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| Campaign | 1888 U.S. presidential election |
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| Candidate | Grover Cleveland 22ndPresident of the United States (1885–1889) Allen G. Thurman U.S. Senator fromOhio (1869–1881) |
| Affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Status | Lost general election: November 6, 1888 Left office: March 4, 1889 |
| Slogan(s) | Unnecessary taxation oppresses industry. Reduce the tariff on necessaries of life. |
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28th Governor of New York 22nd & 24th President of the United States
Tenure Presidential campaigns Legacy
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President of the United StatesGrover Cleveland's first term (1885–1889) was most notable "for its record number ofvetoes (414), more than double the number issued by all his predecessors combined."[1] During Cleveland's first term, controllingCongressional and "wastefulspending" was an important priority for him and his administration.[1] Cleveland's vetoes (and other moves, such as issuing "anexecutive order [which was later rescinded] directing the return of capturedConfederate battle standards to their home states") angered theGrand Army of the Republic (GAR), a powerful organization advocating forUnion veterans.[1] In hisState of the Union Address in December 1887, President Cleveland called for lowertariffs andtariff reform, making it a major issue in the upcoming1888 U.S. presidential election.[1] Cleveland ran forre-election again in 1892 and was elected the 24th president withAdlai Stevenson I serving as hisrunning mate.
In order to ensure his renomination in 1888, Cleveland made sure to weaken the power and influence of his opponents and political enemies within theDemocratic Party, especiallyprotectionistPennsylvaniaUnited States CongressmanSamuel J. Randall andNew York GovernorDavid B. Hill.[1] Cleveland was easily renominated at the1888 Democratic National Convention, and in addition, he was able to get the Democraticparty platform in 1888 to endorse his goal of lower tariffs and tariff reform.[1] Cleveland went into the1888 U.S. presidential election as the first Democratic presidential nominee to be re-nominated sinceMartin Van Buren in1840, almost half a century earlier. The respected formerU.S. SenatorAllen G. Thurman (from theelectoral vote-rich state of Ohio) was picked as Grover Cleveland's vice presidential running mate. Cleveland's previous Vice President (Thomas A. Hendricks) died in November 1885.[1]
The Republican Party nominated former U.S. SenatorBenjamin Harrison (from theswing state ofIndiana) to run against Cleveland in 1888 after1884 Republican presidential nomineeJames G. Blaine (who lost to Cleveland by a razor-thin margin) refused to run again and after several other candidates failed to win enough support.[2] President Cleveland'scampaign managers in 1888 were "William Barnum, the Democratic national chairman, andCalvin Brice, arailroad promoter."[3] The Democratic campaign was greatly hurt by its lack offunds (by September 1888) and by Cleveland's "lethargy" and his unwillingness to help his re-election campaign much (even behind the scenes).[3] The only major things that President Cleveland did for his campaign are writing a " letter of acceptance (in September) and a few publicized letters on policy."[3] The 74-year-old Allen G. Thurman (Cleveland's Vice Presidential pick) did heavily campaign in favor of the Democratic ticket, mostly in theMidwest andNortheast.[3] Thurman's brief speeches explained "why high tariffs were bad for workingmen and consumers" and delineated "his physical ailments, such ascholera,head cold, andneuralgia."[3] Possibly (at least in part) because Thurman "collapsed twice on stage" during his speeches, the press concentrated on Thurman's poor health rather than on the contents of his speeches (something which might have brought negative publicity to the Cleveland campaign).[3] In contrast to Cleveland, Harrison ran a relatively active (for the time) campaign, giving almost 100 speeches throughout hisfront porch campaign in which he defended the Republican platform (especially the call for higher tariffs) while simultaneously criticizing the policies of President Cleveland and his Democratic Party.[3] TheMurchison letter was released shortly before the 1888 election in an attempt to reduce Cleveland's support, but this apparently did not work, since Cleveland gained moreIrish American votes in 1888 than in 1884.[3] The general election was pretty close—Cleveland ended up winning thepopular vote by almost 1%, while Harrison managed to win the electoral vote 233 to 168 (and thus the election) by narrowly winning New York (Cleveland's home state) and Indiana (Harrison's home state) (both of which voted for Cleveland in 1884).[4] Cleveland was hurt in New York (which he lost by 1.09%)[5] byTammany Hall's (and its "Boss"Richard Croker's) lukewarm support for him.[4] Cleveland came very close to losing Connecticut, West Virginia, and the ex-Confederate state of Virginia to Harrison as well.[5] Democratic vice presidential nominee Thurman's home state of Ohio also narrowly went for Harrison in 1888.[5] Even though Benjamin Harrison won the 1888 U.S. presidential election, outgoing U.S. President Grover Cleveland would eventually return to political life in a couple of years and challenge Harrison again for the U.S. presidency in1892.
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