Somehow It Works
- A Story of U.S. Presidential Elections
by
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The Democrats who hadn’t had a President in the White House in twenty-eight years looked upon this election as a golden opportunity to regain some self-respect. This is the year to pull it off, they reasoned, with the Republican party displaying such a tainted candidate. In contrast to Blaine, the Democrats nominated the reform governor of New York, Stephen Grover Cleveland. Cleveland was a man of high integrity, thoroughly honest and highly principled. The Democrats referred to him as “Grover the Good”.
It was inevitable as the presidential campaign ground its way toward the election that the Mulligan Letters once more would make their presence felt. The Democrats made these letters the focus of their attention when in their torchlight parades they chanted as they marched down the busy streets of America, “James G. Blaine, James G. Blaine, the continental liar from the state of Maine, BURN THESE LETTERS, BURN THESE LETTERS!”
The Republicans now felt that they had to put Cleveland under the microscope. Nobody could be that good, they reasoned. They put their best men on the case to look into every conceivable aspect of Cleveland’s life. EUREKA! shouted the Republicans when it was discovered that Cleveland had earlier seduced a widow and was now the proud father of an eight year old boy.
The Democrats, upon learning of the Republicans’ discovery charged Cleveland to assume the role of a master politician and lie about it. “Tell the truth” was Cleveland’s instructions to his campaigners. He told them that he had cared for the child and had not a thing to be ashamed of. Reverend Henry Ward Beecher inadvertently cost Cleveland some votes with his misguided support when he stated, “If every New Yorker who violated the seventh commandment voted for Cleveland, he would win by a 200,000 plurality.” Nonetheless, the Republicans were now to give the Democrats a taste of their own medicine when, in their torchlight parades, they chanted, “Hey, Ma! Where’s my Pa!” (The Democrats were later able to answer, “Gone to the White House, Ha! Ha! Ha!”)
As election day neared, the Republicans were running scared. It would take a united Republican party to defeat the Democrats they felt. They knew the chances weren’t very good, but nevertheless they approached the Mugwumps and asked if they could see fit to support Blaine for the presidency. Their answer was swift and resolute, “We do not engage in criminal practice.” So much for the Mugwumps, the Republicans reasoned.
On the very eve of the election an incident occurred that all but sealed the fate of the Republican party. At a dinner given in honor of Blaine one of the speakers, a Reverend Burchard, stated that he personally would never vote for a president whose antecedents were a party of “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.” It would have been real shrewd if Blaine had paid attention to the Reverend (some say that a very tiring campaign resulted in Blaine grabbing a few winks.) Whatever the reason, Blaine did not clarify his position on that point. This statement was a slap in the face to all Catholics and it so happened that New York was to become the pivotal state in this election and New York voters were well represented by Catholics. Blaine's wife was a Catholic and while it may appear that Blaine did not share the conviction of Reverend Burchard, his silence made him appear suspect in the eyes of the Catholic voter. As it turned out, Cleveland won New York by a meager 1149 votes and with New York, the presidency. It is also extremely important to note that the Mugwumps voted for Cleveland in this election.
President Cleveland believed that “a public office is a public trust.” He doubled the classified list much to the disappointment of fellow Democrats who after twenty-eight years were eager to cash in on the spoils of victory.
A somewhat strange situation faced President Cleveland as he entered the White House. The government was faced with an embarrassing surplus in the treasury. The surplus came mainly from the high protective tariff levied on imports during the Civil War and which was continued following the war. The surplus was an evil because the money should have been in circulation to benefit a growing economy.
In an attempt to aid the government shed its embarrassment over the surplus two remedies were tossed about; the G.A.R., (an acronym for Grand Army of the Republic), came up with hundreds of pension bills for veterans of the Civil War. These bills were passed by Congress and sent to the President for his signature. The President, in investigating these bills found out that many of them were for deserters from the Union Army, some of the bills were for persons who never served in the armed forces of the United States, and some were for veterans who became disabled at their workplace and not from any service connected injury. Cleveland vetoed over 200 such bills
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About the Book
This book covers Presidential elections held in the United States from 1789 to 1996.
It is designed for the general audience as well as an excellent tool for collateral readings in Political Science and history classes.
Somehow it Works covers the candidates, issues, results, and significance of these elections, as mentioned previously. Events of Presidential administrations are limited to those of major significance and which played a major role in the President’s bid for reelection.
It is an informative and entertaining book written with enthusiasm and fluency, designed to capture and hold the attention of the reader.
About the Author
John McCloskey is a retired teacher of U.S. history. For twelve years he taught in the Coatesville, PA School District, and twenty-two years at Brandywine High School, Wilmington, DE, a part of the early Alfred I. du Pont School District and now part of the Brandywine School District.
His educational background consists of a B.S. from The University of Scranton, a masters degree from The University of Delaware and a masters plus thirty with an administrative certificate from The University of Delaware.
Mr. McCloskey and his wife, Marge, reside in Wilmington, DE, and are the parents of seven children, grandparents of sixteen and great-grandparents of one.