Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908

We are not a nation of swindlers!

The statue of George Washington, full-length, stands with right arm raised and with fasces behind him, at Federal Hall on Wall Street, New York City. A large crowd of men is standing on steps, among them William “McKinley,” holding a flag that states “The National Honor Must Be Upheld,” and from left, “Phelps, Carlisle, Sherman, Buckner, Palmer, Harrison, Hobart, Cleveland, [and] Flower.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-10-21

Creator(s)

Taylor, Charles Jay, 1855-1929

Convalescent

Uncle Sam sits in a chair with pillows behind his head, convalescing. Before him is a table filled with various medicines, including “Bland-Allison Silver Mixture, Sherman’s Compromise Lotion, Tariff Tinkering Tincture, Jones’ Repudiation Pills, Weaver’s Old Greenback Cordial, [and] Fake Financial Theories.” A bottle of “Byran’s Free Coinage Panacea” lies under a chair and a device labeled “Peffer’s Populistic Electrifier” sits on a small table. In consultation around a table in the background are “Drs. Cleveland, McKinley, [and] Reed.” On the table is a bottle labeled “Currency Reform Medicine.” Wreaths labeled “Merry Christmas” are hanging in the windows. Caption: Uncle Sam (to his three eminent doctors of different schools)–Say, gentlemen, I’m getting over my prostration so fast that all I need is a good dose of that bottle on the table, and you can throw all this stuff here out of the window!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-12-23

Creator(s)

Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905

He keeps them worried

Former president Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances play with their children, Ruth, Esther, and Marion, in the backyard of their residence. Several men labeled “Morgan, Daniel, Pugh, Faulkner, Vest, Dana, [and] Gorman” spy on them from behind a fence, bushes, and over a hedge.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-06-09

Creator(s)

Taylor, Charles Jay, 1855-1929

Summary of letter from Harrison Gray Otis

General Otis believes that William Randolph Hearst is making a determined effort to secure the Democratic presidential nomination or place himself in a position to “swing” the nomination. The Democrats will divide between Hearst and Grover Cleveland, assuring President Roosevelt’s nomination and election. Otis believes that labor issues and the respect for law and order will be the key to the election. He wants strong declarations in the party platform but no demagoguery. Otis does not want a platform against organized labor but against “industrial disturbers.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-28

Creator(s)

Presidential Office Staff

Bravo! Señor Clevelando!!

Grover Cleveland, former mayor of Buffalo and current governor of New York, is a bullfighter standing with his right foot on the head of a bison labeled “Buffalo Democracy” with one dart labeled “Veto Buffalo Fire Dept. Bill” stuck in its side. The weakened buffalo has collapsed on papers that state “Buffalo Politicians’ Demands,” and Cleveland’s red cape is labeled “Firmness.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-04-18

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Our national dog-show

At a dog show, a variety of breeds are competing. In the upper left corner, labeled the “Judges’ Stand,” are several newspaper editors, including James Gordon Bennett, Whitelaw Reid, Murat Halstead, Charles A. Dana, Henry Watterson, and George W. Curtis. They are judging two dogs, Winfield Scott Hancock and Samuel J. Tilden. Other dogs depicted are “Sesquipedalian Sleuth Hound Evarts, Mulligan Mongrel, Rossa Runt – take care dangerous, Lap Dogs Monopoly Breed”, also Chester A. Arthur, William Mahone, Thomas Collier Platt, Roscoe Conkling, James D. Cameron, John Logan, “Pointer Bayard, Tammany Tarrier, House Dog Edson, Dachshund, Toby Dog, Poodle, Water-dog,” David Davis, U.S. Grant, “Tewksbury Ratter, Hoar-Hound, Hybrid Hayes” and at center, “Puck’s entry Cleveland [and] S. Low.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-05-09

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

William Tell Cleveland will not bow to the hat

Grover Cleveland, as William Tell, holds the hand of Franklin Edson, as his son, striding past a hat labeled “Tammany” perched atop a stick labeled “Ignorant Voters” around which Samuel S. Cox, Thomas F. Grady, Hubert O. Thompson, Francis B. Spinola, and others bow down. On the left, an enraged John Kelly sits on a donkey, commanding soldiers carrying a banner labeled “Board of Aldermen.” In the background, on the right, standing beneath a sign that states “Regular Democracy,” are a group of men that includes Samuel J. Tilden, William R. Grace, Abram S. Hewitt, and Edward Cooper.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-05-16

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The Democratic smithy – odd shoes for the mule

In the interior of a blacksmith’s shop, Samuel Randall, Abram Hewitt, and Benjamin Butler are putting oversized shoes labeled “Protection, Free Trade, [and] Incidental Tariff” on a mule labeled “Democracy.” Henry Watterson works on a shoe labeled “Western Policy” and Thomas Bayard reaches for a shoe labeled “Elastic Policy.” In the right foreground, Charles A. Dana is cooling rods labeled “MacDonald Boom, Hancock, Grace, Hendricks, [and] Tilden.” At the furnace are Grover Cleveland, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, and “Robbinson” with irons labeled “Business Principles, Southern Policy, Tariff for Rev. [and] Dodge Policy” in the fire. In the background on the right are John Kelly, Joseph Pulitzer, and Oswald Ottendorfer operating the “Dem. Press Bellows” for the “N.Y. World, N.Y. Star, [and] Staatszeitung.” Puck sits on top of a wall in the upper left, next to a notice that states “Tariff Tinkering Done Here.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-06-20

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Those dogs won’t fight – they are dying of starvation

Charles A. Dana, editor of the “Sun,” and Stephen B. Elkins, wearing a plumed hat, attempt to push an emaciated dog labeled “Clerical Slanderer” up steps leading to where Grover Cleveland is sitting in a rocking chair. Another dog labeled “Common Slanderer” is lying on its back, apparently dead. Nearby is an overturned bowl labeled “False Witness.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-08-20

Creator(s)

Graetz, F. (Friedrich), approximately 1840-approximately 1913

The new Democratic eucalyptus tree purifies a political morass

Grover Cleveland is pictured as a large tree labeled “Eucalyptus Clevelandus” with roots labeled “Honor” and “Honesty,” and branches that spread over swamp land from which rise gaseous ghosts labeled “Stupidity, K. K. K., Bourbonism, Butlerism, Dynamiter, Kellyism, Ward Bossism, [and] Spoils System.” In the background is a large building labeled “Democratic Head-Quarters.” Caption: The eucalyptus tree has recently been introduced into marshy and malarious regions, where it acts as a purifier of the atmosphere, driving away the deadly miasmatic vapors.–Encyclopaedia.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-08-27

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Overtraining young horses

A horse labeled “Butler’s Policy” ridden by Benjamin F. Butler is kicking up its rear legs, startling a horse labeled “Cleveland’s Policy” ridden by Grover Cleveland at the “Presidential Race-Course” where “Horses [are] Trained for Presidential Races.” The “Gubernatorial Training Stables” are at far left. Gathered beneath a large tree on the right, observing, are John Logan, Roscoe Conkling, James Gillespie Blaine, John Sherman, David Davis, Winfield Scott Hancock, Ulysses S. Grant, Schuyler Colfax, and Samuel J. Tilden. Caption: Dismounted Jockeys – The horses look well enough now; but they began training too early; and will break down long before the race!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-01-31

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Let the political army have new drums also!

Ulysses S. Grant is leading his “Grant Boom” band comprised of Samuel J. Tilden, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, Roscoe Conkling, William W. Phelps, David Davis, James D. Cameron, John Sherman, James G. Blaine, John Kelly, Winfield Scott Hancock, William Mahone, and John Logan. Most carry drums that are broken or in disrepair. Across the street, in front of the “Political Armory,” Puck is operating a makeshift stand, issuing “New Drums for Old Drums.” Benjamin F. Butler kicks away his old drum labeled “Butlers Old Policies” and is getting a new drum labeled “Civil Service Reform.” Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low and Grover Cleveland are trying out new drums labeled “Independence” and “Civil Service Reform.” Other new drums are labeled “Tariff Reform, Political Honesty, Anti-Monopoly, Honesty, [and] For the People.” Caption: The U.S. Army is to have new drums. In their day the old drums did good service. Now they must retire and give place to better drums. Phila. Record.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-02-14

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

“Here’s a health to the mugwumps, who helped in the strife, and have made this the happiest day of my life!”

Samuel J. Tilden sits in a rocking chair, raising a glass of the “Elixir of Youth” over his head and holding a telephone receiver to his ear. Hanging on the wall is a plaque that states “This Certifies that Sam’l. J. Tilden Was Duly Elected President (Dejure) in 1876. [signed] Chas. A. Dana.” Next to the telephone on the wall is a sign that states “Direct Reports of the Inaugural Ceremonies.” Tilden is offering a toast to the news of Grover Cleveland’s inauguration, the first democratic president since before the Civil War.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-04

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Cleveland’s entry into Washington – March 4th. 1885

Grover Cleveland rides the Democratic donkey past the “Republican R. R. R. Hotel” on the way to his inauguration. He is surrounded by a host of characters that includes many political figures and newspaper editors, including Joseph F. Keppler with his diminutive character Puck. Among those depicted are: Roscoe Conkling, George Edmunds, Augustus Garland, “Hampton,” “William H. Barnum,” L. Q. C. Lamar, “Grace,” “Jones,” Joseph Pulitzer, James G. Bennett, Henry B. Ward, Samuel J. Randall, Thomas Hendricks, Abram S. Hewitt, U. S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, “McDonas,” Daniel Manning, George W. Curtis, Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel J. Tilden, Thomas F. Bayard (carrying a flag that states “Public Office is a Public Trust. G. Cleveland”), Joseph Medill, William C. Endicott, John Logan, James G. Blaine, Carl Schurz, William F. Vilas, Cox, Winfield Scott Hancock, Benjamin Harrison, Henry Watterson, and Hermann “Raster.” Also shown is Puck’s Independent Party figure and papers labeled “Compliments of C. A. Dana.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-04

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Compulsory baptism

President Cleveland, as Ferdinand V sitting on a throne, observes as civil service office seekers are baptized at the font of “Civil Service Reform.” Among those depicted are Thomas Hendricks, Charles A. Dana, Thomas F. Grady, “Barnum,” George H. Sterling(?), John Kelly, L. Q. C. Lamar, Thomas F. Bayard, “Pendleton,” “Carlisle,” George W. Curtis, Carl Schurz, and Grover Cleveland. Caption: In 1500, after the conquest of Granada, Ferdinand V. compelled the vanquished Moors to submit to the rite of Baptism.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-11

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

President Cleveland and his cabinet

President Cleveland sits at a desk between his cabinet members, from the left, “W. C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy, Daniel Manning, Secretary of the Treasury, A. H. Garland, Attorney-General, T. F. Bayard, Secretary of State, W. C. Endicott, Secretary of War, W. F. Vilas, Postmaster-General, [and] L. Q. C. Lamar, Secretary of the Interior.” They are in a hall lined with statues labeled “Navy, War, Justice, State, Treasury, Interior, [and] Post.” On the wall at the back of the room is the following quote: “It is the duty of those serving the people in public places to closely limit public expenditures to the actual needs of the government economically administered. G. Cleveland.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-11

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

The good Samaritan

Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Grover Cleveland are pilgrims on a journey through a rugged Middle Eastern landscape. Leading the way is Hayes, holding a paper that states “Patronage to Reward – The Returning Board” and carrying a canteen of “Cold Water.” Behind Hayes is Arthur who is looking back at Cleveland, with a donkey, who has stopped to help a man labeled “Civil Service” who has fainted from lack of water.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-18

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The issue

John Kelly holds a shillelagh in one hand and a rope tied to an injured tiger labeled “Tammany” with bandages labeled “1880, 1882, [and] 1884” in the other, standing outside the “White House” gate. Grover Cleveland stands on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle. A sign posted on the wall states, “Resolved that – Tammany Hall recommends to the attention of the Presidents the prominent members of this organization as worthy of recognition in selection for public service. March 13th.” Caption: John Kelly – “What say you – Peace or War?” / Cleveland – “War, Johnny, war!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-25

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Consistent civil service reform

President Cleveland hands a paper that states “Re-appointment for Honesty and Efficiency” to Henry G. Pearson for his appointment as Postmaster in New York. Pearson carries a box labeled “The People’s Trust.” In the background are Whitelaw Reid with dagger labeled “N. Y. Tribune” and Charles A. Dana with dagger labeled “N. Y. Sun.” Both appear angry that an efficient and honest citizen has been appointed to a civil service position. Caption: Bravos in Background – “Ha! Foiled again!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-08

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

The rehabilitation of the Democratic party

Inside “Cleveland’s Clothing Establishment,” President Cleveland and Thomas F. Bayard are fitting a man labeled “Reform Democracy” with the “Thos. Jefferson Pattern,” while cabinet members Lucius Q. C. Lamar, William C. Whitney, Daniel Manning, [and] Augustus H. Garland measure, cut, and sew fabric labeled “Justice, Anti-Silver Swindle, New Navy, [and] Honest Administration, Interior Department” on the left side of the shop. A sign on the wall states “No Over-Charging nor Double-Dealing” and a poster shows the “Spring 1885 Styles.” Just outside the door is an old man reaching in to grab discarded rags labeled “Spoils System, Old Record, Fraud” and a shillelagh labeled “Rowdy Influence” to place in his cart labeled “G. O. Rep. Party. Highest Price Paid for Castoff Clo’s.” Caption: The new suit (on the Jeffersonian Pattern) doesn’t quite fit yet; but we hope he will grow up to it.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-15

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896