Grover Cleveland: A Man of Integrity

Stephan Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837 in Caldwell New,Jersey, but grew up in New York. He was the fifth child out of nine children born to Ann Neal and Richard Failey. His dad was a presbyterian minister with hardly any money. When Cleavland was 16 his father passed away. Cleveland had to put away his dreams of college and focus on supporting his family. He worked with his older brother in New York city and then as a clerk and part time law student in Buffalo. He never attended collage but he passed the bar exam in 1858. In 1863 he payed a Great Lakes sailor $150 to go to war in his place because he felt he needed to stay with his family. At the age of 22 Cleavland became a lawyer. He became known as a very hard working person. Not long after he became a democratic politition. He also became mayor of Buffalo,New York in 1881 thanks to the Buffalo Democrats who had convinced him to run. In one year Cleveland exposed graft and corruption in the city's municipal services (street cleaning, sewage, and transportation), and set a pace for hard work and efficiency and impressed state leaders in the democratic party. About a year after the democrats wanted Cleavland to be much more. Cleavland was elected govner of New York in 1882. He worked harder and longer hours than anyone else in the state government. Rumors went around saying that Cleavland was the father of a 9 year old and that he had been paying the mother to keep silent. Cleavland came out with the truth. In the mid-1870s he said he had slept with a 38 year old widow by the name of Maria Halpin out of wedlock. About nine months later Oscar Folsom Cleveland's was born.

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Rumors said that Cleavland was 1 of 3 of her lovers. One of them was C...

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... attack on a vacation in March of 1908 which made his life flash before his eyes. On June 24,1908 Cleveland died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were “I have tried so hard to do right”. According to many historians he was the strongest president between Roosevelt and Lincoln. He was not the most honest person but he was known for his integrity and independence. Overall Grover Cleveland was a great president a hard worker, and he served his country well.

Works Cited

Furgurson, Ernest B. "Moment Of Truth." American History 48.4 (2013): 64-68. History Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2014.

Great Neck, Publishing. "Grover Cleveland--First Term." Profiles Of U.S. Presidents (2007): 58. History Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2014.

Great Neck, Publishing. "Grover Cleveland." Monkeyshines On America (2002): 2-3. History Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2014.