‘He relentlessly fought political corruption’

At the gravesite of former President Grover Cleveland, community members, local officials, and members of the military paid tribute to his legacy and service.

Cleveland, who died in 1908 and is laid to rest in Princeton Cemetery in Princeton, was recognized and celebrated for his integrity, commitment to service and fight against corruption on his birthday on March 18.

“We have buried here in Princeton Cemetery a former president of the United States and the Army is fixed with the responsibility on the occasion of the birthdays of presidents to lay a wreath at their gravesite,” said Robert Maguire, civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army (Emeritus) for New Jersey. “And so today is Grover Cleveland’s birthday.”

“What is noteworthy about Grover Cleveland is that he was praised for his honesty, his self-reliance, his integrity. He relentlessly fought political corruption.”

As people watched on and the playing of “Taps” was performed by the 78th Army Band, Maj. Gen. Kris Belanger, commanding general of the Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division, Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, and Mark Texel, administrator for New Jersey’s Office of Historic Sites and Parks, paid their respects to the former and late president as the presentation of the wreath took place during the wreath-laying ceremony at Cleveland’s gravesite.

“President Cleveland’s term of service marked the time of change for the nation as he enacted several initiatives that led to reforms in the federal government to create fair hiring practices for civil service employees, the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which regulated railroads, trucking, bus lines and telephone companies,” Belanger said.

“The president set in use the executive veto power and the passage of the Enabling Act in 1894 that ultimately led to Utah becoming our 45th state.”

The Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division hosted the memorial ceremony and official wreath-laying.

The wreath-laying is managed and administered by the White House Military Office (WHMO). WHMO is responsible for coordinating the annual placement of presidential wreaths at the tombs and resting places of former presidents and other famous Americans, and at certain memorials of historic significance.

“… [President Grover Cleveland] lived by the same values we in the Army hold dear – loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage,” Belanger said.

Cleveland was commemorated on his 188th birthday. He is the only president who was born in New Jersey. In addition to being born in Caldwell, which is located in Essex County, and raised in upstate New York, he is the first president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.

Cleveland, who was a Democrat, served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. He was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War.

His first four-year term was from 1885-1889, and the second term was from 1893-1897.

“He entered the White House a bachelor and shortly afterwards married a 21-year-old young lady (Frances Folsom), who was his wife and bore him five children,” Maguire said. “One of them is quite noteworthy in that her name was Ruth and there was a candy bar Baby Ruth named after her.”

He noted that the election of 1888 was poorly managed. Cleveland lost the electoral vote and popular vote to Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison, but he would win by a wide margin to be re-elected president in 1892 with Adlai Stevenson serving as his vice president.

“But the panic of 1893 struck the stock market resulting in an economic depression,” Maguire relayed. “He was faced with 18% unemployment.

“He left the White House on March 4, 1897, and lived in retirement at his estate here in Princeton called Westland Mansion. He was a trustee of the university and consulted occasionally with the then current President Teddy Roosevelt.”

Cleveland suffered a heart attack and died in 1908 on June 24.

Maguire noted, “His final words – ‘I have tried so hard to do right.’ Teddy Roosevelt’s eulogy compared him to a happy warrior who had served on honorable terms and understood that the presidency was a public trust bestowed upon him by the people.”

Prior to serving as U.S. president, Cleveland was elected the 31st governor of New York and served in the position from 1883 to 1885.

Additionally, he previously served as mayor of Buffalo from 1882 to 1883, sheriff of Erie County, N.Y. from 1871 to 1873, Erie County assistant district attorney, and ward supervisor of Buffalo.

“In his public offices, Cleveland spoke often about good citizenship, a strongly held belief of personal responsibility to our families and to our nation,” Texel said. “So today, as we remember Grover Cleveland let us honor his model of generosity, hard work and dedication to the family and the country. May we follow his ideal of good citizenship.”

Mayor Mark Freda noted, “It is nice to take some time and acknowledge a former president of the United States, who was put to rest here in Princeton. It is good to remember our history.”