SENATE STATE GOVERNMENT, WAGERING, TOURISM & HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION No. 67

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 4, 2021

      The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee reports favorably Senate Joint Resolution No. 67.

     This resolution designates the week of March 18 of each year as “President Grover Cleveland Week” in New Jersey to celebrate the life and service of President Grover Cleveland.

     President Cleveland was born in the borough of Caldwell, New Jersey on March 18, 1837.  After a successful career as a lawyer in upstate New York, President Cleveland embarked on a distinguished career in public service.  In 1881, President Cleveland was elected Mayor of Buffalo, New York, serving for one year before being approached by the Democratic Party to run for governor.  In 1882, President Cleveland won what was at the time the largest margin of victory ever for a New York election.  President Cleveland would serve for two years before the presidential election of 1884.

     In 1884, President Cleveland won the presidential election and became the first and only person born in New Jersey to win the presidency. President Cleveland began his term by not implementing the common “spoils system,” which awarded government jobs to supporters rather than those fit to fill the positions.  The departure from the “spoils system” was a major reform in Washington, D.C. at the time.  In 1886, President Cleveland became the first and only president to be wed in the White House.

     Although President Cleveland was defeated in the presidential election of 1888, he remained dedicated to the issues of the nation.  His popularity among the American people remained as well, and in 1892 President Cleveland was once again elected president, defeating incumbent President Benjamin Harris. President Cleveland remains the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, a testament to his determination even in the face of defeat.

     After his second term ended in 1897, President Cleveland retired to his home, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey.  Prior to his death, he continued his service as a trustee for Princeton University and occasional consultant for President Theodore Roosevelt.