On March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey, Grover Cleveland was born. He was the fifth of nine children raised in upper state New York by his Yale-educated father Richard Falley Cleveland who was a Presbyterian minister and has mother Ann Neal.
When Grover was 16, his father died and college was no longer an option for him. Grover worked as a clerk to help support his family.
He did not attend college, but at the age of 22, he was admitted to the bar. Over the years, Cleveland rose to political prominence and served as the mayor of Buffalo in 1881. He had a second term as mayor before becoming the governor of New York.
Cleveland was a Democrat and gained a reputation for being very efficient and for being honest which led him to run for President of The United States. With the support of the Democratic Party and with the support of reform Republicans called the Mugwumps, Cleveland ran for President and became the 22nd President of the United States in 1885.
As in his terms as mayor and governor, Cleveland ran his Presidency honestly and clean. He became very popular for his position that government should not be excessive with its legislation.
Cleveland was the first President to marry while in office, in June of 1886 he married Frances Folsom who was 21 years old and a college graduate. Later in 1891, they had their first child a daughter named Ruth who later died in 1904.
Grover Cleveland signed The Interstate Commerce Act into law in 1887. This was first federal law that attempted to regulate the railroads which were privately owned and not regulated.
The railroads were very unfair to farmers and other small business owners and the public demeaned that something be done. The law was established to address the railroad’s unfair business practices, but it never became very effective and overtime the law was dissolved.
Cleveland ran for re-election in 1888, but he lost the White House to Benjamin Harrison.
In 1892, Grover Cleveland was inaugurated as the 24th President of the United States. He became the first and only President to win a second term that was not consecutive.
In 1893, Grover and Frances had a daughter named Esther who was the first child to be born in the White House. There was a depression during his second term. Eventually, the Democratic Party deserted him. President Cleveland did not seek a third term.
After leaving office, Cleveland and his family lived in Princeton New Jersey. They had three more children a daughter Marion, and two sons named Richard and Francis Grover.
On June 24, 1908, President Grover Cleveland died from heart failure.