Episode 63 — Grover Cleveland: The Veto Pen & Two Nonconsecutive Turns

21/09/2025 1h 2min Episodio 63
Episode 63 — Grover Cleveland: The Veto Pen & Two Nonconsecutive Turns

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Episode Synopsis

pplpod Episode 63 follows Grover Cleveland’s unusual arc—the only U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms (22nd and 24th)—from Buffalo reformer to a Gilded Age heavyweight who made “public office is a public trust” his north star. We chart his rise as an anti-corruption Democrat, the blizzard of vetoes, and first-term milestones like the Interstate Commerce Act and the Dawes Act. Then it’s the comeback term: weathering the Panic of 1893, repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act to defend the gold standard, clashing over the Wilson–Gorman Tariff, sending federal troops into the Pullman Strike, and flexing diplomacy in the Venezuela boundary crisis. Threaded through: civil service reform, tariff wars, a White House wedding to Frances Folsom, and a legacy that still sparks debate—principle vs. popularity, hard money vs. hard times.