0:00

You're listening to an Airwave Media

0:03

Podcast. Where

0:05

was the fighting dynamo, the party leader of 1888,

0:08

ready to politic on principle, to take

0:10

the fight on the tariff issue and others? Where,

0:13

friends thought, was Grover Cleveland

0:15

to claim it? To a superior number

0:17

of popular votes.

0:19

Not in this letter. I have sent for

0:21

death and destruction, he wrote to

0:23

Daniel Lamont, his former gubernatorial

0:25

and presidential secretary. Death

0:27

and destruction

0:30

was Grover Cleveland's rifle.

0:54

If you like this podcast, can we recommend

0:57

another one? It's called Big Picture

0:59

Science. You can hear it wherever you get your

1:01

podcasts, and its name tells part of the

1:03

story. The big

1:04

picture questions and the most

1:06

interesting research in science.

1:09

Seth and I are the hosts. Seth is a scientist.

1:12

I am Molly, and I'm a science journalist. And we talk

1:14

to people smarter than us, and

1:16

we have fun along the way. The show is called Big

1:18

Picture Science, and as Seth said, you

1:20

can hear it wherever you get your podcasts.

1:24

I think there

1:26

ought to be a touching of

1:29

elbows on the presidential question.

1:32

You didn't get much out of Stephen Grover Cleveland,

1:34

but friends could read a lot in the little,

1:37

and there was a lot there enough

1:39

to make plans. There ought

1:41

to be a touching of elbows. Maybe

1:44

the former president was ready to leave

1:47

the old Dutch castle at 816

1:49

Madison Avenue in New York City. Set

1:52

aside his speeches on good government in George

1:55

Washington, which were starting to lack the old

1:57

zip.

1:58

Perhaps he could resist being a part of it. from his

2:00

young wife Frances, darling of Democratic

2:02

America, and his new baby Ruth. Maybe

2:06

he was ready to lead once again, and

2:08

even like it. Before this

2:11

moment, many of his friends had to ask, is

2:13

Grover gone? Allusions in his

2:15

letters to fishing rods and horses

2:17

were frequent. The gun room at Buzzards

2:20

Bay that he liked to visit. As 1889,

2:22

the year that he exited the presidency,

2:24

turned 1890, and even turned to 1891. Still,

2:30

in this letter,

2:31

the house is perfectly quiet, Bissell.

2:34

I have been up to find my wife and

2:36

child sleeping, and the nurse

2:38

too. I have just entered

2:41

the real world. Meaning,

2:44

the world of being a parent. Fame,

2:47

Bissell. Honor, Bissell. Place.

2:50

Everything are put aside when I see a small child.

2:54

This is touching to us, of course, but where

2:57

was the fighting dynamo, the party leader of 1888

3:00

ready to politic on principle, to take

3:02

the fight from the tariff issue and others, where,

3:05

friends thought, was Grover Cleveland

3:07

to claim it, to a superior number

3:09

of popular votes.

3:11

Not in this letter, I have sent for death

3:13

and destruction, he wrote to Daniel

3:15

Lamont, his former gubernatorial and presidential

3:18

secretary. I have sent for death

3:20

and destruction, and Mrs. Cleveland's

3:22

rifle too. He was at Saranac,

3:25

New York. He loved nothing more than

3:27

shooting ducks and shooting rabbits. He

3:29

wrote a book on that topic after his presidency

3:32

with specific instructions. Still

3:34

always the corruption fighter, to Lamont

3:36

he complained, that his fishing rod

3:38

came, and the vendor gave it to him for

3:41

free because he used to be president. I

3:43

insist I

3:44

must pay for it.

3:48

Why would anyone wish to run

3:50

for the presidency, he tells one well-wisher.

3:53

My nomination would lead to certain

3:55

defeat. My god,

3:58

his friend Gilder said, Grover's never

4:00

as happy as when he's tossed the presidency

4:02

away. A former president, all

4:05

the thunder of Washington, the District of Columbia,

4:07

and his fingers, letters, written

4:10

and franked, stamps, gears,

4:13

and greenbacks moved at his

4:15

word and his pen. Some 400,000 decisions

4:19

in a presidency, at least in his,

4:21

some 400,000 decisions.

4:24

He was a symbol of a crusade

4:26

now, the people's choice in hearts,

4:29

if not in

4:29

electoral votes. An honest

4:32

battle, spoken in truth. A

4:34

man entirely different from anyone

4:36

Politico's had seen before. He

4:39

summons the Speaker of the House,

4:41

Carl Eiland, tells him,

4:43

here is my view, and I want to

4:45

hear your opinion, but I must tell

4:47

you this is my opinion, and I

4:49

will continue to express this,

4:52

even if I am the only man in the country

4:55

doing so.

4:58

A Speaker of the House, who lived

5:00

by vote counting, could not believe

5:02

it. He would tell that story over and over again

5:05

for decades afterwards of

5:07

his summons,

5:08

of the look in his eyes when

5:10

he said, I'll be for this issue if

5:12

I'm the only man in the country. A

5:14

man in his words, not guided

5:17

by the Lorelei of politics.

5:19

This is popular, well regarded,

5:22

sheriff, elevated to the highest

5:24

office America could offer.

5:26

Now home, not in Washington,

5:29

in New York, yet his personal

5:31

reputation improved. Not

5:34

everyone in 19th century politics would

5:36

say that, but many did. He

5:38

was robbed, many did say.

5:41

He was robbed, millions said it. Choked

5:44

in the electoral college, the mechanism,

5:47

steam power conspiracy, republicats

5:50

and democlands, people switching

5:53

places and parties, bosses trading

5:55

favors in the streets of New York,

5:57

strangers wading into inner city.

5:59

districts, with waste bags full

6:02

of faithless men in tar-smoked clubs,

6:04

chattering upholstery, unkind

6:07

words.

6:08

Those things don't matter. In

6:11

Cleveland there was only principle. Not

6:14

ten of those four hundred thousand

6:16

decisions of his presidency he would reverse.

6:19

Not ten, he told his wife, his

6:22

secretary, his age-old running

6:25

mate, arthritic and valiant. Only

6:28

principle. It's all that matters. His

6:31

run for re-election, the first

6:33

time which he loses in the electoral

6:35

college in 1888, he describes as

6:39

a temporary defeat for a stand worth taking.

6:42

His wife Frances, married in the White

6:44

House. Legend says, tells

6:46

the White House servants not to change the curtains,

6:49

because they will be back. That's Frances

6:51

though. Now with all this rabbit

6:53

talk, letters dripping with candlelight

6:56

ambiguity, that he had too many enemies

6:59

in New York. They wouldn't be allowed

7:01

to win even if he won.

7:03

Best wishes in his letters for a good sensible

7:05

man, someone he could agree on, a good democrat could

7:08

run and take the office at his stead.

7:11

Other things, Colonel, he told

7:13

one letter writer. Other things, Colonel, command

7:15

my attention.

7:17

Other than these words, a touching

7:19

of elbows. Oh yes, of course.

7:22

At his command a touching of elbows would occur,

7:25

elbows would be touched. Five hundred

7:27

men in his gang would grab shoulders

7:29

for God's sakes. Senator from Kentucky,

7:32

for Senator from Michigan, a governor of Pennsylvania.

7:35

William C. Whitney, who had constructed

7:37

America's gunboat navy and resurfaced

7:40

the entire transit system of New York,

7:43

would get the machine going. He was ready,

7:45

but not a word, until Grover said

7:47

so.

7:48

Grover had been right too many times

7:50

about politics. But those

7:52

same friends remember the agonizing

7:55

over a simple trip to Rochester,

7:57

New York, a public appearance.

7:59

endless letter pings from worried

8:02

Cleveland for details. I'm anxious,

8:04

he said, let me know. I'll

8:06

be full of dust. I want to retire

8:08

to the hotel and then a quick, quiet

8:11

carriage ride through the park.

8:13

Shall I be greeted by the mayor

8:15

of Rochester? Shall there be a committee? That

8:18

I won't do. I can't be seen prowling

8:20

around. It's unseemly.

8:25

That's not what his political men wanted to hear, yet

8:28

more hints in letters as 1890 became 1891.

8:33

I would not shrink from duty. I cannot

8:35

forego offering my opinion on

8:38

political questions.

8:41

So the first thing to understand about Grover Cleveland,

8:43

who as of today remains the only

8:46

president to be elected again, nonconsecutively,

8:49

with another president serving in between,

8:52

is that he had won a popular vote in 1888.

8:56

What sunk him was that

8:58

he narrowly lost the state of New York,

9:01

with a Tomany Hall, powerful machine,

9:03

normally Democrat, but not like

9:05

in Grover Cleveland, the Democratic nominee

9:08

for president, at best sitting

9:10

on their hands and probably, rumors

9:13

say, helping Benjamin Harrison

9:15

into the White House, Republicans

9:17

having their own bosses, boss Matthew

9:20

Quay, on a vote-getting and

9:22

vote-suppressing effort. And the Empire

9:25

State, as it was never

9:26

seen before. New York State

9:28

was a much bigger chunk of the election in 1888 than

9:30

it is now, and Benjamin

9:32

Harrison enters the White House.

9:35

However, because Cleveland had stood

9:38

in the election on the issue of retrade,

9:41

that is, low tariffs,

9:44

made a speech about it right before

9:46

the election, something presidents were

9:48

not normally seen to do in this era,

9:51

but the thing that amazed that

9:53

speaker of the House, many thought he

9:56

was signing his political death warrant.

9:59

didn't work out for him but he was well set

10:02

up when Harrison and the Congress

10:04

passed Congressman William McKinley's

10:06

tariff bill raising tariffs on many

10:08

things largely unpopular raises

10:11

prices on common items particularly

10:14

tin the GOP loses the midterms

10:16

of 1890 badly and Harrison's

10:19

fighting with Republican bosses just like Cleveland

10:22

was and battling with a

10:24

rival his sickly secretary of state

10:27

James Blaine sick as he is

10:29

he still may

10:29

want Harrison's job or people will push him into

10:32

it particularly his son bring Cleveland

10:34

back the calls begin the Republicans

10:36

have no idea what they're doing the

10:38

answers in letters i

10:41

have no political ambition

10:43

i have indeed a complete lack

10:45

of it if

10:48

you hear about the 1892 election

10:50

at all in textbooks it's two things

10:53

you'll hear about the populists running

10:56

for the first time in a major way and

10:58

then you'll hear about this is Grover Cleveland's

11:00

comeback to non-consecutive terms

11:02

a little bit about that new party and all of that

11:04

but it might set the story to seem

11:07

like it's easier than it was that Cleveland

11:10

just sort of walked into it and

11:12

that's not it at all first

11:14

non-consecutive president yes now

11:17

not the first to try Grant's friends

11:20

would try to get him in 1880 then

11:22

narrowly lost at the convention then Buran

11:24

tried before him Filmore tried

11:27

trying to get a non-consecutive term Teddy

11:29

Roosevelt would try in 1912 but

11:31

did not happen for any of them after

11:34

all why didn't he win in 1888 he said it

11:36

was principal and stood on an issue but what

11:39

detractors raised is why

11:41

would you want to run a losing candidate

11:43

again what if it was not

11:45

principal but it was campaigning competence

11:48

and that was in many minds giving up the

11:50

presidency

11:52

as consequences that the

11:54

Cleveland forces are going to need to clear

11:56

to make their dream happen and in the story of

11:58

Cleveland's third election

11:59

election. Third nomination

12:02

for the presidency by his party. There's

12:05

issues straddling, vote begging, pandering,

12:08

non-pandering to pander in a different way,

12:10

the old, I don't need your vote, so give it

12:12

to me.

12:13

The attempt to be nobody's first choice,

12:15

but everybody's second. Fake

12:17

delegates. Cross-party

12:20

interference plots. Scarecrow

12:23

festivals. And snappers.

12:26

The theft of a city in broad daylight.

12:29

Anti-snapperism. Anti-egoism.

12:32

Too much goody-goody. And a little 19th

12:35

century side-eye all figure

12:37

in this story of steam

12:39

power politics.

13:02

Why should I have any desire to return

13:04

to the presidency? Cleveland writes

13:06

to George Parker. It involves

13:09

a responsibility beyond human strength.

13:12

That's a view of his in 1891. Now,

13:15

after another incumbent has been in office,

13:18

it's worse, Cleveland writes. It's worse

13:20

now, he

13:21

tells Parker.

13:22

As he'll be, in effect, the cleanup

13:24

man. Special interest have now used

13:27

up the treasury. It'll be so

13:29

much harder than being reelected

13:32

from a clean first term. Well, if superhuman

13:34

strength is needed, more than a few Clevelandites

13:37

think that he's got it. He has his enemies too.

13:39

Not all Democratic newspapers like Grover Cleveland.

13:42

Cleveland is the synonym of defeat.

13:44

So the New Haven mourning palladium.

13:46

His egotism is his best feature.

13:50

Intelligent Democrats are tired

13:52

of hearing there is no other choice

13:55

than the restorer Cleveland.

13:57

The Brooklyn Eagle said it was

13:59

weird. very weary of

14:01

Cleveland being spoken of as so

14:04

much better than his party. The

14:06

democracy has no use for men

14:08

who think that they are better than it. No,

14:13

democracy is a way at this time of referring

14:16

to the Democratic Party, the democracy. Too

14:18

much goody-good opined the Topeka Daily

14:20

Press, a newspaper of said democracy

14:23

who urged mole-eyed mugwubs

14:26

who supported Cleveland to move on. An

14:29

important thing to understand about 19th century politics,

14:32

particularly for the Democrats, is that you can think

14:34

of all of the issues in a triangle. Think

14:36

of all the issues as a triangle. Okay, on

14:38

one point we got tariff, another we

14:40

got civil service, and the other we got

14:43

money supply, a triangle. An average

14:45

Democrat in 1889 is say

14:48

should be for all three. Therefore

14:50

low tariffs,

14:52

that's taxes on imports, which at

14:54

this point is the only tax of significance

14:56

federal government has. It's also whiskey taxes, let's

14:59

not get into that.

15:00

Taxes on imports which protect manufacturers

15:04

but make things expensive because there's no

15:06

foreign competition. An

15:08

average Democrat is pro

15:10

civil service reform too. Why?

15:13

Because mostly Republican presidents have been in power

15:17

and have appointed most of their friends

15:19

to the civil service. And

15:22

civil service reform would

15:26

enable Democrats to remain in

15:28

office even under a Republican

15:30

president. So Democrats tended to be pushing

15:33

this since they were out of power so much. And

15:35

a good 1889 Democrat would be for silver

15:38

money, inflationary money, an attempt

15:40

to increase the supply of money. There

15:43

are a few issues but most relate

15:45

to those three points of the triangle.

15:48

Carref, silver, civil

15:52

service. There

15:56

are other issues you might be for better

15:59

relationship with. Britain that

16:01

has a little element of the triangle point. You

16:04

might be for reduced or expanded

16:06

pensions. You might be against

16:08

political machines or pro-business

16:10

or anti-corruption. Cleveland

16:13

checks two of these three 19th century

16:15

issue triangle points

16:18

just fine. He is for a

16:20

low tariff. He's one of his party's strongest

16:23

fighters for a low tariff. He's

16:25

a tariff pugilist. He has staked his

16:27

presidency and the 1888 election

16:29

on a speech demanding

16:31

a lower tariff. Check on that part of the triangle.

16:33

He's also for civil service reform and

16:36

he means it. It will be enforced

16:38

well under him as president and

16:40

he'll protect those in jobs even if

16:43

they're Republicans. He showed that in his

16:45

first term. He came in as a Democrat. Yes,

16:48

they replaced many Republicans

16:51

with Democrats but those specifically

16:53

protected by the Civil Service Reform

16:55

Act

16:56

were protected. And

17:00

some say Cleveland even went a little farther and

17:03

was in no hurry to rush all

17:05

the Republicans out the door in the name

17:07

of the spoil system. But

17:09

the third box, silver money,

17:12

Cleveland is decidedly not for.

17:15

He does not want to introduce silver or

17:18

any inflationary type money into the American

17:20

economy. Money should be based on the nation's

17:22

gold reserves.

17:24

He uses terms of psychology

17:27

to describe the opposite opinion. Lunacy,

17:30

craziness when he hears a talk of silver

17:33

money.

17:33

So on the map of the United States that puts Grover

17:36

Cleveland at odds with members of his party

17:39

from the West and the South.

17:42

Right where his own Democratic Party

17:44

is strongest. That

17:46

definitely puts him at odds with most

17:48

of the party's members. Well how

17:50

the heck then did he get a nomination for

17:53

this party? He ran in 1884 and

17:56

won the White House by

17:59

the nomination. nation of a party that

18:01

doesn't agree with him on this major

18:04

issue that he's forceful about. That's

18:06

right, he did. The thing

18:08

is, Democrats want to win the White House

18:11

and you don't win the White House in the 1880s or the

18:13

1890s without New

18:16

York. A silver

18:19

right, it's thought, isn't

18:21

going to win New York State. And

18:24

so everybody dances.

18:28

People support their second

18:30

choice. Oh, I'd really like a silver

18:32

right to win the Democratic nomination, but if

18:34

we can't do that, I'd

18:36

support Grover Cleveland. That's kind of the way 1884

18:40

went. The goody-goody

18:42

GOP members, you know, people like

18:45

Teddy Roosevelt, but not

18:47

him. He stayed with the GOP party in the 1884 election,

18:50

but people like him and people who had been like

18:52

his father, sometimes called mugwumps,

18:55

reforming Republicans who don't want

18:57

to see so much cronyism and corruption.

19:01

They'll support Cleveland even as a Democrat

19:04

because they know he'll be good on this issue, on

19:06

good government. Cleveland wins,

19:09

but it's achingly close in 1884, almost loses that

19:12

election as a party. Do you

19:14

want that compromise again? That's the question everyone's

19:17

asking. Why should you take only two of the

19:19

three boxes of your party?

19:24

As the calendar pages turn, why

19:26

there's a new face. David

19:28

B. Hill, bold and mustached

19:31

from a small village in New York, a lawyer

19:34

on the big, but don't be fooled.

19:37

He's not just some village lawyer, he is with

19:39

Tomany Hall.

19:47

The satchel that controls New York City's

19:49

political

19:50

levers. When

19:52

Guevara Cleveland becomes president, Hill

19:55

takes his spot as governor and not in

19:57

a friendly way. He's no friend.

19:59

It's don't let the door hit you. In

20:02

the 1890 elections, the midterms, Democrats

20:04

win big. And in New York State, they

20:06

particularly win big.

20:08

The praise flows. Hill is

20:11

swell.

20:12

And he's united the Democrats,

20:15

winning their first big win after

20:17

the 88 loss. He's a uniter

20:19

where Steve Cleave is a divider.

20:27

Moneypickle.com,

20:27

here's the situation.

20:29

You don't know what to do about your finances.

20:32

You're being pulled in so many directions.

20:34

You're being told to do so many different

20:36

things. Should I invest in the stock market? Should

20:38

I put it into a bank account? Buy a

20:40

house? What do you do?

20:43

Don't ask me, I'm the history guy. Ask

20:46

moneypickle.com. If

20:48

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20:50

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20:54

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22:09

Hutchinson, Minnesota had some problems. For

22:12

the adults of Hutchinson, the problem was the teenagers.

22:14

They kept sneaking off at night to empty barns where

22:16

they'd brace yourself, dance. Who

22:19

knew what sort of sin and heavy petting and French

22:21

literature these barn dances might lead to. No,

22:24

the adults of Hutchinson, Minnesota did not

22:26

approve. And neither, it seemed, did

22:28

the devil. One summer night, Satan

22:30

himself suddenly appeared in the middle of the dance

22:32

floor, and the debauched teens ran in

22:34

fear. He showed up at the next dance, too.

22:37

For a few months, it seemed like you couldn't go to a late

22:39

night barn dance in Hutchinson without getting chased

22:42

out by the devil, pitchfork in tow. Until

22:44

one night, when a 14-year-old boy had the good

22:47

sense to shoot him in the chest. At which point

22:49

the devil was revealed, Scooby-Doo style but bloodier,

22:51

to be the local Methodist minister, dressed

22:54

in a costume and flown in from the roof by

22:56

rope and pulley. This is

22:58

The Constant, a history of getting things wrong. I'm

23:00

Mark Chrysler. Every episode, we look at the accidents,

23:03

mistakes, and bad ideas that helped misshape

23:05

our world. Find us at ConstantPodcast.com

23:09

or wherever

23:09

you get your podcasts.

23:15

Where's David Hill's issue triangle? On

23:17

paper, he's the same as Grover Cleveland. This

23:19

is the weird thing. For a guy that's

23:22

a rival, he's coming from the exact place.

23:24

He has two points in the triangle, technically.

23:26

Tariffs low, check. Civil

23:28

service, he's pro that. And he's

23:30

for hard money, all like Cleveland and

23:33

on that money issue against two-thirds of his party.

23:36

But that isn't going to get him

23:39

Western Democrats for a nomination, so

23:42

he juggles.

23:49

And David Hill, as newspapers

23:52

say, is an artful juggler. One

23:54

of the best. While

23:58

Hill is for low tariffs. just like Gerber

24:00

Cleveland, he represents an Eastern state

24:03

with lots of industry, and

24:05

he's avoided that label that

24:08

they attach to low-tower folks, free

24:11

traders.

24:13

Hill is not going to be called a

24:15

free trader. Cleveland

24:17

embraces that title. Hill does not.

24:20

Hill will also cover

24:22

farm products and protect

24:25

sugar and cotton with special tariffs.

24:29

In terms of civil service, it's a similar

24:31

thing. Well, sure, as long as the GOP

24:33

is in office, we should have a protected

24:36

civil service. But

24:38

when Democrats win, it's

24:40

kind of let the jobs flow. And

24:43

there he differs from Cleveland a lot

24:45

too. He won't be grumbly like

24:47

Cleveland. Government jobs are for

24:49

the winners. Then you

24:51

get to the money supply issue. Here, there

24:53

should be no possible juggle. David

24:56

Hill is for gold money, for a hard money

24:58

supply. You don't win the Empire

25:00

State with a silver right platform.

25:03

He even personally thinks that those silver rights are

25:05

crazy schemers, babbling things

25:07

on paper to get votes that aren't going

25:09

to work, that could destroy the country.

25:12

That puts him right with Cleveland. Yet

25:14

a newspaper said he had a way to

25:17

have you focused on the balls in motion and

25:19

not the juggler's hands. He

25:23

speaks at Cooper Union, New York, that place

25:25

that you spoke at in the 19th century.

25:27

Lincoln spoke there. And he can command

25:29

attention. I am for free

25:32

bi-metallism, he said.

25:37

The hell is free bi-metallism?

25:38

Basically this. Use gold money

25:41

or use silver money. But if you use silver money, it's

25:43

at the rate that it's worth in the market. Not

25:46

artificially inflated like silver

25:48

rights wanted. This allows him to attack

25:50

both Republicans who recently

25:53

caved to their own silver right faction,

25:55

adopting an act to require the government

25:57

to buy silver. Our policy

25:59

has the money supply on impregnable ground.

26:02

So what David Hill does in case it's

26:04

not clear is rather than take a stand and

26:06

say, you know, we should be for silver money, or

26:09

we should be for gold money. He

26:11

removes the metal out of it and

26:13

says he's for free by metalism. He

26:16

concentrates on the free part. Hill

26:18

is for freedom. Use what money you

26:21

want,

26:22

but we're going to protect it by saying, if

26:24

you use silver money, it's only worth the

26:26

silver value, which

26:29

is not a lot. It's

26:31

not artificially inflated. And

26:36

then he hits Cleveland on this. Cleveland's

26:38

right on the issue. He's wrong on style. He's

26:41

too committed. He's too committed to

26:43

the issue that I also support. He's dividing

26:45

us from our friends in the party. The

26:47

Republicans have him scared.

26:50

They conned him into convulsing

26:52

at their scarecrow festivals. He

26:55

jokes professing so

26:58

much about gold that many in the West

27:00

won't touch him and won't touch our party. There's

27:02

so much there. And, and for

27:05

anyone who thinks that like politics

27:07

were simpler in the 19th century and all

27:09

these complexities,

27:12

what Hill is basically saying is Republicans

27:16

are interfering with our politics. That's something that

27:18

happens now. Like Democrats jump

27:21

into Republican primaries with some kind of sneaky

27:23

ads and sometimes Republicans do the same.

27:26

You know, they're seeing it.

27:28

They're trying to call you Democrats

27:31

out who are hard money Democrats and get you

27:33

to start convulsing at their scarecrow festivals.

27:35

In other words, be, you know,

27:37

make statements that are so strong

27:40

on hard money that you're angering the

27:42

rest of the party. So we'll nominate someone

27:44

who can't possibly win the general election.

27:47

It's a complicated argument that Hill makes,

27:49

but he's booming. Carter Harrison, the former mayor

27:51

of Chicago and now newspaper owner

27:53

who thinks that the reason he

27:55

lost his mayoral election is

27:58

the papers were were

28:00

too critical of them. So he

28:02

bought Chicago Times.

28:04

Now he gets involved.

28:06

I'm a, I want a Western candidate, he says.

28:09

He's really powerful in Chicago among Democrats.

28:13

I want a Westerner. I want a Silverite, but I'll

28:15

take Hill as my second choice. Zingo.

28:19

This is where Hill wants to be

28:21

politically.

28:23

Now Hill towards the South. And

28:25

no, it's not an official presidential campaign,

28:27

of course. It's just a statue dedication

28:29

here, a festival there.

28:32

Oh, going to see an old friend. There

28:34

he was. Hat, shiny

28:36

buttons, Crimson and Indigo Bunting,

28:39

Nashville, Atlanta, Jackson,

28:42

Mississippi, a vote begging tour.

28:44

The Atlanta Journal snips in

28:46

Jackson, a sign of the new America.

28:48

Pete Longstreet, Daniel Sickles,

28:51

a Confederate and Union general

28:53

sitting behind to listen

28:55

to none other than David Hill, the new force

28:58

of the Democratic party.

28:59

Grover Cleveland starts getting ladders, you

29:03

know, and from some of the friends,

29:06

it's like, oh, Grover,

29:09

it's a flop. Hill is

29:11

terrible. The speeches are falling flat,

29:13

but the news coverage for Hill is good. And

29:16

Cleveland's Mississippi friend

29:18

Justice Lamar is saying, man,

29:21

I expected better from are

29:23

here at Hill's rally. It

29:25

was skillfully planned. And

29:28

just in reviewing the letters of Grover

29:31

Cleveland and some of the biographies,

29:34

you see a little change. Nothing

29:36

inspires anyone like a rival,

29:38

right? Cleveland tells Bissell and Lamont,

29:41

we'd be fooled to be hauled off by Hill

29:43

and his gang to another reporter who suggested

29:46

that Cleveland was out of the running. So

29:48

a reporter is trying to kind of call him out by

29:50

saying, well, Cleveland said he's not running,

29:52

right? Cleveland responds,

29:54

when I say I'm out of the running,

29:57

y'all be the first to know I will not

29:59

read the information. about by

30:01

busy bodies who speculate

30:04

what impression is left alleged in their

30:06

minds.

30:08

But let's back up a bit. In 1891, House Democrats

30:11

float a silver purchase bill of their own. The

30:13

Republicans have done it, and now they do

30:16

it. It's going to be dead in the Senate, but Democrats

30:18

have the House and they're putting it forward

30:20

now. The money supply is shifting,

30:23

though. That

30:25

issue is shifting. Some hard-money

30:27

Democrats, gold bugs, you might say, who

30:30

had been for only hard money while

30:33

President Cleveland was in office, shift

30:35

to entertaining silver now that Cleveland's

30:38

not in office.

30:39

A curious roundabout occurs. Rumors

30:42

spread that Cleveland has changed

30:44

his mind. People are, in

30:46

effect, speaking for him again. He's

30:49

written a letter, they say, to Senator Dickinson

30:52

of Michigan.

30:53

Dickinson says, that's preposterous.

30:55

There's no letter. But the rumors,

30:58

amazingly,

31:00

don't die. People still ask

31:02

for this Dickinson letter, where Cleveland

31:04

allegedly changed his opinion on the money question.

31:06

Then they say,

31:09

he's written a letter to George Vest of Kentucky.

31:11

He promised that he's for silver now. Vest

31:14

also denies, I don't have

31:16

any letter. But he goes a little further. He

31:18

suggests that I think Cleveland knows it's

31:20

plausible to consider soft money ideas.

31:23

It's all speculation, which Cleveland

31:26

abhor that the senator engaged in. Bissell,

31:29

other friends, tell Cleveland,

31:32

ignore this, boss. Please

31:34

stay quiet. And

31:36

then he's invited to speak at

31:39

a dinner of the Reform Club. The

31:41

Reform Club is for hard money, also

31:43

for low

31:44

tariffs. They want him to speak to this issue

31:47

and to state his position plainly. It's

31:49

my duty, he tells friends. I'm

31:51

supposed to be the leader of a party. He writes

31:54

a letter

31:55

to the head of that Reform Club,

31:57

who he knows will make the

31:59

first. page of all the

32:02

newspapers. He declines the

32:04

invitation and thank you very much. I can't speak at the

32:06

dinner, but I will say this.

32:08

Silver money schemes are dangerous

32:10

and reckless. Reaction

32:14

is mixed. Big sound

32:16

and wise. Politics, a correspondent

32:19

from the Boston Post says. Let the fools

32:21

have it direct. We know where Cleveland

32:23

stands. Yet his biographer Alan

32:26

Nevins says, he

32:27

is now the Ajax marked

32:30

by his defiance. He's

32:32

sticking out there as a person associated

32:35

with the issue, in this case silver money.

32:37

An issue that has the opposition of the

32:39

two-thirds of his party.

32:42

And so even his friend Bissle,

32:46

his friend Lamont asks him, can

32:48

you change your letter? Can you write a second

32:51

letter? Just change it because I think

32:54

it is being manipulated

32:56

to make you look like an ultra.

32:58

He's

32:58

what in Cleveland and not so

33:00

many words says, yeah I

33:03

am an ultra. He says, Lamont

33:05

I've never felt better since I left the presidency.

33:08

Meanwhile Hill

33:11

now issues an interesting line of attack even though

33:13

he is for hard money. Oh, Cleveland

33:15

foolishly went knee deep in for

33:18

it. He has run us into collision with

33:20

our fellow Democrats and

33:22

wrecked our chances in 1892. Not only that, there's

33:25

reports now that the rumors

33:28

about Cleveland switching to silver

33:31

money policy were actually set

33:34

up. There's an article in the Boston Post

33:36

that Republicans had actually inspired

33:39

some of the Cleveland is for silver talk

33:41

to get Cleveland out on the issue and to

33:43

drive a big old wedge between Democrats.

33:48

Hill's got something else. He's governor

33:50

of New York and senator

33:52

at the same time. No one else has done this

33:55

since. He's generally by convention supposed

33:57

to give up the governorship

33:59

but he doesn't.

33:59

on to both. In New York State,

34:03

he changes all kinds of things, keeping

34:05

the Tammany Tiger happy with the right appointments.

34:08

And down in DC, his favored

34:11

Speaker of the House, Charles Crisp

34:14

of Georgia Gets the Gavel, Cleveland,

34:16

would have hoped for Roger Q. Mills of Texas,

34:19

a hard-money purist. On the tariff

34:21

issue,

34:22

both Crisp and Mills are ostensibly in

34:24

the same place, but Speaker

34:27

Crisp is going to appoint to the committee

34:29

that

34:31

would introduce tariff legislation a high

34:33

tariff supporter. So

34:36

it's effectively Crisp, who's

34:38

an ally of Hill, killing the tariff issue

34:41

that Grover Cleveland would like to see pursued. Hill

34:43

enters the Senate to a King's celebration.

34:46

You now hear Cleveland writing to Justice

34:49

Lamar and saying, no one shall say

34:51

I should refuse to serve in

34:53

a time of evil.

34:55

He'll do it if he's called to do it.

34:57

It's enough for his supporters to start to get to work.

35:00

And it's here where

35:03

Hill makes his fatal mistake,

35:06

compounded by a second one that his

35:08

allies make. The New York Democrats

35:10

call a convention to pick

35:13

their 1892 Democratic

35:15

delegates, the ones that will go to the convention

35:17

in Chicago, and

35:19

they set the convention time for the New

35:21

York convention in February 1892.

35:24

It's very cold in February.

35:27

Albany, where the convention will be

35:29

held, is at the center of the state.

35:32

The city delegates that can easily arrive

35:34

in Albany, even in the cold weather, are

35:36

from New York City.

35:38

Delegates from far upstate

35:40

will have much more trouble reaching there. Eyebrows

35:44

are raised, including

35:46

one big one. A reporter asks

35:49

Cleveland what he thinks. Here's

35:53

from the New York World, April 1892, capturing Cleveland's

35:57

comments, with a broad

35:59

smile. the ex-president continued, what

36:01

you tell me is quite interesting. You see, I

36:04

know so little about the matter. What

36:06

does Mr. Crocker, the head of a town

36:08

he say? He thinks it's all right. He believes

36:10

young men in innovations and may want

36:13

to run over to Europe and back before

36:15

June 1st.

36:19

He believes in young men.

36:20

He believes in innovations

36:22

and may want to run over to Europe and

36:24

back before June 1st. Again,

36:27

Mr. Cleveland's face was the picture

36:29

of innocent merriment, but

36:31

he only remarked in a very general way that he

36:33

was glad to hear of men in public life who

36:36

did not allow politics to interfere with their

36:38

personal affairs. The utmost good

36:40

humor was apparent in every muscle of

36:42

his face. Asked to make

36:44

a statement for a quotation, Mr. Cleveland

36:47

said in the drollest possible manner, the

36:49

State Committee has selected a historic day.

36:53

I hope the weather will be fine. Cleveland's

36:56

side eye is obvious to the reporter

36:59

and everybody,

37:00

and it gets the issue rolling.

37:03

Why is this convention being held in February

37:05

just to elect someone, Tominy

37:07

wants, probably. In New York, state

37:10

protests against this snap convention

37:13

are loud. Demands are made for

37:15

a new convention, and it's met with refusal.

37:18

A group from Buffalo, a thousand

37:20

people nominated a convention

37:23

to go to Chicago in protest. These

37:25

anti-snappers. It had no

37:28

chance of being seated, but the anti-snap

37:30

group

37:30

showed people in other areas

37:33

that Cleveland had real support in New York

37:35

State. Papers in New

37:37

York, writing articles about this story, are relayed

37:40

to papers around the country. And

37:42

when Democratic delegates in the Western

37:45

states see what Hill is doing and

37:47

don't like it, some state delegations

37:50

in Kentucky this happens.

37:52

Even though there's a pro silver delegation,

37:54

they'll support Cleveland. They want to win.

37:56

Not only this, Tammany

37:59

Hall and the city government aligned

38:01

with Hill and the state legislature

38:03

aligned with Hill pass in New

38:06

York an elections inspector bill

38:08

which is designed to allow Tammany control

38:10

over the voting.

38:12

The theft of a city Harper's Magazine

38:14

screams. Right when Hill doesn't

38:16

need it, right when he'd like to take the presidency

38:19

away out of Grover Cleveland's hands,

38:21

there's bad publicity.

38:24

Here's an oven. By the beginning

38:27

of May 1862 the Hill boom had

38:29

completely collapsed. Rhode Island in March

38:32

held the second state convention and Hill

38:34

and his aides go and make earnest

38:36

efforts to carry it and open negotiations

38:39

with Rhode Island leaders but all in vain.

38:41

The state chooses Cleveland delegates.

38:44

Then in Georgia the noisily advertised

38:46

strongest state for Hill in the south.

38:49

Despite Speaker Crisp working

38:52

for him saying Hill would be better, Hill

38:54

would stand up for Georgia if

38:56

there was a force bill placed upon it

38:58

more aggressively than Cleveland would. Yes

39:01

that's sad after all this time right we're

39:03

looking back and it's basically a

39:05

contest in the Democratic it's not a

39:07

primary in the Democratic convention contest

39:10

over who will be president in Georgia's deciding

39:12

based on who will let us be racist

39:14

more Cleveland or Hill.

39:16

This is the south in this time. As

39:19

Nevin says it is in the peach state

39:21

where the prostration of the Hill

39:23

boom showed he was utterly beaten.

39:26

Georgia elects delegates for Cleveland

39:28

as well. There's still a little work. Whitney

39:30

running the show as Cleveland's campaign manager

39:33

has to deal with a revolt in Montana. He

39:36

has to smooth over Hill supporters in

39:38

New York City before the convention. He

39:40

holds a conference at his house to choreograph

39:43

things. He has meetings in the Palmer

39:45

house in Chicago.

39:48

He wins over James Smith, the New

39:50

Jersey Hudson County boss, the

39:52

entire New Jersey delegation goes to

39:54

Cleveland. If Tammany Hall won't

39:56

go he'll

39:57

find another machine. James

40:00

Smith is young now, but later he'll be butting

40:02

heads with President Woodrow Wilson.

40:05

So it's

40:07

pretty well wrapped up by the time you get to

40:09

June 23rd and June 24th in Chicago 1892, the

40:13

Democratic Convention starts.

40:16

William Whitney comes to Chicago and he

40:18

tells Cleveland he's having meetings

40:20

at the Parker House. He's got to

40:22

push votes away. He's getting so many supportive

40:25

delegates for him.

40:26

But we should say it's

40:28

the 19th century and no conventions

40:31

are really totally wrapped up. You

40:33

don't have primaries. You don't have delegates

40:35

who are kind of bound to vote a certain way.

40:38

Though you have the word of a state delegation leader

40:40

to one campaign or another. Sure. But

40:43

there's a famous quote from

40:45

William Jennings Bryan where

40:47

he said basically a convention is like

40:49

a human animal. You just don't know

40:52

what's going to happen.

40:53

And four years

40:55

after this, William Jennings Bryan

40:57

is going to be the beneficiary of that

41:00

kind of animal magnetism. They're

41:02

going to pick him up and carry him away

41:05

and nominate him for president.

41:06

Four years earlier, this

41:09

is Tammany Hall's moment to do

41:12

just that. They ran out of every

41:14

political weapon that

41:16

they could use with the S.N.O.P. Convention,

41:18

lost the support of

41:21

delegates. And now there's

41:23

an attempt to pull at the delegates

41:25

heartstrings.

41:27

Hey, if you all went

41:30

on a crusade for Cleveland, maybe

41:32

we can swing you back to Hill or

41:35

someone else at this point. And they've got a

41:37

secret weapon. One of their best speakers.

41:40

One of the best orators of the time,

41:42

Burke Cochran. And just

41:45

so you know, he's going to have a long career speaking

41:48

going to go into the twenties and

41:50

Burke Cochran is going to be

41:52

a model, an inspiration,

41:55

a mentor even for Winston

41:57

Churchill.

41:59

When you hear that Churchill speech,

42:02

remember his influence is Burke Cochran.

42:05

That's who Tammany Hall's got lined up to

42:07

speak for their cause.

42:09

Maybe, just

42:11

maybe, he can move

42:13

some people. At minimum, in

42:15

this noisy convention, they're

42:20

gonna stop and listen to him. And

42:22

Tammany hopes he can get a stampede

42:24

going. The final session, just

42:27

before the balloting, begins at five

42:29

o'clock in the afternoon. And now

42:31

the speakers start. And

42:34

from five to seven,

42:37

people are nominating their choice for

42:40

candidate, either Hill

42:42

or Cleveland or a few others, home

42:44

state candidates, seven

42:46

o'clock, eight o'clock, nine

42:48

o'clock, state after state, hour

42:51

after hour, 10 o'clock, 11,

42:54

speaker after impassioned speaker

42:56

until

42:58

it's 1.30 in the morning

43:01

and it's still going. The crowd of 15,000

43:03

become so restless. Speakers

43:06

are now just being shouted at by

43:08

the mass. Nevan says that speakers

43:11

were being shouted at and heard only practically

43:13

in pantomime.

43:15

A great orator from Virginia speaking

43:17

and he can't even be heard. It's

43:20

raining too and thunders heard and the

43:22

sound of the thunder mixes

43:25

with the unruly crowd. You can't tell which

43:28

is which. People shouting or the thunder.

43:31

There's rain coming into the stadium

43:33

in Chicago and it's through the leaking

43:35

roof.

43:36

And in some cases onto the platform and people

43:38

there getting wet.

43:42

And at this moment, the figure emerges. Burley

43:48

Irishman, Burke Cochran starts making his way

43:50

to the platform. He's tired and he has a cold

43:52

and he'd rather rest right

43:55

now. In fact, he asks the

43:58

question, what's the problem? I'm not sure. The

44:00

men at the platform, can we have a recess?

44:03

Cleveland forces shake their head. They want the matter

44:05

decided. Now they don't want people thinking overnight.

44:08

He won't get the votes for a recess.

44:11

And so Cochrane goes on.

44:14

Here's Nevins. Cochrane launched into

44:16

his speech quietly, his mellow,

44:19

penetrating voice, that slight

44:21

Irish accent agreeably reaching

44:23

its flavor, reaching every

44:26

part of the hall.

44:27

His manner and diction were perfect. It

44:29

fell into place with the precision of a cut

44:31

and polished block. Now

44:33

what was he saying? Essentially his

44:36

message is Democrats, be

44:38

Democrats, break the spell, vote

44:41

for Democrats, wheel Democrats, do

44:43

not support anyone who's raised

44:46

by those who will attack this party.

44:48

I know you like Grover Cleveland. I

44:50

know because he was the first Democratic

44:53

president since the Civil War.

44:55

I know he's popular, Cochrane says,

44:57

but it's a popularity based

45:00

on the fact that his opponents speak well

45:02

of him, but will not vote

45:04

for him. It's delusive.

45:07

It may arouse enthusiasm for months

45:10

before the election, but it produces

45:12

disappointment for four years

45:14

after the election. And on that,

45:17

there's cheers from those who support

45:19

Tomany and there's boos from those who support

45:21

Cleveland. Cleveland is

45:24

a popular man. Every

45:26

day of the year except one and that's

45:28

election day.

45:31

This was a speech seconding Hill's nomination

45:34

and Burke Cochrane continues. At least 25,000 Union

45:37

war veterans in New York will not vote

45:40

for Cleveland.

45:41

Cleveland had not served in the Civil War.

45:44

General Daniel E. Sickles is now in

45:46

the audience and arises from the center aisle

45:48

and is visible to many. And he's recorded

45:50

as saying, never, never,

45:53

agreeing with Cochrane. He's not a Cleveland

45:55

supporter. It is said that

45:58

there is an independent element that will accept a... certain

46:00

candidates to your other, that there's an

46:02

element that will support

46:05

the man while they continue

46:07

to deride and denounce the party. He's

46:09

talking about the mugwamps. He's talking

46:11

about the idea that you keep saying to vote for

46:14

Cleveland because there are Republicans

46:16

in New York state that will turn around and vote for it. He

46:19

said, yes, but

46:20

they'll continue to bash this party

46:23

while supporting the man Cleveland. What

46:25

kind of candidate is that? I

46:27

have never known the Republican that I am not

46:29

willing to welcome into the other party if he professes

46:32

a desire to be a Democrat. God forbid

46:34

that this party, whose growth is the

46:36

hope of a generation, should close its doors.

46:39

But

46:39

what we do protest against in New York

46:42

is that our party shall surrender

46:44

into control of those who despise

46:47

and dislike it, and that one

46:49

man may be exalted and the Democratic

46:51

host may be degraded. Two

46:54

o'clock in the morning becomes 2.15,

46:57

and there's no sign that this

46:59

man has a cold or anything like it. He's

47:02

fully engaged. For three quarters

47:04

of an hour, Nevins says, he

47:07

held his exhausted audience in absorbed attention.

47:10

He addresses the people that are asking

47:12

Tammany Hall, will they be loyal? If

47:14

the convention dominates Cleveland, will

47:16

they be loyal?

47:18

Today we have a united

47:20

delegation from all the state with

47:23

the history that I have mentioned behind

47:25

you, warning you, gentlemen,

47:27

that this step which you are about to take is fraught

47:29

with imminent peril to the Democratic

47:32

Party. But

47:34

you remind me of my profession of loyalty. You remind

47:36

me of the glorious history of

47:38

the organization which I am identified,

47:41

which rocked the cradle of liberty

47:43

and furled in the banner of democracy

47:46

when Jefferson was elected,

47:48

watched over our liberties through the

47:50

darkest hours, and

47:52

from its home in 14th Street, when

47:55

there was barely a hustling upon which

47:57

the Democratic fate could be proclaimed.

48:00

Throughout the northern states you remind

48:02

me of that glorious history and you say to

48:04

me that we must be loyal I

48:07

gen We of

48:09

the regular democracy will be loyal

48:12

to the party. We will be loyal

48:14

no matter who is select But

48:17

they know at the faithful and

48:19

not comprised within the ranks of militants

48:22

the Organizations that must bear

48:24

the brunt of the day. We will go

48:26

back to our people if you send us back

48:29

We will take the Commission which you place in

48:31

our hands We will submit to

48:33

the indignity and the outrage and

48:35

we will try to undo all we've done for

48:37

the eight years We will try to take those

48:40

two irreconcilable elements the

48:42

mugwumps and the Democrats and fuse

48:44

them

48:45

into a mighty force for victory In

48:48

November next

48:50

but let me warn you gentlemen

48:52

That the professions of nine years in

48:55

the lessons of nine years cannot be undone

48:57

in three months These

48:59

men who have been taught by us to

49:01

believe That the mugwump

49:03

was the natural fall of the universal

49:06

suffrage means enemy opponent

49:08

of

49:09

Universal suffrage and of free

49:11

democratic institutions the

49:13

hostility to democracy was

49:15

based on the fact But it was the party

49:17

of the horny-hearted and the brow that

49:19

sweated and toiled you see Cochran's

49:22

really smart here He's telling this crowd of

49:24

Democrats You're gonna go back send

49:27

us back to our state and say all

49:29

the people that we opposed all these years who told

49:31

you voters That you're nothing

49:33

but lousy working-class people

49:36

that now we're allies If we go back and

49:38

tell them now these men are after

49:40

all the true exponents of democratic faith

49:43

They will doubt our sincerity and refuse

49:45

the ticket or else

49:47

they will concede our sincerity They

49:49

will visit us with their contempt and

49:52

of both events the ticket will be minutes

49:54

with disaster

49:56

Now remember that it takes not much of an abstention

49:59

from the polls

49:59

to damage democratic prospects. So

50:02

here's Cochrane making his own

50:04

elective. This is a double electability

50:07

argument. The Cleveland forces are saying,

50:09

you got to vote for Cleveland because he's

50:11

electable. Cochrane's now saying,

50:14

you think he's electable? Not a New York state where

50:16

you need, look what happened in 88. Both

50:18

people making this electability argument.

50:21

Built upon the solid rock of democratic

50:23

harmony, democratic unity,

50:26

democratic enthusiasm,

50:28

and the people

50:30

to whom you have trusted will repay

50:32

your confidence by majority so decisive

50:36

that Republican profits throughout the nation will

50:38

undergo the same blight they have received in the state

50:40

whose triumphant democracy asks you now

50:43

only for the permission to assure you

50:45

a democratic victory in

50:47

November. It's 2

50:50

45 a.m when Cochrane finishes and the

50:53

hall erupts in applause. Even people

50:55

for Cleveland at this point are looking

50:58

at this guy at 2 45 in the morning still speaking

51:01

and are amazed and they

51:03

know it's over too and they're applauding.

51:06

Any booze happening now or ground

51:08

out because after all the end of his speech was

51:11

about how great the democratic voters

51:13

were.

51:14

There's now an attempt again to to

51:16

adjourn. It's refused and

51:19

at 2 50 a.m they start

51:21

the balloting for president. Henry

51:24

Cabot Lodge is from the opposing party

51:27

but he says, how very fine I

51:29

thought your speech was.

51:31

Strong, conclusive, dignified

51:34

as it seemed to me. All

51:36

listened with rapt attention. But

51:39

few Democrats on the convention floor

51:41

were swayed. As Nevin said, Tammany

51:44

threw out its thunderbolt

51:46

but the spell was not broken. Hill

51:49

gets 114 delegates, a

51:52

silverite gets 103 and Grover Cleveland gets 617 delegates and

51:55

the nomination. It

51:59

is a funeral

51:59

said one newspaper of Hill.

52:02

Here's Jane Ford Rhodes' History of the United

52:05

States, 1852 to 1896. The

52:07

Democratic Convention assembled in Chicago

52:09

on June 21st and declared for a tariff

52:12

for revenue only and denounced the

52:14

McKinley Bill as the culminating

52:16

atrocity of class legislation.

52:19

Don't forget, this tariff issue

52:21

is a class issue. And it's the issue

52:23

on which Grover Cleveland and most of these

52:25

Democrats in the hall are at least going

52:28

to appear or appeal that

52:30

they're on the side of the working man

52:33

because of

52:34

low prices. Both conventions straddled

52:36

on the silver question. Cleveland was

52:38

now in their nominee. It would have been the height of absurdity

52:41

to run them on the free silver platform, Rhodes'

52:43

rights, which of course he would have promptly repudiated.

52:46

As Senator Vest from Kentucky

52:49

said,

52:49

on the silver issue, we believe

52:52

Cleveland to be wrong, but honestly

52:54

wrong. And he has as much right to

52:56

his opinion as we have to ours.

52:59

Theodore Roosevelt, who's in Washington right now, a

53:01

close observer passing political events

53:03

said, the silver Democrats, by no

53:05

means abandon their principles, but

53:08

their sentiment was thus expressed. But

53:10

speak to Republicans first and then tackle silver.

53:13

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53:43

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54:10

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54:16

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54:20

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54:22

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55:01

Newspapers are divided. Here's the Memphis

55:03

ledger. Cleveland's nomination should

55:06

satisfy everyone. Whether it will or

55:08

not, that's quite another thing. The

55:10

Philadelphia Inquirer. Cleveland

55:12

represents a bad cause and a divided

55:14

party.

55:15

The Philadelphia Press. The Democrats

55:18

welcome Mr. Cleveland

55:19

because they believe in his personality

55:22

and his leadership. The Republicans welcome

55:24

him because they rejoice in the issue he emphasizes,

55:27

and because they feel that the clearer this

55:29

issue,

55:30

the more certain of their victory. The

55:32

Memphis Appeal Avalanche. The

55:34

people of triumph, fresh from the

55:36

hearts of the masses, sprang the great movement,

55:39

which, brushing aside all impediments, has once

55:41

more made Grover Cleveland commander-in-chief

55:44

of the Grand Army of the Democracy. The

55:47

trenches are ringing with cheers under the

55:49

old leader,

55:50

who is no but one defeat. The

55:52

boys have taken new hope, and they're ready

55:54

to storm the heights. And

55:56

just to pour cold water on that, the Chicago Tribune.

56:00

Democratic Party has chosen its ticket and it could not

56:02

have pleased Republicans better. The

56:04

candidates' smell of defeat. Mr.

56:06

Cleveland was beaten at the last presidential

56:09

election. Mr. Stevenson was defeated

56:11

by the people in 1880.

56:12

That's a ticket of two back numbers. The

56:15

ticket may be properly translated. Mr.

56:17

Yesterday and Mr. Day

56:19

Before Yesterday. Yet it's the

56:22

Chicago Express that probably

56:24

best lays the political scene right

56:26

now.

56:28

In any way in which the action

56:30

of the convention is regarded, an intolerable

56:33

affront has been placed upon the regular

56:35

Democrats of the state of New York. This is exactly

56:37

what's going on with the Chicago Express's talking

56:40

about. Cleveland has the nomination of

56:42

his party. He's got the right to run

56:44

as the Democrat for president on all

56:46

of these ballots. But it's only worth something

56:49

if New York State can be won in the general

56:51

election. He's got to unlock the key

56:53

to New York State

56:55

to get the presidency. Otherwise he's going to suffer

56:57

a loss, and potentially embarrassing

57:00

consecutive loss.

57:05

These newspapers know that. So does

57:07

his campaign manager, William C.

57:09

Whitney. And he's trying

57:12

to get Cleveland to find a way to make

57:14

peace with the Tammany Hall folks.

57:17

We've got to carry New York to beat Harrison. And

57:20

Hill is not happy at all about

57:23

his defeat. William

57:27

C. Whitney now tries to get Cleveland to

57:29

send a letter

57:30

to the Tammany bosses.

57:32

And he writes it for him. Send

57:35

a letter to Murphy. Say this. Can

57:38

you come to the harbor and pay me a visit?

57:40

Let us sink all of our personal feelings

57:43

aside. I'll

57:45

be damned if I sign that letter, Cleveland says.

57:47

I'll be damned, Whitney. Cleveland

57:50

wanted no cooperation with the bosses at all.

57:53

A base of cutthroats that would

57:55

scuttle the ship. That's what Cleveland

57:57

thinks of them. And Whitney.

58:00

continues to want, we'll see what

58:02

you can do, he writes to Cleveland, how,

58:06

see if you can find your way to be more conciliatory.

58:10

He's real concerned. David

58:12

B. Hill, normally a governor of New

58:14

York who's a Democrat would join the Democratic

58:16

Advisory Committee, and he doesn't.

58:19

Hill writes a letter making it clear he's

58:21

not going to approach Whitney. I mean, that's

58:24

how tense things are. Okay,

58:27

Cleveland doesn't want to address the situation

58:30

Whitney eventually, and you're getting

58:32

into summer. Now, fortunately, it's 1892, with

58:34

the way conventions run, it's not like every day there's

58:37

a political story. It's summertime.

58:39

Cleveland is haunting and fishing, but

58:42

Whitney writes him a letter.

58:44

You're going to lose the state of New York.

58:47

No, I'm not Whitney. If I don't win

58:49

the state of New York,

58:51

I can win Wisconsin and Illinois

58:54

and still win the election. Now, Cleveland had to know,

58:56

and Whitney certainly knows, that

58:58

no Democrat had won Illinois

59:01

or Wisconsin a long time. These are Republican

59:03

states. Illinois, the last win,

59:06

it's the land of Lincoln. The last win was 1856, with

59:08

Buchanan. With

59:10

Wisconsin, the last win was 1852, with Pierce. He's

59:14

going to state his election on that. Stake

59:17

his election on that? Come on. As

59:19

it gets to September, and there's now,

59:22

the newspapers are starting to speculate why isn't

59:24

there any conversation between

59:26

the Democrats and Tammany Hall,

59:28

and the National Democrats, and Whitney and

59:31

others? Benjamin Harrison might

59:33

be weak, but you don't just

59:35

have to beat Benjamin Harrison. You've got to win

59:37

New York.

59:38

What's happening here?

59:39

And Whitney meets with

59:42

the Tammany folks, particularly

59:44

Crocker, who's their fundraiser, and

59:47

sets up a meeting, reluctantly,

59:49

grudgingly, really not

59:52

wanting to go. At the same time,

59:54

writing three letters to other people,

59:56

expressing how wishy-washy he is about

59:59

even going to the.

59:59

this meeting, that going to the meeting alone

1:00:02

can be seen as something bad. Cleveland

1:00:05

gives in and agrees at least

1:00:07

to talk to the Tammany folks. Cleveland's

1:00:10

faced many tests in this election.

1:00:12

He'll face one more.

1:00:15

He sets up a meeting

1:00:18

with the leader of Tammany Hall

1:00:21

and with the leader of the State Democratic Party

1:00:24

just by going. Cleveland could be seen

1:00:26

as making a deal with Tammany.

1:00:29

Grumbling, reluctant,

1:00:32

deeply troubled is how Nevins

1:00:35

describes Cleveland as he leaves

1:00:37

his vacation home.

1:00:39

I'll be as agreeable as I can,

1:00:42

but I won't pledge to do their bidding. Edward

1:00:46

Murphy, the Tammany

1:00:48

fundraiser and state chair Sheehan,

1:00:51

an old Cleveland rival from Buffalo,

1:00:54

Whitney and a

1:00:56

favorable senator from Michigan to

1:00:58

Cleveland, Don Dickinson are all at

1:01:00

this dinner. And

1:01:03

it's a dinner set up

1:01:05

to discuss politics,

1:01:07

but at dinner, no one discusses

1:01:09

politics over coffee

1:01:12

and cigars. It

1:01:19

then comes out. Cleveland

1:01:21

asks these men who are leading New York State

1:01:23

for the Democratic Party. He's the Democratic

1:01:26

nominee for president. How is the

1:01:28

campaign? New York State

1:01:30

chair says,

1:01:31

not well, your

1:01:34

reformer mugwup friends are attacking

1:01:36

us and not a word from the candidate defending

1:01:39

us.

1:01:40

What's more, if you are elected

1:01:43

again, we must have more jobs

1:01:45

much more than we had in your

1:01:47

first term.

1:01:50

We want pledges from you.

1:01:53

I will not go to the White House, pledge

1:01:56

to you or to anyone else.

1:01:59

I will make no secret.

1:01:59

Now, memories

1:02:02

of this meeting differ as to who said

1:02:04

what, but at the minimum,

1:02:07

Cleveland says, no promises.

1:02:08

There's some accounts

1:02:11

where he bangs on the table. Maybe

1:02:13

he didn't do all that, but at minimum he said, no promises.

1:02:17

Then, between Whitney and

1:02:19

the Tammany men, they noticed attention. Well,

1:02:25

I can still withdraw from the race. And

1:02:29

it's then when the Tammany fundraiser

1:02:32

says, well, this meeting

1:02:34

isn't about promises anyway, Mr. President. And

1:02:37

when he gladly joins his

1:02:40

co-arranger of the meeting and says, absolutely,

1:02:42

this isn't about promises. The newspaper

1:02:44

told a story of what happened. As

1:02:47

Sheenan made his points, Edward

1:02:49

Murphy kept a rumble of supporting growls

1:02:51

in the background. Cleveland's temper finally

1:02:53

rose.

1:02:55

At the critical moment, he got to his feet

1:02:57

and declared that sooner than making proper

1:02:59

concessions to win Tammany's support,

1:03:02

he would withdraw from the race.

1:03:04

The

1:03:05

conference broke up without any definite decision

1:03:07

or explicit understanding. Whitney

1:03:11

wrote in jubilant terms to

1:03:13

Cleveland just after the conference. Your

1:03:16

last visit did a world of good.

1:03:18

On September 19th, Even Hill crushed

1:03:21

humiliated sore, accepted

1:03:23

the inevitable. He appeared that day in Brooklyn

1:03:25

and in a sportsmanlike speech said,

1:03:27

I am a Democrat.

1:03:28

I was a Democrat before the Chicago

1:03:31

convention and I am a

1:03:33

Democrat still. The

1:03:35

Nevins goes on. The campaign of 1892 is the

1:03:37

cleanest, quietest and most credible in the

1:03:39

memory of the postwar generation.

1:03:42

Travelers on long journeys told astonishing

1:03:44

stories of never having heard a single

1:03:46

reference to the election on trains

1:03:49

or in the streets. The childish

1:03:52

specularity of previous campaigns

1:03:54

of brass bands, the rallies, the

1:03:56

torchlight processions, the

1:03:59

marching class. clubs were largely disturbed.

1:04:01

Still with after this meeting, Fifth

1:04:04

Avenue Hotel, New York bedding, that's

1:04:06

where bets were conducted, still

1:04:08

favored the Republicans.

1:04:29

That problem was easily solved.

1:04:32

William Whitney, former Standard

1:04:34

Oil executive, put down half a

1:04:37

million in odds for Cleveland to change

1:04:40

the standings. It's representative

1:04:43

of the type of campaign that Cleveland

1:04:45

ran. And so I think there's two very important

1:04:48

things to talk about in discussing the election

1:04:51

of 1892. Once Cleveland gets

1:04:53

that nomination and secures

1:04:56

the complexities of Tammany

1:04:58

Hall, you have out

1:05:00

west the populist party, James

1:05:02

Weaver, who's combined the

1:05:04

Farmer Alliance and the populist

1:05:07

in the south and various Granger

1:05:09

parties into one. And they're going to

1:05:11

essentially be against all

1:05:13

parties, but they're going to hurt Harrison

1:05:16

a bit more than Cleveland.

1:05:20

They're

1:05:20

no fans of Cleveland,

1:05:26

you

1:05:30

know, Cleveland has,

1:05:33

is with some of the big business

1:05:35

interest in his stand on hard

1:05:38

money.

1:05:39

Not so much with the tariff issue. You know, most

1:05:41

of the big manufacturers are going to be

1:05:43

supportive of the Republican party and high tariff

1:05:45

people,

1:05:46

but he's got enough businessmen

1:05:48

on his side. So, you know, Cleveland is by

1:05:51

no means a populist, but the

1:05:53

populists are happy to take Democratic

1:05:55

support in certain states, say Kansas,

1:05:57

say Colorado, where Democrats know they have no chance.

1:05:59

chance and simply run

1:06:02

no candidate and allow

1:06:04

the populace to beat the Republicans.

1:06:07

Weaver's going to end up taking five

1:06:09

states and getting electoral votes in sex. Another

1:06:13

important note to make, we cannot discuss

1:06:16

Grover Cleveland without discussing

1:06:18

that he's going to get a solid

1:06:21

vote of support in the South. Now, it's not

1:06:23

automatic. You look at some of these states, Arkansas,

1:06:26

Tennessee, Texas even.

1:06:29

There's a pretty strong either Republican or

1:06:32

more populous challenge

1:06:35

to Cleveland, but just not enough. He's

1:06:37

going to win comfortably in most of these states.

1:06:40

There are attempts by Republicans, by Harrison's

1:06:42

people to form fusion tickets between

1:06:45

the populace and the Republicans in order to beat

1:06:47

the Democrats in some of these southern states where they can't

1:06:49

win.

1:06:49

Several counties of Alabama

1:06:52

go for the populace. Many counties in Texas

1:06:54

go for the populace.

1:06:56

But there's voter intimidation of

1:06:59

African American voters in these

1:07:02

southern states. There's also

1:07:05

bossism where the state

1:07:07

machine is going to count the votes. Republicans

1:07:09

decide, for instance, not to contest North Carolina

1:07:13

because Democrats, in a sense, count the votes

1:07:15

there.

1:07:16

In discussing the story of Grover Cleveland,

1:07:18

I believe he felt on the issues

1:07:20

he was morally right, but

1:07:22

we do have some modern issues to bring

1:07:25

to light like the need for average people

1:07:27

to obtain credit

1:07:29

and the oppression of African Americans in the

1:07:31

South, which Cleveland was not going to

1:07:33

do actively anything for. Now, it is

1:07:35

true in the discussions in

1:07:37

some of these southern states, David

1:07:40

Hill was seen as the person who would be

1:07:42

more likely than Cleveland to

1:07:44

oppose if Congress was to put out a force

1:07:46

bill, but

1:07:48

in a sense, forced the state to comply

1:07:50

with federal law with civil rights laws.

1:07:53

But he's not elected. It's not one

1:07:55

of his key issues to

1:07:58

defend the rights of African Americans.

1:07:59

where Harrison had tried to do that. I think that's

1:08:02

an important thing to state here. So this

1:08:04

doesn't become so much of a one-sided

1:08:06

celebration. This from

1:08:09

Benjamin Harrison, who's your president

1:08:12

by Seavers. Down to the last

1:08:14

day, an optimistic Harrison regarded

1:08:17

the contest as extremely close. In

1:08:19

October, he noted that there is a

1:08:21

substantial drift to us of old

1:08:23

soldiers and protection Democrats.

1:08:26

If these can be added to a full Republican vote,

1:08:28

we will win.

1:08:30

But confidence pervaded the Cleveland

1:08:32

camp, where managers predicted a

1:08:34

close victory, claiming both Indiana and

1:08:37

New York for the Democrats. On

1:08:39

election evening, President Harrison awaited

1:08:41

the returns in the cabinet room with a telegraphic

1:08:44

instrument. Cleveland, in their home in

1:08:46

New York City, did the same.

1:08:51

By three in the morning, Benjamin

1:08:53

Harrison retired, knowing that

1:08:56

he had been defeated. And about the

1:08:58

same hour in the Cleveland home, the

1:09:00

winner sagely remarked, it's

1:09:03

a solemn thing to be president. Cleveland

1:09:05

had secured a majority of slightly under 375,000,

1:09:10

and the electoral college won 277 to 145 for Harrison

1:09:13

and 22 for James Weaver, the populist. 12 million

1:09:20

citizens voted, and a million of them

1:09:22

voted populist. It was the most

1:09:24

decisive win, therefore, since

1:09:27

Lincoln's re-election in 1864. And it

1:09:30

showed that the doubtful states of New

1:09:32

York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana had

1:09:35

all slipped easily into the Cleveland

1:09:37

column. He even gained an electoral vote

1:09:39

from rock salad Republican Ohio,

1:09:42

something else. The states

1:09:44

that Cleveland thought he would win, Illinois

1:09:48

and Wisconsin, indeed

1:09:50

he did. Many reasons

1:09:52

were extended for the

1:09:54

Republican loss. Some Republicans

1:09:57

look inward at this 1892.

1:10:00

election

1:10:01

and feel that Harrison's efforts

1:10:03

to strongly bring a force bill

1:10:06

to enforce civil rights in the South, which

1:10:08

wasn't successful, but he attempted it, led to

1:10:10

a revolt. It

1:10:13

strengthened the other side's partisans.

1:10:16

That's one explanation. The McKinley

1:10:18

tariff was certainly unpopular in that

1:10:20

being passed. The Harrison campaign

1:10:23

was misrun, many felt.

1:10:25

There could be no doubt about this. It

1:10:27

was in a sense a poison chalice

1:10:30

for Grover Cleveland.

1:10:32

There's already gonna be the first railroad

1:10:34

failure before he even gets

1:10:37

to the White House, and he's gonna have to take immediate

1:10:40

measures as he enters

1:10:42

because the economy is going to reach its worst

1:10:45

in 1893 and 1894.

1:10:48

Now it's not like this is an exact parallel

1:10:51

to

1:10:52

today or what might be a recipe for winning

1:10:54

such a term like today, but obviously we have a

1:10:56

candidate seeking to do what Grover

1:10:58

Cleveland did and you're gonna hear a lot about that. The

1:11:01

one point I wanted to make in contrast, I

1:11:03

think is really important,

1:11:05

is that Cleveland had previously had a

1:11:07

popular vote win of 90,000 votes

1:11:10

or nearly 1% in

1:11:11

the last election, but

1:11:14

still lost in the Electoral College, and that

1:11:16

was something new for people then.

1:11:19

It's

1:11:19

also important to state that he

1:11:21

seriously felt that as a losing candidate

1:11:23

he had a disadvantage,

1:11:25

and that some steps that he took

1:11:28

thinking he was casting away presidential

1:11:31

ambition inadvertently boomeranged

1:11:33

and helped him in a good way.

1:11:36

So what can I say? It's probably a different

1:11:38

story than anything that's going to occur, but

1:11:41

yet there might be lessons as there always is

1:11:43

in history. I want to thank you

1:11:45

for listening. The website is www.myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.com.

1:11:51

We are at myhist

1:11:55

on Twitter.

1:11:56

Thanks for listening.