On Nov. 5, 2024, Donald Trump won a second non-consecutive term in the White House. Trump’s triumph drew comparisons to the 1892 reelection of Democrat Grover Cleveland — the only President other than Trump to regain the White House after he previously lost re-election. Cleveland won in 1884, lost in 1888, and recaptured the presidency in 1892. Like Trump, he maintained popularity within his party despite losing. This support enabled Cleveland to cruise to the 1892 nomination, and he capitalized on Republican struggles to recapture the White House. Yet, while his second election was a triumph for the Democratic Party, it ended up demolishing the party for a generation. Cleveland’s example offers a cautionary tale for Republicans in 2024: a second Trump Administration involves as many risks as possible benefits.
Grover Cleveland would have been an unlikely candidate for President in any period of American history other than the one in which he served. Born in 1837 in New York, he worked as a lawyer in Buffalo for much of the 1860s and the 1870s, a period during which the state’s Democratic Party became nationally renowned for corruption because of the rule of the Tammany Hall machine.
Cleveland entered politics by winning election as sheriff of Erie County in 1870. His political career quickly soared because he avoided the taint of corruption that plagued many New York Democrats. By the beginning of the 1880s, he had cultivated an appreciative group of supporters who helped propel him to the governorship in 1882 on a platform of reforming the state’s civil service and combating corruption.
Cleveland’s governorship got off to such a successful start that only two years later, Democrats made the New Yorker their presidential nominee. Once again, he ran as a reformer against the scandal-ridden Republican candidate James Blaine, and he became the first Democrat to win the presidency since 1856.
President Cleveland’s first term was remarkably uneventful, and few major pieces of legislation passed Congress. He dithered over whether he would support a high or a low tariff on imported goods, which was the major economic issue of the day. Only in 1887 did Cleveland come out in support of a low tariff on imported goods. This policy outraged American manufacturers, as they believed that the proposed bill did not provide them with enough protection from foreign competition. The opposition of influential manufacturers and high-tariff supporters in both major parties doomed the bill in Congress. The bill’s defeat deprived Cleveland of an achievement to tout during his reelection campaign in 1888.
Cleveland’s penchant for harsh rhetoric also alienated many constituencies. He owed his first election to Republican defectors often referred to as “Mugwumps.” However, Cleveland angered these supporters because he proved willing to replace Republicans with Democrats in positions throughout the federal civil service.