Customer Reviews

An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland

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Imagine my surprise when I discovered this long-awaited biography of our 22nd and 24th president! As a release from the hundreds of redundant titles about Lincoln or Washington that are produced each year, this book provided me an opportunity to visit with a man too many ignore or misunderstand. The author provides a clean, concise account of his life (usually hitting only the high points rather than indulging in endless detail), and provides a fair, balanced description of his presidency. Still, it was most fascinating to read about Cleveland's rapid ascent from obscurity to the White House. Here was a man, who within three years (1881-1884), went from mayor of Buffalo to become a successful presidential candidate against powerful Republican James G. Blaine. As a politician, whether on the local or national level, Cleveland took controversial stands, challenged established members of his party, vetoed popular bills (risking always an override), and revealed private, potentially harmful information in the name of truth an openness. The author by no means paints a picture of perfection (his decisions as president are up for historical debate), but whatever position he took, Cleveland never betrayed his sense of duty and loyalty to the social good. That sense might have been wrong on several occasions (his handling of the 1894 Pullman strike, for example, which pushed the envelope of federal intervention in state matters), but he never compromised out of fear or a desire to cater to party officials. While there are many accounts of Cleveland's happy marriage to Frances (almost thirty years his junior) and their children (one of whom was, in a first, born in the White House), the book is an important contribution primarily because of its reassessment of his political life. Additionally, the author gives us a vivid representation of the late 19th century itself (as all presidential biographies must); a time rife with labor wars, economic crises (the Panic of 1893 was one of the nation's worst depressions), racial conflict, immigration debates (Cleveland signed the Chinese Exclusion Act yet vetoed a bill forbidding illiterate immigrants), imperialism abroad, and impending war with Spain. While the author resorts to a few cheap shots against President Clinton in the end (I suppose no contemporary book about politics would be complete without it), the book maintains a satisfactory level of detachment throughout. While books such as these will never light up the bestseller lists, I am thankful that they are written. Mr. Jeffers should be applauded for tackling a forgotten man while always keeping it accessible, appealing, and worthy of the subject.

H. Paul Jeffers' biography of Grover Cleveland is really a great read. If you're interested in American history, you'll enjoy this book about a fascinating and remarkable figure in U.S. politics who is largely ignored by modern writers. If your knowledge of the American "Gilded Age" is limited to your high school or college classes, you'll do yourself a favor by reading this book. Jeffers does a good job in bringing the era and personalities to life, but his writing of Cleveland's years as president often seems to be merely listing his official schedule of activities. Don't let this criticism dissuade you, however; my test for any book while reading it is "when can I get time to read more?" This book definitely passes the test.

As one who has long admired the life and work of Grover Cleveland and long lamented that he has been largely ignored by modern historians, I welcomed the arrival of this piece. As it turned out, my excitement was tempered by the fact that there is very little new in this work and overall, I found the book thin. The author relies almost entirely on previous compilations and can make no claim to original scholarship. In this sense, it is a much inferior work to the definitive 1932 biography by Allan Nevins. To the extent, however, that Jeffers seeks merely to introduce a mostly unaware public to one of the truly unsung giants of American politics, the book is not without merit.

Jeffers provides a painless background on one of the least-remembered Presidents for those who need to fill in the blank spots of their US history timelines. The writing is fluent and the narrative moves quickly. But the book is not for scholars. Important issues of the times, including the Financial Panic of 1893, the free-silver movement, Hawaii and the imperialist impulse, and the growth of organized labor are covered in a few passages or pages. I especially found the discussion of Cleveland's racial attitudes and civil rights policies insufficient; for a President governing during the implementation of Jim Crow, more than a few paragraphs about the issue were warranted. For detailed discussions of those important historical issues, the reader will have to go to more specialized sources.

In a quest to read a biography of every American president, I found this one of Cleveland a satisfying and easy read. Jeffers doesn't seek to make the bio an in-depth study of his personal knowledge of English vocabulaly; thus the easier read, a welcome break from the 600-pagers of some other presidents. Although over 300 pages, this biography goes fast and I didn't find myself wishing it would end. It gave the facts truthfully, thoroughly and precisely; and that's what I needed.

H. Paul Jeffers's biography of Grover Cleveland is readable, but I found myself thinking of the famous Walter Mondale phrase, "Where's the Beef?" Checking in at a brief 350 pages, made all the shorter by the interspersion of photographs throughout the text, this book is a good bare bones account of Cleveland's life in which the reader never really gets to know the man. Cleveland is a vastly underrated President, mostly because didn't serve at a time of great national crisis. So the recent interest in him (no less than two biographies published in 2000) is a good thing. Jeffers's book did much to enlighten me, but left me wanting more. I also found a couple of glaring factual errors. Overall, Jeffers's book is a good introduction to its subject, and that's probably all most casual readers will want to know.

It is always a pleasant surprise to find new books relating to presidents that are rarely covered in modern day print. This biography of Grover Cleveland does an excellent job of covering the issues and events which dominated the late 1800s. In contrast, the details of Cleveland's personal and political life are treated in a cold and sterile manner. You never really get the sense that this book provides any real insight into the character and persona that the author perpetrates on the cover "An Honest President". The book starts out by describing a little of his family background and quickly jumps into his role as mayor of Buffalo New York. From there, he soon becomes the first democratic president elected after the civil war. During his presidencies, Grover Cleveland takes controversial stands. His position to lower tariffs on imported goods was particularly unpopular and the author cites this as one of the contributing factors that led to his defeat in the presidential election of 1888. During his second term he handles the Pullman's strike in a quick and decisive manner but leaves many to question the federal government's role in the intervention of affairs at the state level. If anything else, Jeffers successfully conveys the fact that Cleveland was a man of ideals and principals. His decisions were based on the greater good and not on party stance or public opinion. He favored the gold standard, opposed the anexation of Hawaii and fought for reform against the political machines of his day. A strong supporter of the Monroe Doctrine, Cleveland asserted his views against the sequestration of Venezuela by Great Britain. On a final note, I found the author's comparison of Cleveland to Bill Clinton in the last chapter to be somewhat inappropriate. These are two different men from two different eras and it is unfair to speculate how each would have performed in each others time. His closing comments only serve to detract from his scholarly efforts.

The title of this book might seem an oxymoron to readers whose memories extend no further than the past eight years. It is refreshing to read about a President who put principle before self-advancement, confronted embarrassing revelations about his private conduct with candor, and believed a politician had to "stand for something" in order for an election to be worthwhile.

Cleveland's rise can only be described as meteoric: from Mayor of Buffalo to the New York statehouse within two years, and the White House two years after that. Once in office, he blazed a trail uniquely his own: pro-gold standard, anti-tariff, pro-rule-of-law, anti-government activism.

More than 100 years after the fact, Cleveland's viewpoints are often startling. For example: "the people support the government; the government should not support the people." On the evils of government supluses: "The public treasury . . . becomes a hoarding place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's development, preventing investment in productive enterprises, inviting schemes of public plunder. It will not do to neglect this situation because its dangers are not now palpably imminent or apparent." Are you listening, Messrs. Bush and Gore?

H. Paul Jeffers presents an exceptionally interesting biography of an often overlooked president. Cleveland suffers in part from the anonymity bestowed upon presidents who served in the "Gilded Age". For presidential legacies it is an advantage not a curse to serve in "interesting times". Jeffers correctly points out that the two Cleveland administrations were in actuality quite "interesting". During the two Cleveland administrations we had the Pullman strike, the second worst depression in our nation's history, and problems to deal with in Venezuela and Hawaii. Cleveland who is generally considered by historians, at best, as an "above average" president suffers from not being involved in a war. Of our wartime presidents, only Madison and McKinley are not consistantly ranked higher. Jeffers does an excellent job at describing his meteoric rise from private citizen to the presidency within three short years. He also describes Clinton's audacity in comparing himself to Cleveland. After reading this book, it would be difficult to think of two presidents who were more different. Cleveland was not overly ambitious and entered the presidency as a bachelor. Clinton is ambitous to a fault and married to a woman who is more ambitious. Cleveland gained his popularity through principle. Clinton places more importance on opion polls. Cleveland admitted to both fathering an illegitimate child and paying a surrogate to take his place in the Civil War. Clinton faced similar issues with lies and half truths. My only criticism of the book was the fact Jeffers could have been more critical. Except for his handling of the Pullman strike, there was little disapprobation. At times, I felt that Jeffers would not mind celebrating his birthday as another national holiday or putting a fifth head on Mt. Rushmore. What separates Cleveland from the truly great presidents is leadership ability and his reluctance or inability to better articulate his philosophy of government. He was unable to sell congress on his ideas of lowering tariffs or even lead his own party in regard to the gold standard. In action, he actually did more to limit government than Jefferson, but we are left to discover his philosophy of government inductively in that he primarily laid down his thoughts issue by issue. In summary this was a book that I could not put down and I highly recommend it.

Grover Cleveland has always been one of our more obscure presidents, not quite as unknown as Fillmore, Buchanan or Pierce, but not as well-written about as Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln; he is certainly the most obscure of presidents to serve two full terms. In fact, the most well-known fact about Cleveland is that he is the only president to serve non-consecutive terms; the more trivia-minded may also know that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after his daughter.

This biography shows Cleveland as a man of great integrity who was motivated more by principle than by partisanship. Cleveland comes off as a generally likeable person but not a very imaginative or visionary president. This could explain his relatively minor place in American history.

Jeffers has written a generally admiring biography but does not neglect Cleveland's flaws. At times, his writing comes off a little too casual, such as when he refers to Cleveland constantly as "Grover," which seems out of place in a serious biography. Nonetheless, there are few enough biographies of Cleveland available, and this one is good enough to introduce a student of American history to this little-known president.