as it needed troops. The historians always apologize for Cleve by explaining that the poor fellow already had two brothers in the army and that his sisters and his mother needed him at home. But if a Republican had done this, the historians would roast him on a Foreman Grill. If Cleveland tried to run for President today with that “war record” he wouldn’t get 3% of the vote in the first party primary in New Hampshire even if he had the best organized campaign.
During the Civil War Cleveland became assistant D.A. for Erie County. Then he made sheriff of Oneida County, New York. It was in this capacity, not as a soldier, that Cleveland got the nickname, “the killer.” Grover personally hanged two condemned men. His subordinates did not want to do it so Cleveland took the emotional burden off their shoulders. He put the ropes around their heads and pulled the trap door and made them do “the Sadaam Shuffle.”
When Cleveland ran for president the hang-man story made the rounds but with an exaggeration. It seems that Grover had bragged endlessly about how much he had enjoyed pulling the trap door. Everyone who knew him said this was absurd. Cleveland was above all a moral man, and the story is almost certainly false. One version even had him yelling, “yiiii-haaaa!”
In 82 Grover was elected Mayor of Buffalo. In June of that year the Buffalo Sunday Times came out in favor of Cleveland for Governor that fall he made it to Albany. Two years later he was on his way to the White House. In less than four years the sheriff had risen from Mayor of Buffalo to U.S. President.
As mayor and governor SGC earned a reputation as an enemy of corruption. NYC’s Tammany Hall gang opposed him, which probably helped his NY state political career as much as anything. Outside of New York City, Tammany was a bad name.
EVENTS
ELECTION OF 1884
TARIFF REFORM
FORAN ACT 1885
WABASH RAILROAD STRIKE 1885
PENSION GRAB
BUDGET SURPLUS
STATUE OF LIBERTY 1886
WHITE WEDDING 1886
HAYMARKET RIOT 1.86
GERNONIMO SURRENDERS 1886
SAMOAN CRISIS
TENURE OF OFFICE ACT REPEALED
ELECTION OF 1884
The three main issues in the election of 1884 were the tariff, the tariff, and the tariff. The Democrats wanted tariff reductions. The Republicans favored maintaining the high tariffs in place as a productive necessary evil. There were other issues, like civil service reform and “the Bloody Shirt” (ill feelings between the sections left over from the Civil War, but the tariff was by far the main event.
The Republicans met in Chicago in the same building they'd partied in back in 1880. The GOP had no intention of nominating that incumbent SINO (Stalwart in Name Only) Chet Arthur for President in his own right. When a lunatic loser shot President Garfield on July 2 1881 at Union Station he exclaimed after he fired the pistol, “Now a Stalwart is President!” Turned out he had miscalculated.
President Arthur's policies had been neither Stalwart nor Half-Breed, the two factions of Republicans at the Convention of 1880. The Stalwarts liked the Republican Party as it was, were opposed to appeasing the South, and opposed Civil Service Reform. The Half Breeds were the contrarians on all three counts. Arthur had angered all factions by being his own man. In pleasing himself, in taking a middle course he had pleased no one, which is just about always the way. Wise moderates can thank all their adoring fans in the morning mirror.
At the Chicago 1884 RNC the insolent incumbent Arthur tallied a respectable 278 votes on the first ballot, but Maine Blaine topped that with 334. Blaine was the man but not by enough of a majority. By the fifth ballot the party fully unified for Blaine. Respected by all, disliked by most, “Blaine the brain from Maine” was hard to ignore. America was maybe going to have a Mainiac in the White House.
Blaine needed a Veep. There was no incumbent. After a wide open fight, the Reps chose A.G. Thurmond to share in the defeat.
The campaign of 1884 may have been the nastiest in American history (although that seems that 20 different campaigns make that claim.) Grover tried to stay on the high ground. Early in the campaign some compromising material on Blaine was presented to Cleveland After reading with grunts and shaking his head, Cleve threw it into the raging fireplace in a moment of glorious integrity,
“The Republicans can have a monopoly on dirt if they want it!”
Cleveland’s supporters, however, kept their fireplaces damp and had copies for back-up in case Cleveland did something like that.
Cleveland was honest, but just as conservative at heart as any Republican tycoon. Republican candidates are called the pawns of big business, but there was plenty of big business support for Steve Grover Cleveland.
Cleveland had a good reputation for his handlers to use for promotion. Grover had such a reputation for honesty that some Democrats in friendly jest called him “Grover the Good.” In show business they call it “good hype” meaning the artist can back up the brags in the press kit. Its rare. Cleveland couldn't pull it off.
But the world would soon learn that no one is perfect after all. Ten days after winning the nomination, a Buffalo newspaper released a story titled A Terrible Tale. It was big time scandal. It seemed that Cleveland had an illegitimate child from a previous romance. And when confronted with the story he didn’t deny it! And this was 1884! That's worse than Gary Hart and Donna Rice and that ruined him in 1988!
Yet Cleveland survived it and won. That's because he didn't give a damn what anyone thought of him and he admitted it and went to bed and slept soundly. The public loves that.
Cleveland's Democrats countered with a story that Blaine’s wife had given birth to their first child only three months into their marriage. “Do the Math!” read one poster.
Democrats were chanting in torchlight parades, “Blaine Blaine, the liar from Maine.” Republicans mocked back at Cleveland with chants about his peccadillos that I’d rather not repeat. The set up line was “Steven Grover, Steven Grover” That’s as far as I'm going to go.
Then there was the ‘Rum Romanism and Rebellion’ incident. The older history books always tell this story but it seems to be fading from the newer general histories. RRR was a famous story for about 70 years.
The Republicans hoped to carry Cleveland’s crucial home state of New York. They knew that Tammany Hall hated Cleveland and that the illegitimate child scandal would hurt the Dems with Irish Catholic voters. The Republicans believed they could take the Empire State and maintain their empire state.
A week before the election a group of prominent Protestants held a meeting with candidate Blaine at his New York hotel. One of the Protestants at the meeting spoke of the Democrats as “the party of rum, Romanism and rebellion.” It was a clear cut karate kick at the Catholics. It meant “drunks, heretics and anarchists.”
Blaine, tired from campaigning and only half listening, had no reaction.
Big Mistake.
Jim's failure to reject the statement became a matter of some sudden and spectacular publicity. The Democratic opposition ran with it as if Republican Blaine had said it himself (a few general histories tell the story as though Blaine had said it himself.) Soon the Democrats were distributing copies of the “statement” to voters. On Election Day Dem Cleve carried New York State by 1,149 votes out of one million votes cast. Beaten Blaine said after the election that the rum and Romanism affair had cost him the state and with it the presidency.
Another incident which may have cost him the election was the Dinner at Delmonicas.’ A couple of nights before the election a lot of rich Republican supporters feted Blaine at a fancy dinner at upscale Delmonicas’ Restaurant in New York City. I parked cars there for six bucks an hour in 1975. The Democratic press put the spin machine on it, making it seem like Blaine was lighting cigars with 100 dollar bills. A story went around that Blaine told this joke at the Delmo dinner,
“How do you get 1,000 poor people into one tenement apartment?”
“...Make 500 get out.”
But the real trump cards in Cleveland’s deck were the cross-over votes of Republican deserters. These were the ‘Mugwumps,’ Republican reformists who were not satisfied with the choices in their own party. In 1884 these mugs carried out their long-standing threat to cross over and vote for the opposition party candidate. In the close election, the Mugwumps gave the White House back to the Dems.
The Republican loyalists were nicknamed the ‘Muldoons.’ One Muldoon named Theodore Roosevelt from New York was publicly disgusted with the disloyalty of the Mugwumps. But that was nothing compared to the damage Teddy Roosevelt did to the Republican Party when he personally divided it in 1912 and handed the White House keys to Woodrow Wilson.
The election was so close that any of a dozen factors can be said to have changed history. The Prohibitionist Party didn't win any states, but they had enough votes in New York state, that if you figure their general Democrat vote tendency, its probable that the Prohibitionists put Cleveland in the White House, even though he drank on occasion.
ENTER FIGHTING BOB
A new "fresh" face ('fresh' as is insolent) entered the House of Representatives with the election of 1884. Freshman Congressman Robert LaFollette from Wisconsin would serve in the House for the next six years as a conservative Republican. He would later become the leader of the Progressive movement and one of the most influential American politicians of all time.
Bob was a lefty's lefty. His bio is called "Down With Big Business, My Life in Politics."
All right, that's not the name of the book - Its actually called "LaFollette's Autobiography" but my suggested title is more informative.
INAUGURAL
Cleveland, who had never been to Washington prior to his election, proclaimed in his March 1885 inauguration speech that government jobs would be won on merit, not given out as political prizes. Nevertheless, a thousand office seekers started calling on him right away. Republican newspapers were attacking Cleveland in retaliation for attacks by Democratic newspapers against any Republicans. Cleveland responded angrily; “I don’t think there ever was a time when newspaper lying was so general and mean.” It's going to get a lot worse, buddy. You don't want to know the future on that one.
Like Rutherford Hayes, Cleveland delivered his Inaugural address without notes or a script.
The choice of Tommy Bayard of Delaware for Secretary of State was an indisputable winner. Bayard had been a Senator of 16 years and would later become Ambassador To England. Mr. Bayard had contested Cleveland for the Democratic nomination for President in 1884. Bayard later came to believe that he had been foolish to think that he could have made a better president than Cleveland. Such was TB's admiration for the job performance of Grover Cleveland.
Secretary of the Treasury Danny Manning of New York did not want the job but Cleveland talked Sam Tilden into talking Manning into it. Tilden was a powerful name in the Democratic Party and may have commanded more respect for having been robbed of the Presidency than if would ever have possessed if he had won it. “Money Manning” and Cleveland never had a good relationship with Money Manning at Treasury.
For Secretary of War, Cleveland chose a man from a state he had not carried in the election, which angered many states he had. William C. Endicott of Massachusetts was picked partly because he was from a state that had voted for Blaine. Cleveland wanted bi-geographical as well as bi-partisan support, and had a hard time explaining this to angry Democratic leaders in loyal New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana.
SOUTHERN PROBLEM
For Secretary of the Navy Cleveland made what could have potentially been a controversial choice when he knighted Senator Hilary Herbert a Senator from Alabama. Herbert had served as an officer in the Confederate Army. (My great great grandfather was a private.) It was one thing to appoint a Southern Democrat to the cabinet, it was another step to appoint a Confederate veteran of Shiloh and the Wilderness. Herbert “would actually command those who had fought against him.”
Cleveland knew that the Southern question was one of his biggest assignments. When the Southern Democrats came back to power, would they cooperate in an effort at national unity, or would they try to exact revenge on their Republican oppressors through partisan legislation? Cleveland didn't want to become a pro-South president and lose the Northern crossover support that had enabled him to carry New York and win the election. But he knew that the Democratic base in the South was crucial to maintaining any political efficiency.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM
Carl Schurtz ( a wonderful writer) was highly critical of Cleveland for not doing enough on Civil Service reform. Schurtz protested the handing out government jobs to party hacks instead of to those that were best qualified. It had been going on since Andrew Jackson. There was a general public sentiment that a higher percentage of government jobs should be subjected to a competitive aptitude test. But not much was being done about it.
Cleveland reformed the Civil Service just enough to anger the conservative Stalwarts, while at the same time not doing enough in the eyes of the progressives in all parties. The middle ground was quicksand.
Cleveland dished out the spoils, giving 40,000 jobs to Democrats in the Post Office Department. Meanwhile while the “classified service,” meaning the jobs people held a fair competition for, expanded to 15,000 out of a possible 126,000 federal jobs. Still a small percentage after expansion. Near the end of his term, after he became a lame duck, Cleveland expanded the competitive job roll to 27,000.
INDIAN RELATIONS – GERONIMO'S CADILLAC
In 1886 the Apache War in the west finally ended when Geronimo surrendered. Well actually, the Apache War ended in President Arthur's time, but famed leader Geronimo escaped the reservation. A massive manhunt to capture “that crazy indian” captured the headlines until September 3 1886 when the jig was up.
Geronimo was an Apache Indian who hated Mexicans even more than he hated whites. The whites had merely stolen his land. The Mexicans had murdered his family. From the end of the Civil War to the mid-1880's the Apaches were on the warpath in Southwestern USA. Mexicans across the border had as much to fear from the Apaches as did white settlers in new Mexico and Arizona.
The Apaches were a tough gang. Let's put it this way. The toughest Indian tribes in the west were afraid of the Apaches. These guys would skin you alive, and laugh the whole time. The makers of western movies are correct in making Apaches often the dreaded foe.
By 1884, the Apaches saw the writing on the tee-pee and surrendered to the long hairs, agreeing to march north to go live on a reservation in northern Arizona. But Geronimo heard too many rumors that Indians were being hung from apple trees for stealing a pencil, and he and 500 braves bolted just as they arrived. The US Army went after Geronomo's brigade in January 1884. They caught him and ordered him back on the reservation without reservation.
In early 1885 Geronimo got homesick and bolted again. The poor old man had only 50 braves and 109 women with him. The Apaches ran around the map of the US tried to capture him all over again. The US used every trick in the book to try and find Geronimo. Even the use of Apache helicopters failed to locate the elusive Indian leader and his gang of 159.
Whitey finally cornered Gernomino near Sonora Mexico where he was hiding in a small cramped cave. A U.S. soldier used a bullhorn and said “Come on out with your feather's up and no one will get hurt.” Geronimo emerged cautiously and said in broken English,
“I am Geronimo. I am the leader of the Apaches.”
To which the soldier replied,
“President Cleveland sends his regards.”
Geronimo was taken to Fort Sill Oklahoma where he remained a prisoner until he died in 1909. But he did have a career along the way in show business.
In other Indian affairs, Cleveland overturned a Chet Arthur Act that was going to open up Oklahoma Indian land for white settlers. Cleveland stopped this by proclamation and made it clear how far he would go to protect Indian rights. Cleveland threatened American rogue settlers with military force to keep them out of Indian lands.
WHY DO THEY YELL “GERONIMO!” ?
What did Geronimo yell when he jumped off a cliff?
“Meeeeeeeeee!”
So why do people yell 'Geronimo!' when they are jumping from great heights? I have found an explanation that makes poor sense, and I can set the record straight with my own theory.
Here is the story as reported in a book called “Paratrooper.” In 1940 these paratroopers were training at Fort Benning Georgia. Most all of them worried about conquering their fears. One man named Chet Adenhart bragged about how he was not going to be the least bit scared when he took his first real jump from a plane.
“No way, Adenhart!” teased the others. “Most guys can't even remember their own name.”
The night before, the men had seen the movie Geronimo. Adenhart said, “Oh yeah? Well I'll show you guys. I'll prove I'm not scared by screaming 'Geronimo!' when I jump.”
“We'll see,” said the others.
The next day they jumped from a low altitude and Adenhart screamed “Geronimo!” so loud that men could hear it on the ground. The phrase caught on with all parachute jumpers and had grown to be part of American vocabulary.
I think the foundation of the truth is in here but the story is told wrong. It doesn't make any sense that Adenhart was challenged that scared men forget their own names, and he answered with a dare that he would shout someone else's name. Why would the other men accept this challenge that doesn't even make any sense?
The story ruins one of the greatest jokes of all time, taking away from the comic genius of Private Adenhart. Obviously here is what really happened and the story got mixed up somewhere along the way.
Adenhart said something like, “Oh yeah? I'll show you guys. I'll scream “Adenhart!” as I jump out. That'll prove I'm not so scared that I can't remember my own name.”
Adenhart had it all planned. Just he leaped out of the plane he looked over his shoulder into the plane, screamed “Geronimo!” and jumped out. He was confessing that he had indeed become so scared that he forgot his own name. He also knew that everyone had just seen that movie last night and it was a great topical referent. He was so scared he thought he was Geronimo. It was a brilliant, self-effacing well-planned joke in a hot situation where humor is needed for morale.
I'll bet too that no one heard it on the ground. But the guys on the plane laughed so hard it helped take away their own fear of jumping. A couple of the men probably yelled it right after Adenhart. For the next 48 hours no one at the base talked about anything else except the great big funny joke and before you knew it everyone was yelling “Geronimo!” as they jumped out of planes.
This is the explanation that makes absolute sense. The other one is stupid until you fix the sequence and some of the details. The quality of the joke and the pleasure that all derived from it is what triggered the retention of the expression.
The way the story is told originally, the other guys would be scratching their heads and asking, “Why in the hell did Adenhart yell Geronimo?” - “Beats me. Makes no sense at all.” The expression would not have caught on. No one would have had a motive to immortalize that moment.
I'm not trying to criticize the author of “Paratrooper.” This is teamwork. He did the hard work unearthing the story and I fixed it. He did the painting but I just straightened it out when it was hung up all crooked. He was probably too busy with more important parts of his book to stop and really think about the illogical Geronimo word tale. After 40 years in comedy, I'm telling you that's what happened.
I have no proof that my version is correct, but I do have confidence.
NO FORAN SCABS 1885
In 1885 Congress passed the Foran Act. This put an end to the practice of foreign scabs being hired to come to America as workers to cross picket lines and break strikes. The USA decided that it was time to say no to labor Hessians. Foreigners could still come to America to work but could not be contracted in advance before arrival. Foran’s passage was indicative of the rise of labor power in the legislative branch of the US Congress. Labor had come to realize that it was far more effective to put labor candidates on the ballot than to petition existing candidates to adopt their goals.
A STORY OF SIXTEEN STORIES 1885
The Age of the skyscraper began in 1885 with the completion of the Home Insurance Building in Chicago. It was only 16 stories tall, small by today’s standards, but it was tall for the time and was the first building to employ innovative new technique/technology to spread the weight of the building through the superstructure rather than having each floor pile new stress weight on top of the other.
The story of skyscrapers marches on today. I love skyscrapers. I love reading about them. The biggest one in the world is the Dubai Towers in the United Arab Emirates at a jaw-dropping 162 stories and 2,717 feet. It opened on January 4, 2010.
The tallest two buildings in America were destroyed on 9/11, so the new king of the USA is the Bruce Willis Tower in Chicago at 110 stories and 1,450 feet. The Willis Tower used to known as the Sears Tower.
In a slightly related story, the USS New York was launched in 2009. It is a Navy amphibious support ship with a bow made out of the steel salvaged from the World Trade Center.
TARIFFS
The protection of adolescent American industry and a desperate need for federal revenue were the original justifications for the high tariffs of the first half of the 1800’s. Then the Civil War justified even higher tariffs, plus an income tax.
But now here it was 20 years later. The economy was strong, the government had a large surplus, American industry was fully developed, and yet the high-tariffs were still in place.
The tariff was the hot topic of the entire era, which shows how uneventful the era was. How dominant was the tariff issue? In his December 6 1887 State of the Union speech (called then the ‘Annual Message to Congress’) Cleveland talked of nothing else. The entire message was about the tariff. How exiting.
Both labor and big business, for their own selfish reasons, favored high tariffs. This was one of the few issues that these two opposing forces could cooperate on. Cleveland had a fairly large wall to crash through if he wanted reductions.
Uncle Sam was bulging with cash. President Cleveland felt that the large government surpluses were wrong for several reasons. The drain on the currency supply was a clear negative. Grover also believed that high tariffs were a temptation towards foolish spending on non-critical projects. Cleveland spoke forcefully, repeatedly and definitively in favor of a substantial tariff reduction, sometimes to the consternation of the old-school Democratic leaders in Congress. Big business and labor could not make Grover grovel.
But obstinate obstructionists led by Republican Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island quickly dashed Grover's hopes for reductions. Aldrich called him a “free-trader,” meaning that Cleveland allegedly wanted no tariffs at all. Cleveland’s favoring of reduced tariffs was a far cry from saying that he supported free trade, but that was what the Republicans began to say about him as re-election year 1888 rolled around.
The arguments for and against the tariffs were endless. The opponents said that the high tariffs hurt some industries while protecting others, and encouraged monopolies. They charged that high tariffs inspired foreign nations to strike back against the US with counter-tariffs on American exports. I heard that one in the 1980's over cars.
Rumors began to spread that Cleveland was in the pockets of British influence. A Republican campaign poster showed an American flag behind Ben Harrison and a British flag behind Cleveland. The British were pushing for free trade. Was Cleveland so deep under their economic spell that he would begin to favor free trade too? It was easy to score in American politics by tweaking the British lion.
Then one day a private citizen, a Mister Osgood, wrote a letter to the British Minister in Washington, a Mr. Sackville-West, asking 'what’s the story with Cleveland and the British?' Instead of giving an evasive and polite answer, Sack-West wrote a glowing report on Cleveland’s fondness for England and his agreement with the trade policies of the Island Kingdom.
When this letter became public, it was a sensation. Cleveland responded by sacking Sackville, and sending him back to London, but this did not appease US public opinion enough.
In attacking the tariffs in the first place, Cleveland created a hot issue for the next campaign at a time when the opposition desperately needed one. The Sackville West incident compounded the trade controversy and may have cost Cleveland the election of 1888. It also cost the United States by damaging relations with the UK. The Brits felt that in sacking West, Cleveland had sold-out an innocent English man to save the US election, which he lost anyway.
MONEY PROBLEMS
The US Treasury was overflowing with profit, with the era’s high tariffs, stable economy, and the lack of a major war to traumatize the system. The problem was not wealth per se, but currency. Cleveland's first term was a time when currency was always problematically scarce. The government was making it worse by tying up too much of it, making the shortage worse.
The United States was too deep in the black. The Treasury reported surpluses of 103 mil in 1887 and 119 mil in 1888, but these were golden knapsacks weighing the nation down. The economy needed the oil of a currency in circulation, not in government vaults.
Silver was another problem. There was a silver surplus. The high volume of coined silver was depreciating it. By 1888 a silver dollar was worth 75 cents. This in turn made people hoard their gold dollars with negative consequences.
LABOR RELATIONS/WABASH STRIKE
The Knights of Labor, begun in December 1869 had grown steadily under the leadership of its charismatic leader, Terry Powderly. By 1885 KL was ready to take a stand against the barons of capital. The Knights helped to organize a large strike that year against the Wabash Railroad.
When the Knights negotiated a settlement with millionaire baron Jay Gould, it wasn’t terribly favorable to the workers, but the victory was in the fact that Gould had recognized their right to negotiate at all. In negotiating with a union they had recognized the right of the union, thus changing the face and course of American History.
Gould in fact soon won back some of his concessions when another branch of the Wabash went on strike in 1886, but the labor victory of 1885 created increased respect for the KL and as a result membership skyrocketed. By the end of 1886 the Knights had more than 600,000 members.
The Knights were against the use of the strike and this became a divisive issue within the organization. It was one of the reasons that thousands left the Knights to form their own unions. The other divisive issue was the Knight’s leftist desire to co-own the means of production This turned off a lot of the workers and much of the general public, to their credit.
The Knights were influential in obtaining gradual changes in child labor laws. It was easy to get support for this among the workers for more than mere humanitarian motives. Children at work took away jobs from adults and undercut adult wages.
LABOR/AFL
In 1886 the craft unions decided they wanted their own elitist union, without the mass riff-raff of the unskilled. Skilled labor could stand stronger in the face of intimidation, for it is harder to replace skilled workers with scab labor. The skilled ones wanted out of the Knights. This was the beginning of the American Federation of Labor, the AFL The AFL was justifiably accused of standing for the 'Aristocratic Federation of Labor'. To me the AFL stands for the American Football League and always will.
The AFL believed in ‘business unionism,’ the art of fighting for immediate practical improvements in wages and working conditions. The AFL rejected grandiose radical ideological threads, or even merely progressive political goals. To the AFL, the Knights of Labor was too utopian and too leftist. To the AFL, Capitalism wasn’t inherently evil, and they did not attract, try to attract, or welcome the socialists and “Marx-morons.” The AFL wasn’t calling for co-owning the means of production.
Unlike the Knights of Labor however, the AFL did favor the use of the strike in order to win practical goals.
Over the next dozen years, like a ship rising in a Panama Canal lock, the AFL ship rose while the Knights tanker was losing water in the compartment behind them.
By 1903 the AFL had over a million members under the leadership of Sam Gompers, while the Knights were all living in one hotel room.
STATUE OF LIBERTY DEDICATED
It took ten years for the French build it, ship it to America and help set it up. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated at long last on October 28, 1886. Thousands of dignitaries were on hand including President Cleveland.
Miss Liberty was a centennial present from the French, perhaps reminding the United States in a subtle self-flattering way that they had helped the Revolution of 1776 to succeed.
It really is an amazing mammoth and impressive work, even today, Imagine how awesome it must have seemed in 1886. Liberty is 305 feet tall from ground to top of torch.
The Statue had been ready for almost two years but the pedestal had to be completed before it could stand up and open for business.
The Statue served a practical purpose for many years. Lib was a harbor lighthouse until 1902.
Most Americans did not show much excitement over the Statue at first. But the immigrants that flooded the country over the years gave it the glamour and the glory it now possesses. They loved it.
The sculptor was a man named Fredzo Bartholdi. Two women modeled for the statue. The first was his mother, Madame Bartholdi. But she wasn't statuesque enough so he switched over to his mistress, Jeanne-Emilie Baheux de Puysieux, and I've seen variations of the spelling. Freddie met Jeannie on a trip to Washington DC long before the statue was born. They shacked up in France while he was working on the big girl.
After the dedication of the Statue in late 1886, the story began making the rounds in the USA that the Statue of Liberty in effect was modeled after a harlot. Bartholdi felt pressured, and in the best interests of both countries, and, hopefully, because he loved her too, Fred Bartholdi and Mistress Puysieux got married, making an honest woman out of the Statue of Liberty.
I actually have a “Statue of Liberty” bit on my set-list.
Here is a bit I did many times about the Statue of Liberty. It tweaks the French and I play redneck for some fun. But I don't hate the French the way most conservatives do. I just don't. Never did. But I pretend I do for the Statue of Liberty bit. The set up is true,
“I went down to New York City recently and visited the Statue of Liberty. They wouldn't let anyone go inside it because they're afraid
someone might blow it up. ... Hey, that's a gift from the French, let's blow it up ourselves! Ship it back to em in 200 pieces; Build a better one, twice as big, rotating bar at the top of the arm, missile defense system in the crown protecting the harbor; Every hour it does a disco move from 70's; Every July 14 it turns to France and thumbs its nose.”
The bit has never failed me, although I pick my spots when I throw it out there. The Berkeley Concert won't include it. But in any case, I'm only kidding. I love the Statue of Liberty. I went up inside it in 1975 when you could still walk up to the tiny dirty windows of the crown.
WEDDING BELLS
Grover Cleveland was the first president to be married in the White House.
Grover bought his wife her first baby carriage when she was a baby. Francis Folsom was the newborn daughter of a close friend of Cleveland and he bought his friend a baby carriage for the occasion back in 1864. “Gootchy-gootchy-goo!” exclaimed the affectionate Grover to the cute baby, having no idea she would some day become his wife and the First Lady of our land.
On June 2, 1886 Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom. During Grover’s second term in 1893 she gave birth to the first White House baby, Esther Cleveland,
Grover fooled the mob of media at the end of the 6.86 wedding ceremony by putting two body-double wedding guests into the Presidential honeymoon carriage. They left the grounds followed by a thousand news hounds while Grover and Frannie walked away in blissful privacy a short time later.
HAYMARKET RIOT
The most spectacular event in the Cleveland administration was the so-called Haymarket Riot of 1886. The event threw a haymaker into the labor movement. The title suggests a rebellious outburst from disgruntled peasants and laborers but in actuality it was a police riot, albeit with understandable cause.
May of 1886 began with a heated class conflict under way between labor and capitol. On May Day (May 1) more than 300,000 workers went on strike in several large cities. The strikers were putting in ten-hour workdays on the picket lines demanding an eight-hour workday. On May 3 in Chicago there was a strike at the McCormack Harvester Company. As they left the factory to go home, those workers who had chosen not to join the strike ran into the angry strikers. The pro-labor men attacked the scab labor men. The police advanced at the strikers to protect the scabs and in the ensuing violence, the police Kent Stated four strikers dead.
A labor rally was called for the next evening May 4, to protest the events of May 3rd. Little did the labor people know that the protest rally would cost more lives than the lost lives they were protesting, not to mention losses in political capital.
Several speeches were given. The final speaker was Samuel Fielden.
Liberal authors emphasize that Fielden’s speech was harmless and peaceful and that the police and the authorities in general had no reason to react to it or to the rally. But many of the pamphlets these radicals were distributing openly promoted the value of dynamite as a political tool. ‘One stick of dynamite is more valuable than a thousand ballots.’ That's a real quote. This was political dynamite. Labor left was clearly advocating violent resistance, however much they felt it was justified. There was no missing the point when Fielden called on them to “get hold of anything that will help to resist the onslaught of the enemy.” He called on the workers to be prepared to die on the battlefield resisting the enemy. “You are called upon to defend yourselves.” Also included in the speech was the simple but ridiculously incendiary cry “To arms!” That is not peaceful protest.
Just as his speech and the rally was about to end, a phalanx of about 200 Chicago cops led by an officer named Degan showed up and ordered the meeting to disperse. Fielden responded by screaming angrily, “we are peaceable!”
The police then prepared to act. What’s more, the cops even ordered bystanders unaffiliated with either side of the dispute to assist in dispersing the crowd if it did not disband voluntarily.
Just as the police began to march forward some unknown bozo of history hurled a single stick of dynamite with a sparkling fuse through the air (probably from a rooftop – no one saw it thrown from ground level). The simmering stick landed at the feet of the cops and within seconds exploded with a terrible force. There was a moment of stunned silence. The bomb had ripped through the police line. Officer Degan died on the spot. Six other constables on patrol (COPS) would later die from their injuries, and more than sixty other policemen were wounded.
The mob did not need to wonder what was about to happen next. The wise mob began to flee even before the police charged. The police mob attacked the labor mob like a combat infantry battalion leading an assault on an enemy position. The cops clubbed and shot their way through the retreating rally. Four civilians were killed to make up for the police casualties.
Eight labor men were arrested and charged with the murder of officer Degan. On June 21 the trial opened with national eyes upon it. Judge Joseph Gary presided. His mailbox back home was filled with death threats from the peaceable left.
The prosecution never attempted to claim that anyone on trial had actually fired a shot or threw a bomb. The defendants were charged with inciting the riot that led to the killings. The ‘Haymarket Eight’, six of them German citizens who spoke no English, probably never had a chance for a fair trial. One contemporary wrote that as he walked about Chicago in the aftermath of the incident he heard the same sentence over and over from various people on the street, “Hang them first and try them later.” Charles Guiteau had a better chance to walk. The jury reached its verdict of August 19, 1881. Seven anarchists were pronounced guilty and given the death penalty. The other guy got 15 years.
There were many legal appeals made for the defendants. Their case, if not their cause, went all the way to the Supreme Court. The appeals were denied but the Governor of Illinois commuted the sentence of two of them to life. One defendant committed suicide in his cell. Four others were hanged on November 11, 1887. Only one of the four was an American citizen.
The five men became glorified martyrs for labor, but that did not compensate for the damage to labor done at Haymarket.
That stick of dynamite set the labor movement back 20 years. The Haymarket Riot was a national sensation. In a single moment of history the center swung to the right on the labor issue. Now the general public looked upon all left-wing labor people as anti-American and counterproductive members of society. For the foreseeable future, all anyone had to do to dismiss the opinions of any member of a socialist or labor organization was to label them an ‘anarchist.’
In most general history books published between 1900 and 1930 there is an outrageous bias against the strikers and in favor of conservative reaction. Then we see a moderate attempt at moderation in history books between 1930 and 1965. However, since 1965 the history books have an outrageous bias that say the strikers were completely innocent, and that the real criminals were the Chicago police and American fascism of the 1881 variety.
In the aftermath of Haymarket, middle-class Americans felt squeezed by a labor unrest sandwich. They did not always know which slice of bread to fear most, the oppressive greedy unfair “what, no gravy?” taskmasters of capitalism on top, or the violent unreasonable socialist revolutionaries of labor on the bottom.
Did capital have labor by the neck in this era? Yes. That is one side of the issue. But was radical leftism often motivated by hateful selfish jealousy against those who had made a good life for themselves under the rules of free enterprise? To some extent, sure. This was the position of Judge Gary who wrote of the trial later in Century magazine that,
“The real passions at the bottom of the hearts
of the anarchists were envy and hatred of all
people whose condition in life was better
than their own, who were more prosperous
than themselves.”
Judge Gary’s judgment can be applied to later decades and centuries. Those who have nothing often use politics or religion to justify attack and destruction upon those who have. Even shoplifters justify their crimes because “ hey, they’ve got plenty of money.”
Its okay to steal and rib as long as you fell that life hasn't given you your fair shake. That seems to be the Robin Hood justification for being a hood. A modern example can be found in the Vietnamese Communists and the Khmer Rouge of the 1960’s and 70’s. They weren't as idealistic as they claimed. They were simply people who had nothing attacking and killing those who had something, using political philosophy as a license to seize and kill and seize, with seize being more important than the kill, the kill being an means to an end, which is the seize. The same for the Arab terrorists in the 21st century who would not be contemplating suicide attacks on Americans if they only had a little spending money and some decent air conditioning.
Judge Gary was not a stupid ignorant pig without any wisdom or perspective. He cannot be written off as if he was the 1881 equivalent of some modern base-brained right-wing radio talk show host who should be ashamed of himself for even being on the air, like Glen Beck. Joey Gary was a learned judge who presided over the trial and had many weeks to take in the facts and the emotional trimmings of the situation and the people involved. He might have been wrong but his passionate assessment must be respectfully considered.
It was an era of many strikes, 37,000 in fact between 1881 and 1905. But with the help of events such as Haymarket, Unionism always won enough detractors to keep the movement stigmatized. It wouldn’t gain mainstream acceptance until the 1930’s. In spite of some impressive stats for the AFL and the KOL, only 5% of American workers were union at the end of the 19th century.
VP RIP
Vice Hendricks died in his sleep while at home in Indianapolis Indiana on November 25, 1885.
On November 18, 1886, Ex-President Chester Alan Arthur died of kidney failure (technically cerebral apoplexy as a result of kidney disease) at his home at 123 Lexington Ave in New York City. He was buried next to First Lady Ellen Arthur in Albany NY.
INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT 1887
The best achievement of Cleveland’s first act was the Interstate Commerce act, which was passed on February 4, 1887. For the first time, the government was going at least try and put a stop to big business abuses and evil monopoly. It was going to save the people and the state from big business. BB was powerful enough to break even at first. That is, for the first years of its existence the ICC was successfully defied in implementation by the business lobby. But the government started things rolling by making the law and beginning the fight to enforce it. It failed to enforce it in Cleveland’s time but the battle was joined. This was the story of almost all major reform movements in the era. They came to fruition in the so-called Progressive Era of 1900 to 1914, but the laws that enabled the later successes were laid down in the times of the Grant to McKinley Presidencies.
FARMERS ALLIANCES NOT ALLIED
Farm prices overall declined steadily in the last two decades of the 19th century.
Two large farmer’s union movements were organized, one in the North the other in the South. These were the FAIU and the NFA. They both hoped to save the suffering farmers of America but some intra-mural differences prevented a combined effort.
The Farmer’s Alliance and Industrial Union, under the leadership of Doc Macune represented the South. They fought against injustice and for the cause of the oppressed farmers. Blacks were not welcome. Way to stick up for the oppressed, FAIU.
The National Farmer’s Alliance represented the Northern wing of the national Farmer’s Alliance. Milton George was the George Washington of this group. It was sometimes called the Northern Alliance, a name associated today with a powerful faction of Afghani warriors fighting the Taliban.
The Northern and Southern Alliance could never pool their resources as long as blacks were not welcome to use the pool. They tried to combine, but the FAIU laughed off the Northern Alliance idea of supporting voting rights for blacks. The Alliances also split on Party lines. The Northern Alliance wanted a non-affiliated structure. The Southern Alliance as a primary objective wanted a change of command in Southern Democratic leadership. The FAIU was planning to challenge Bourbon supremacy in the Southern Democratic Party.
The Farmer’s Alliance came up short in the short run but provided the backbone for the more expansive Populist movement of the 1890’s. That later more catholic populism embraced all the agrarian left of the 1890 decade. In Cleveland's first term, the Farmer's Alliance and its goals were stuck in the mud of disunity.
SIX FLAGS
During the Civil War the capturing of regimental flags from the other side took on a meaning far beyond symbolism. The enemy battle flag was like a talisman, the Holy Grail, the Golden fleece. It was like taking the king in chess to these guys. It was like capturing the flag in Stratego. It was a serious war prize. The Yanks had won the war so they got all their lost battle flags back. But in the North, a lot of captured Rebel Battle Flags were seeing snowstorms.
In the post Civil War world of Cleveland the veterans of the Confederate Army not only wanted pensions, they also wanted their damn battle flags back. Cleveland, even though he was a Buffalo Yankee, was willing to go along with this. After all, he had never seen combat. Grover had pulled the trap to hang two men but he had never personally faced enemy fire nor pulled the trigger at anybody. It was easy for him to say yes to the request (as it was easy for President Clinton to normalize relations with Vietnam in 1993.)
But many Yanks were opposed to the 'Give the Rebs Their Battle Flags Back' program. There were too many widows still weeping in the North, too many fatherless children and sonless fathers. The South was abusing the blacks throughout the South and showed no signs of abiding by the decision on the battlefield, especially now that the Federal troops were gone. Consequently the Republicans in Congress were not ready to forgive, forget and give the flags back. It was too soon to forget, and current Southern behavior precluded forgiveness. The Northern politicians stopped Cleveland from returning the Rebel battle flags to the South. They would remain in glass cases above the Mason-Dixon line until 1905. It would take a little more time to heal these wounds.
The standard history book version of all this is that ‘the Republicans waved the bloody shirt’ and the flags remained where they were. Yes, they did.
“Bloody shirt” is one of the weasel-word phrases of US history. Just invoke the phrase and you win the argument without a fair trial. Why must it be considered by history so wrong to ‘wave the bloody shirt?’ That’s like scolding a Jewish person in 1960 for ‘bringing up that stupid holocaust business again.’ The South had committed physical and spiritual genocide on an entire race and now they were not sorry they did it and now anyone who criticized them was in the wrong just by invoking that cliché at them about “the bloody shirt.” Well I say its a bloody injustice. People had a right to wave it if that's the way you insist on phrasing it. A lot of people died to set people free and now the South was reneging on a lot of things about race. Waving the bloody shirt was the morally correct thing to do.
TENURE OF OFFICE ACT REPEALED 1887
The power of the executive branch had come a long way back since the period of Congressional supremacy under Johnson and Grant. There was little opposition when Cleveland supporters proposed the repeal of the emasculating Tenure of Office Act, which as we recall, prohibited the President from removing undesirable cabinet members without Senatorial approval. The TOA was removed from the books in an easy vote in 1887. “The sheriff” (as Teddy Roosevelt derisively called President Cleveland) was now free to give any cabinet member till sundown to get out of Washington.
Congress had shown true patriotism in enacting this repeal, curtailing its own power in the interests of a balance of power and a strong presidency.
CONSERVATION
TR gets all the credit but the conservation movement gained its first significant momentum under Cleveland. He decided that the railroad and mining barons had abused the privilege of government land grants, so the freebies dried up there and the government took back 80 million acres it had previous alloted for the big operators.
THE BELLAMY BROTHER 1888
He cared about the state of mankind and let his love flow through nationalism and socialism. His name was Ed Bellamy. His book Looking Backward, c) 1888 Bellamy’s book was a smash best seller. “Edzo” was a native of Chicopee Mass, Bellamy’s tale was the fictional reminiscences of a Bostonian in the year 2,000. In Bellamy’s Boston of 2,000 there was no longer any poverty and the rich had to share their wealth. Everything was put to good use and there was no industrial waste. I lived in Boston in 2,000 and I could tell you that his dream of his was just that, a dream. While he was at it Bellamy might as well have added that there was no traffic congestion or noise pollution, that everyone was always cheerful no matter how much snow fell, parking was free and easy, and there was no need for locks.
Bellamy referred to his visionary system as “Nationalism.” But many of his contemporaries considered Bellamy a socialist. Edward knew that he was a little bit socialist, but disavowed the organized Socialist movement with vehemence. He wrote to a friend that;
… I may seem to out-socialize the socialists, yet
the word socialist is one I could never well
stomach. In the first place it is a foreign word
itself and equally foreign in all its suggestions.
It … suggests the red flag with all manner of
sexual novelties, and an abusive tone towards
God and religion…”
SAMOAN CRISIS
A crisis in Samoa developed in the time of Cleveland that would not be resolved until well into the administration of his successor Benjamin Harrison.
The Samoan Islands, often called the “Navigator Islands” in the southwest Pacific were of strategic naval importance to the USA and Great Britian and, of commercial importance to Germany. All three nations had their eyes on the Samoan prize as the 19th century evolved.
The 1800’s began with Samoa under native rule. It had been “discovered” in the 1700’s, but had not been exploited until the mid-1800’s by the Germans who enjoyed a profitable business in copra. The German traders wanted Bismarck to annex Samoa but the Reichstag wouldn’t go that far and the German traders were willing to settle for any foreign control as long as they could carry on their trade.
New Zealand meanwhile looked with concern over a possible German control over Samoa with its strategic threat to the sea lanes between Australia and the rest of the world.
Germany continued to build up its influence in Samoa. Germany began buying land from naïve natives like Americans buying land from the Indians for whiskey in the 1600’s. The United States, Britian and Germany all began to converge on Samoa.
The King of Samoa was called Malietoa Laupepa. In 1884 Germany forced him to sign a treaty making his land a protectorate of Germany. He was paying for mob “protection.” This was not really protection but a form of surrender with the word protectorate used to assuage the conscience of German and for public consumption.
King ML and 48 tribal leaders rebelled and asked Great Britian to intervene on their behalf. They petitioned the King of England to take over the Islands, preferring English protection to German.
Germany wised up and installed a puppet Samoan to rule the islands, a quisling named Tamesese. This started a civil war on Samoa between the rebels of original King Laupepa and the troops of new fake King Tamesese.
In June of 1885 Cleveland’s Secretary of State Bayard formally protested to Germany over its actions in Samoa, but made it clear that the USA did want to be part of any coalition of colonialist powers to rule over Samoa. Unfortunately for President Cleveland, this seemed to be the only alternative that Germany was offering. The British, sadly, were backing the German coalition colonial idea for “Sam.” a triple vulture protectorate with some profits in the mix for all three nations. Plus all three nations would have that base of operations for its fighting navy. What would happen if two of the powers had a hot dispute and there sat their pacific fleets naval fleets right beside each other.
Bayard asked for a conference in Washington of the three giants (US-UK-GR) to discuss the fate of the helpless mouse at their mercy in the South Pacific.
The conference took place in DC in 1888. The USA was disappointed by the clear united front of Germany and the UK against the host country. Great Britian had made a log rolling deal to support Germany in Samoa and other Pacific islands if Germany would remain passive about British foreign policy goals in the Middle East, especially Egypt. The Washington conference came to nothing. Britain was not negotiating over Samoa at face value.
Germany soon raised its national flag over the Samoan capital of Apia and named a man named Brandeis as ruler of Samoa. There was no longer even the pretense of native rule. What was worse, American citizens and businesspersons in Samoa were being treated like second class chumps.
Secretary Bayard protested again and was not taken seriously. Cleveland in January of 1889 formally sent the Samoan dispute to the US Congress for further action. This bold act by a lame duck President got the attention of the Germans who saw the potential for a clash between Germany and the United States. Bismarck requested a resumption of the old Washington three power negotiations, this time in Berlin.
Germany backed off a little bit. A new round of civil war was going on in Samoa between the German occupiers and a certain Mataafa, the rebel who took over the fight from Malietoa. Germany made peace with the rebels and the USA agreed to attend the Berlin conference. The negotiations over Samoa resumed there in the time of Benjamin Harrison.
A hurricane on March 15 1889 helped to make peace between the three powers and the natives.
SUPREME COURT
Cleveland appointed a Confederate to the Supreme Court in another deliberate gesture of sectional reconciliation. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus ‘Bo’ Lamar was a good ol boy from Mississippi who was 62 when appointed as associate justice in 1888. On January 16, 1888 the Senate confirmed him after a spirited debate by a vote of 32 to 28.
He served for five years. Lucius had to resign as Secretary of the Interior to accept the post on the SC. Lamar was noted for doing very little as a member of the Court.
GREAT WHITE HURRICANE OF 1888
One of the best snowstorms of all time slammed the northeast United States on Sunday March 12, 1888. It lasted more than 48 hours and pasted 48 inches of snow on an area from Baltimore to Boston. New York City got pounded. Winds were in the steady 80's. Snow drifts rose to 50 feet high. Transportation came to halt. Millions of people were holed up in their homes for a week. 421 people died from the storm, 208 in New York City.
Manhattan didn't get quite as much snow as Hartford, but New York was where all the slum ghettos with frozen pipes and no fireplace were and where there was a large street population that froze to death.
Part of the problem was that stupid Thomas Edison. His electrical system was new and exiting and growing fast. But all that wiring should have been planted underground. Instead there was a forest of wires all over Manhattan, an eyesore of countless thousands of crucifixes holding a bedazzling array of electric wires over everyone's head as they walked down the busy street. It was ugly and it was dangerous. Wires were falling down and people were picking them up. The city was buzzing with concern. Advocates for safer and more attractive city were pestering Edison to get a plan going for getting these forest wires underground, but he had disdainfully refused to get going on that.
The Great White Hurricane ruined the entire forest of wire system. They came tumbling down as a major casualty of the Blizzard, and they caused electrical accidents too. Like people didn't have enough to worry about with the winds and the snow, you've got downed live wires everywhere because Edison wouldn't listen to his critics.
After the storm the city of New York demanded that the electric forest be dismantled completely and rebuilt underground, and no city would ever dream of doing it any other way from now on. The other thing was a decision to build a subway system. The fact that all of the elevated trains had stopped for three days was a wake up to get that subway system done. So in a couple of ways that The Blizzard of 1888 did some good. It also set the standard for my Blizzard of 1978 which I experienced in Boston.
CRIME
The most riveting crime of 1888 for all Americans was of foreign origins. That was the year of Jack the Ripper, murdering poor tramps of East London. They never caught the sociopath bloke. Many books and many theories are out there as to who he was and what was his psychological make-up.
Why is the Ripper so famous? After all he only killed five people. By today's serial killer standards, 5 is not a lot. Part of it is that he was never caught, but I think part of the reason was the quiet news year that he operated in. If Jack the Ripper had done it during the Crimean War or World War One, he wouldn't be so famous. There wasn't a lot going on in the world and the story kept feeding on itself in the newspapers until it reached a level of international sport.
AFTER OFFICE
After gracefully attending the 1889 Inaugural of Benjamin Harrison, Cleveland retired to private law practice, rejoining his old firm of Goldstein, Rosenberg, Cohen, and Azziz in New York City. He spent the summer months at his home at Gray Gables, a seaside neighborhood in Bourne, Mass; about five minutes walk from my brother Patrick’s house. The house burned down in 1970 (Cleveland’s, not my brother’s.)
The Democratic Party called on him again to be their President in 1892. Cleveland had climbed back to the top of the mountain. There was a moving train waiting for him at the top when he finished the climb. It was called the Panic of 1893.
SOURCES
The American Pageant, A History of the Republic, by Thomas A. Bailey of Stanford University – c) 1961 D.C. Heath
One of the best books by one of the best historians. He is very biased on favor of the Democratic Party and against the Republican.
Tom Bailey is tough on the Indians.
The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VII The United States – c) 1903
Edited by A.W. Ward Litt. D., G. W. Prothero Litt. D., and Stanley Leathes M.A.
My copy was once owned by the famous historian David Donald! Too bad I think he's so overrated.
A Century of American Diplomacy, by John W. Foster – Marvellous book about diplomacy by a great diplomat. Nothing like history written by its makers.
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, by Willie DeGregorio c) 2004-
Willie is a distant relative of former NBA guard Ernie DeGregorio, who was a great shooter but on the other side of the ball earned the nickname, “Ernie No D.”
A Diplomatic History of the United States, by Samuel Flagg Bemis, Farnam Professor of Diplomatic History in Yale University – c) 1934 Henry Holt
Bemis graduated from Clark University, and completed his graduated studies at Harvard. He taught at Yale for 24 years and edited the 18-volume The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy. He won two Pulitzer Prizes. Other than that, his resume isn't very impressive.
Empire for Liberty, by Malone and Rauch – General US history. Great college textbook. They love Virginia a little too much.
Growth of the American Republic, Vol II 1865-1937, by Samuel Eliot Morison and Henry Steele Commager – c) 1940 – Oxford University Press.
Sleazy racists, both of them. Conceited and high-brow too. readable enough, and obviously erudite, two hour reads leave me feeling sad that they have to be so bitter. And you know you've got a problem there when I complain about that.
Hats in the Ring, by Evan Cornog and Richard Whelan
History of a Free People, Hank Bragdon, and Sam McCutchen c) 1954 MacMillan
Hank taught history at Phillips Exeter Academy and Sammy at NYU. This book sets the standard for martinet homework assignments after every burst of text. True, the student will definitely know the material if they can pass these demanding tests and essay and original research chores. But once they become adults they will never pick up another history book as long as they live. For me its the opposite. I didn't study hard in high school, so now that I am an adult I can get into the material fresh and enjoy it. That's why my house is full of history books; because I didn't do my homework in high school.
The History of the Haymarket Affair, A Study in the American Social-Revolutionary Movements and Labor Movements, by Henry David – c) 1936 – It takes a lot of determined effort to follow the writing. Its very smart stuff; very stimulating reading, but not recommended for multi-tasking sneak reads, like reading during the commercials.
HD is fairly objective. His undertone is, if anything, against the radicals, but on the other hand, he presents all the facts that exist in their defense without the sins of omission. A heavy brainfood paperback by Collier in c)1963 – This one has been through several editions since it came out in the socialist thirties.
A History of Presidential Elections, by Eugene Roseboom – c) 1962 - Not my favorite book, but I read it anyway. Gino is very opinionated and seldom in ways that I agree with. - I own the first edition of c)1957
A History of the United States, [Since 1865] – by T. Harry Williams, Richard N. Current, and Frank Freidel – c) 1965
Labor in America, by Foster Rhea Dulles
The March of Democracy: Vol II, From Civil War to World Power, by James Truslow Adams - c) 1933 Scribner
I read both volumes of this US general history meticulously a long time ago. What an amazing experience. What an awful person!
Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Grover Cleveland
The National Experience, Part Two, A History of the United States Since 1865, by John M. Blum (Yale), Edmund S. Morgan (Yale), Willie Lee Rose (Johns Hopkins), Arthur M. Schlesinger (City University NY), Kenneth M. Stampp, and C. Vann Woodward – c) 1981 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich NY
They like Grover. This is a very well written book. I know that should go without saying, considering the talent in here, but often the famous historians are the worst to read. (Bernard Pares and T. Harry Williams to name four) - Not here.
Out of Many, A History of the American People, by John Mack Faragher (Yale); Mary Jo Buhle (Brown), Daniel Czitrom (Mount Holyoke); and Susan Armitage (Washington State), c)1994 – This is PC liberal pseudo-history, a well-written polemic.
The Oxford History of the American People, by Samuel Eliot Morison – c) 1965 Oxford University Press
Sam says that Mr. Cleveland was “austere, unbending, and ungenial.” I guess he knew President Cleveland personally.
A Patriots History of the United States, Schweiker and Allen - c)2002
Presidential Campaigns, by Paul Boller, c) 1982 – This is a good book by a fair-mined scholar, unlike the book by Roseboom.
Recollections of Grover Cleveland, by George F. Parker – c) 1909
This dusty old hardcover has an unpleasant smell, but the writing is cinnamon incense. Parker guides us garrulously through a collection of Cleveland's letters, so it is really a book by an admirer and friend, disguised by a fake title as an autobiography.
Parker knew Cleveland intimately and lets us down on a key point. He writes that there were only about four of five public men that the normally amiable Cleveland detested. Just as he's abut to make my day and tell us, he writes that in the interest of Cleveland's legacy it would be best to let this information go by untold. What a tease. As my editor once told me, “If you won't bash, at least don't tell us you know bad things and then withhold them.”
A Short History of the American Nation, by John A. Garraty of
Columbia – c) 1977 Harper & Row
When Garraty died in 07, his NY Times obit mentions that he c-authored
this book with a guy named Mark. That is not quite accurate. Garrity wrote this solo in 1966, supervised the revision of about ten new editions, and then after he retired, he allowed Mark to publish a final edition as co-author of a new update chapter. The American Nation is Garraty's book. The Short History is an abridged large paperback of the original.
The Unites States, A History of the Republic, (Teacher’s Edition) by
John West Davidson and Mark H. Lytle c) 1981
The United States: The History of a Republic, by Richard Hofstadter of Columbia, William Miller co-author of The Age of Enterprise, and Daniel Aaron of Smith College - c) 1957 Prentice-Hall
They are pretty nice to Cleveland but on the other hand they do call him “unimaginative and short-sighted.”
|
|