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The John Batchelor Show

THE SECOND TERM BURDENED A STRONG MAN: 1/8: A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency o1 Grover Cleveland Hardcover – by Troy Senik (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Man-Iron-Turbulent-Improbable-Presidency/dp/1982140747?ref_=ast_author

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

THE SECOND TERM BURDENED A STRONG MAN: 1/8: A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency o1 Grover Cleveland Hardcover – by  Troy Senik  (Author)

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Iron-Turbulent-Improbable-Presidency/dp/1982140747?ref_=ast_author_dp#customerReviews

Grover Cleveland’s political career—a dizzying journey that saw him rise from obscure lawyer to president of the United States in just three years—was marked by contradictions. A politician of uncharacteristic honesty and principle, he was nevertheless dogged by secrets from his personal life. A believer in limited government, he pushed presidential power to its limits to combat a crippling depression, suppress labor unrest, and resist the forces of American imperialism. A headstrong executive who alienated Congress, political bosses, and even his own party, his stubbornness nevertheless became the key to his political appeal. The most successful Democratic politician of his era, he came to be remembered most fondly by Republicans.
1890 Harlem Heights

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor.

0:11.9

This is CBS, I on the World. I'm John Batchelor. It is the spring of 1885, the 22nd President of the United States, Grover Cleveland, former governor of New York,

0:24.3

former mayor of Buffalo, former district attorney of Erie County, enters the White House,

0:31.6

enters the chief executive's office with a vision of how he will conduct himself.

0:37.0

That is the beginning of the policy disputes that will reign over his first term,

0:42.3

and then with the in-between period, his second term.

0:47.3

This is the only man to hold the office twice, so effectively he is the 22nd and 24th president. I learned this from a wonderful new book,

0:57.2

Rich with Irony, a man of iron, the turbulent life in the improbable presidency of Grover Cleveland.

1:05.2

Troy Seneca is the author. I welcome Troy. Troy, I congratulate him, and I begin with the policies

1:10.5

of spring of 1885.

1:12.6

Troy, the President, is faced with stories of silver and gold, stories of tariff reform, stories of civil service reform.

1:22.6

It's all quite overwhelming for us now to imagine how Congress is going to deal with these.

1:29.9

But the chief executive had a style that was quite different from other presidents before him.

1:35.9

He had no experience in the federal city.

1:37.9

He had no experience at the national level.

1:40.8

He was a man who had very effectively used the veto when he was governor of New York, the veto when he was mayor of Buffalo.

1:49.0

How did he regard himself? What was his mission in his mind as he took on the Congress, the willful Congress dominated by Lords?

1:59.0

Good evening to you.

2:00.0

Good evening, John. It's delight to be with you.

2:03.8

The answer to that question, Grover Cleveland is a man who takes the verb preside very seriously in

2:12.0

presidency. This is a guy who, as you suggest, I'd use the veto very aggressively as mayor of Buffalo.

2:19.1

I'd use the veto very aggressively as governor of New York.

...

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