His assertion of authority in calling out federal troops during the Pullman strike, sending warships to Panama, and threatening Britain with war over the Venezuelan boundary dispute set the tone for the modern energetic executive.
Equally important, Cleveland laid claim to a strong presidency in ways that had lasting impact. His record-breaking use of the presidential veto also enabled him to reestablish the equilibrium between the executive and legislative branches, another precedent-setting example of presidential power. Nixon had ever made such an extreme assertion of executive privilege in peacetime. Notable in this regard was his use of executive privilege in refusing to hand over department files to Congress in the fight over presidential appointments. Not opposed to using patronage, he insisted that the appointed Democrats be qualified and honest.Īlthough not a great President, Cleveland almost single-handedly restored and strengthened the power and autonomy of the executive branch. He viewed the cabinet as his privy council rather than as a party council representative of the leadership of the Democratic Party. This was a concept of the presidency as monarchical if not imperial. He distanced himself from party machines by insisting that the President had a special relationship with the people that superseded any obligation to party workers. On the other hand, his stubborn enmity toward the Silverites and agrarian populists nearly split the Democrats and contributed to their defeat in 1896. He also strengthened the party outside the South by linking it to civil service reform. Cleveland did help to create a Solid South for the Democrats by encouraging former Confederates to believe they had a friend in the White House his return of captured Confederate battle flags and his decision to go fishing on Memorial Day-a Civil War holiday-aided in this regard. Even as a party leader, the consensus is that he achieved mixed results at best. Historians do not rank Grover Cleveland as a great President.
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