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Sheriff
On this date Grover Cleveland took office of Sheriff of Eerie County, New York. He won his election with a 303 vote margin. Prior to winning this election he lost an election to become District Attormey to his close friend Lyman K. Bass. -
Period: to
1880-1910
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Elected Mayor of Buffalo, NY
Cleveland was elected as the Mayor of Buffalo, NY. He beat his opponent Milton Beebe by nearly 4,000 votes. This was the offical beginning of Cleveland's career in politics. -
Wins election becoming Governor
Grover Cleveland ran for governor of New York in 1882. He started his campaign in third place for the Democratic nominee. After conflict within the party, Cleveland emerged as the party's compromise nominee. Cleveland ran against Republican Charles J. Folger and beat him by a margin of nearly 200,000 votes. -
The Evening Telegraph
The Evening Telegraph was an uncredible newspaper which published an article about Cleveland having relations with a woman from Buffalo, New York, by the name of Halpin. The newspaper claimed that Halpin gave birth to Cleveland's illegitimate child that was now in an orphan assylum. Since Cleveland could not prove nor disprove the paper's accusations, he "consented to make provisions for the child." -
Presidential Inauguration
Grover CLeveland is sworn in as the twenty second president of the United States. He would be the first Democratic president since James Buchanan to be elected. -
Vice President dies in office
Vice President Thomas Hendricks dies in office only 8 months after taking the job. He had a history of poor health. Hendricks passed in his sleep at the age of 64. -
Presidential Succession Act
President Grover Cleveland signed the Presidential Succession Act on this day. This act sets up the line of succession for the power of the U.S. President. However, this Act was replaced in 1947. -
Recommends the acceptance of the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty was offered as a gift to the United States by France.Cleveland saw this as a great gift and an oppurtunity to become closer allies with the French. Cleveland erged congress to accept the statue and congress did accept the offering. -
Statue of Liberty dedicated
On the day of October 28, 1886 the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by Grover Cleveland. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by the French as a gift for their union in battle for liberty and democracy in the American Revolution. During the dedication Cleveland declared, "We will not forget that liberty here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected." -
Dependent Pension Bill
This bill was first vetoed by Grover Cleveland. It was passed in 1890. This act set up pension to be paid to Union Veterans who served for at least 90 days, were honorably discharged, and could not perform manual labor. -
Texas Seed Bill Vetoed
The Texas Seed Bill was designed to give relief to farmers suffering from drought. Cleveland ended up vetoing this bill because he believed it overstepped the power of the federal government. -
Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887
The Dawes Act (General Allotment Act) allowed the Federal government to divide lands of Native American reservations and issue them as personal lots to individual families. The hope for this act was to convert Native Americans from their tribal culture into modern society. With the purchase of one of these allotments, the family was to be granted U.S. citizenship. Allotment size depended on size of family. The territories of several tribes were exempt from this act. -
New Supreme Court Justice Appointed
Cleveland appoints Lucius Q.C.Lamar of Mississippi to the Supreme Court. Before that Lamar served as Cleveland's secretary of interior. -
Appointment of Supreme Court Justice
Cleveland Appointed Melville W. Fuller to be the Supreme Court Chief Justice. Fuller was the 8th Chief Justice to be appointed to the Supreme Court. His term lasted from 1888 to 1910. -
Department of Labor becomes Independent
On this date the Department of Labor became an independent department in the government. The Department of labor is in charge of laws involving workers rights. The actual Department of Labor wasn't legitimately established as an individual department until 1913 -
Cleveland Accepts Democratic Nomination for Reelection
To ensure that he would gain the Democratic nomination, Cleveland used his power to do all that he could to weaken the pitch of his Democratic competion. The nomination was won easily. He was set to run against his Republican counterpart Benjamin Harrison. -
Renewing the Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was renewed in this year while also expanding upon it. The Scott Act was also thrown in with this. This prohibited entry of ethnical Chinese (regarless of country of origin) to the United States after leaving. -
Wins Popular Vote but Loses the Election
The Presidential election of 1888 was between the Democratiuc Grover Cleveland and the Republican Benjamin Harrison.Cleveland won the support of the entire South and gave him the lead in the popular vote. Hsi stance on tariffs however made Cleveland several enemies in the industrial Northeast. With the support of these states along with the Norht and midwest, Harrison was able to pull ahead in electoral votes and therefore won the election. -
Department of Agriculture
Grover Cleveland signs a bill creating the department of agriculture, This means the department of agriculture was now it's own individual department in the government. -
Adding New States
After Cleveland signed the Enabling Act, which set forth how states were admitted to the U.S. and also separated the Dakota Territory into North and South Dakota. Then these two states, along with Washington were admitted as states. -
Wins another term
Grover Cleveland wins another term in the oval office against Benjamin Harris of the Republican party and James B. Weaver of the People's party. Grover Cleveland is the first and only president to be elected to a second, non-consecutive term. -
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression caused by the overbuilding of the railroads along eith their questionable source of funds. This depression lead to a drop in the gold suppy of the U.S. Treasury to below $100 million. The result was a large jump in the rate of unemployment throughout the nation. It was the worst depression the nation had faced. -
Secret Surgery
One day Cleveland noticed a small bump on the roof of his mouth, which grew. A doctor diagnosed it as cancer. Not wanting the nation to find out and panic, decided to keep this a sectret. So he arranged to have the surgery on a yacht, claiming to the public to be taking friends out on the boat. They used ether as an anesthetic, an during the surgery, a few teeth and a section of the roof of his mouth was removed. -
Esther Cleveland
Grover Cleveland's second child, Esther, is born. It was the first birth in the White House and one of the worst names given to a child ever. -
Cleveland Addresses Congress Concerning Hawaii
Cleveland sends a letter to Congress concerning the recent action of troops being sent to Hawaii. The United States Minister, Stevens, extended de facto against the government of Hawaii and attempted to take power away from Queen Lili'uokalani. Cleveland then withdrew the treaty of annexation of Hawaii from Congress. -
The Pullman Strike
A strike had begun earlier in the year against The Pullman Company for low waiges and twelve hour work days. By this time 125,000 railroad workers were now on strike which disallowed trade and commerce throughout the nation. Cleveland replied with a court junction, which the protesters firmly ignored, and then Cleveland followed up with sending troops into the area to force the movement of the railways again. Cleveland's decision to use force led to a seperation in the Democratic Party. -
Utah becomes the 45th state
The territory of Utah, formed by several Mormon groups filed for statehood in 1849. After years of legal work, it was accepted into the Union in 1896. Utah became the 45th state of the United States -
Illiterate Immigrants
On this date Cleveland was presented with a bill which would ban illiterate immigrants admittance into the United States. Cleveland quickly vetoes this bill. -
"Presidential Problems"
Grover Cleveland's book "Presidential Problems" was published. The book contained four essays written by Cleveland addressing issues he faced while in office. -
Death
Grover Cleveland died from a heart attack in Princeton, New Jersey. His body resides in Princeton Cemetery.
