Grover Cleveland

First Term - Campaign

- Cleveland won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1884 in spite of the opposition of Tammany Hall. - The 1884 presidential campaign was going to be rough because of Cleveland's Republican opponent, U.S. Senator James G. Blaine (1830-93) of Maine. - Blaine was implicated in several financial scandals, while Cleveland was involved in a paternity case in which he had admitted that he had paid child support in 1874 to a woman who claimed he was the father of her child. - In spite of the scandal, Cleveland won the election with the support of the Mugwumps , Republicans who considered Blaine corrupt.

First Term - In Office

- Once in office, Cleveland continued the policy of his predecessor, Chester Arthur (1830-86), in basing political appointments on merit rather than party affiliation. - He tried to reduce government spending, using the veto more often than any other president up to that point. - Cleveland was a non interventionist in foreign policy and fought to have protective tariffs lowered.

Mugwumps

Republican political activists who bolted from the United States Republican Party by supporting Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884.