An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland

Review

''A brisk and engaging portrait of an unconventional politician.'' --Chicago Sun-Times

''Jeffers is an amiable tour guide through the ups and downs of Cleveland's public career, and his biography is pleasant, easygoing, and engaging.'' --Boston Sunday Globe

''A well-written and timely book that reminds us of Grover Cleveland's courage, commitment, and honesty at a time when these qualities seem so lacking in so much of American politics.'' --James MacGregor Burns, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

''Jeffers is an amiable tour guide through the ups and downs of Cleveland's public career, and his biography is pleasant, easygoing, and engaging.'' --Boston Sunday Globe

''A well-written and timely book that reminds us of Grover Cleveland's courage, commitment, and honesty at a time when these qualities seem so lacking in so much of American politics.'' --James MacGregor Burns, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

Product Description

[Read by Raymond Todd]

Today, Grover Cleveland is chiefly known as the only president to have been elected to two non-consecutive terms. But in his day, Cleveland was a renowned reformer: an enemy of political machines who joined forces with Theodore Roosevelt to fight powerful party bosses, a moralist who vetoed bills he considered blatant raids on the Treasury, and a vigorous defender of the Monroe Doctrine who resisted American imperialism.

Cleveland's career in office was plagued by scandal and a gossip-mongering press. During his first presidential bid, he was persecuted for fathering a child out of wedlock, a charge Cleveland readily admitted. At the age of forty-nine, he married his twenty-one-year-old ward, though after the nation's initial surprise, she became the most popular first lady of her day.

On his deathbed, Cleveland would sum up his career simply: ''I have tried so hard to do right.''

About the Author

H. PAUL JEFFERS has written more than forty fiction and nonfiction books, including several history books on Theodore Roosevelt. He lives in New York City.