Public Opinion or Grover Cleveland

Public Opinion

Author: Walter Lippmann

A penetrative study of democratic theory and the role of citizens in a democracy, this classic by a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner offers a prescient view of the media's function in shaping public perceptions. It changed the nature of political science as a scholarly discipline and introduced concepts that continue to influence political theory.

See also: Liderança de Criatividade:Habilidades aquela Modificação de Passeio

Grover Cleveland

Author: Henry F Graff

A fresh look at the only president to serve nonconsecutive termsHaving run for President three times, gaining the popular vote majority each time—despite losing the electoral college in 1892—Cleveland was unique in the line of nineteenth-century Chief Executives. Graff revives Cleveland’s rags-to-riches story, explaining how he fought to restore stature to the office in the wake of several weak administrations. A fascinating account of the political world that created American leaders before the advent of modern media.

Publishers Weekly

In this brief, excellent volume written for Arthur Schlesinger's American Presidents series, Columbia professor emeritus Graff (The Tuesday Cabinet) picks up the often neglected Grover Cleveland, dusts him off and reminds us how substantial he was. After serving as mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York, Cleveland (1837-1908) was the first Democrat to be elected president after the Civil War. He forced America's railroad titans to return 81,000,000 western acres previously granted by the federal government and regulated them with the Interstate Commerce Act. Although defeated in the electoral college by Benjamin Harrison in 1888, Cleveland won the popular vote, which set the stage for his return to the presidency in 1892 in the midst of nationwide depression. As usual, Cleveland acted decisively. He repealed the inflationary Sherman Silver Purchase Act and, with the aid of Wall Street, maintained the Treasury's gold reserve. When Chicago railroad strikers violated an injunction against further disruption, Cleveland dispatched federal troops. Cleveland's no-nonsense treatment of the strikers stirred many Americans, as did the way he forced Great Britain to accept arbitration of a disputed boundary in Venezuela. But many of Cleveland's hard-hitting policies during the depression proved unpopular in the long term; in 1896, his party nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. In clean, matter-of-fact prose, Graff sums up the plainspoken Cleveland as a man of action and uncompromising integrity a man who, though publicly identified as the father of a bastard child, nevertheless restored dignity to the office of the president in the wake of several weak administrations. (Aug. 20) Forecast: Because Cleveland lacks the popular appeal of Teddy Roosevelt or James Madison (with bios already published in this series), this fine volume may be more for completists. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

As part of the "American Presidents" series under the editorial direction of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., distinguished historian Graff (America: The Glorious Republic, to 1877) offers new insight into a President who is often overlooked. Best known as the only President to serve two nonconsecutive terms, Cleveland does indeed deserve Graff's fresh examination. The 1888 Presidential election was marked by one of the earliest and most virulent attacks on the personal behavior of a candidate when Cleveland was accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. But the candidate took full responsibility for the child (an act Graff refers to as "the gold standard" for such circumstances), and in the end the incident did not cause Cleveland to lose the election. Graff's examination of the 1888 election is one of the finest short reviews of that peculiar race available. Cleveland had a narrow view of the President's powers and did not exert the more expansive leadership that would characterize later Presidents. But he was an able administrator and pursued a clean-government agenda. This slim volume is a valuable addition to the literature on the Presidency and is a compelling argument for taking Cleveland seriously as a President. For political collections of public libraries.-Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Slender but deftly sketched assessment of our 22nd and 24th president. Physically imposing in life, Grover Cleveland is largely forgotten now, except for the oddity that he was the only president to have served two nonconsecutive terms in office (1885-89 and 1893-97). He deserves better from historians, argues Graff (Professor Emeritus, History/Columbia Univ.), who points out Cleveland's political domination of his time: a politician of integrity, sincerity, and decency at a time of widespread political corruption. As such, Cleveland won the popular vote for president three times in a row-he lost the electoral vote to Benjamin Harrison in 1888-and was revered by millions of his contemporaries. Compelled to forego college after the early death of his father, the young Cleveland settled down to read law in Buffalo. Cleveland quickly rose to prominence as a Buffalo attorney, and his close relationship with influential New York Democratic kingmaker Daniel Manning resulted in short, successful stints as mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York. In these early jobs, he established the themes of sound administration, resistance to pork-barrel politics, and general fairness that distinguished him later as president. In that office, he saw civil-service reform of government and articulated a foreign policy of fair play-he disapproved of the coup that overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy, for instance-that contrasted with the imperialism of successor Teddy Roosevelt. In Graff's study, striking differences between Cleveland's era and ours emerge: pretending disinterest while subordinates ran the campaign, Cleveland and his opponents passively "stood" for office instead of running for it. In addition,Cleveland was a "gray personality" whose coarse appearance, heavy body, and unspectacular memorized speeches might have disqualified him for the presidency in the age of television. Graff does not see Cleveland as a visionary figure, but as a transition between the 19th century's ideal of a limited presidency and our more expansive modern view of the office. An absorbing study of an undeservedly forgotten president.

Table of Contents:

	Editor's Note	xv
	Prologue	1
1.	Early Years	3
2.	A Career in Buffalo	12
3.	Governor of New York	21
4.	The Making of a President	43
5.	In the White House	67
6.	Defeated for Reelection	90
7.	An Interregnum	98
8.	The Return to Power	111
9.	End of the Road	130
	Epilogue	137
	Milestones	139
	Selected Bibliography	143
	Index	145