Grover Cleveland

Their courtship flourished before the turn of the century, before e-mail, back when people in love showed their devotion with tender phrases in page after page of distinctive hand. Normally their letters might have been stored away without a second thought, evidence only of an age of innocence.But these correspondents were President Grover Cleveland and the beloved who became his bride, Frances Folsom.Their newly surfaced letters -- described by one relative as poignant and gentle chronicles of the couple's daily activities -- have kicked up a debate about just how much of a private president the public should be allowed to see.On one side is a historical specialist at the Library of Congress, hoping to add what he considers an important find to the library's collection of Cleveland papers.

Every Christmas morning is a shimmering promise of surprise and delight. You never know what it will bring, and you might just get your heart's fondest desire. But in reality, surprises are not the rule. If you want to know what you'll get this Christmas, your best guide is what you got last Christmas. Likewise for presidential elections. Every campaign raises a host of possibilities, particularly in the imagination of candidates. They may be forgiven for ignoring all evidence that is unfavorable to their dreams, which is usually abundant.

NOTING not one but two recent columns in this space in which I said Gov. Bill Clinton had a lot in common with President Grover Cleveland, Marion Cohen of Roland Park called my attention to an interview with her father in the Boston Globe on the day before the New Hampshire primary."

HUNTINGTON, Ind. - Dan Johns, executive director of the Dan Quayle museum, leaned closer to a display case to check a fact that had eluded him. "Let's see, now," he said, a furrow suddenly creasing his forehead, his voice growing solemn. "Did the potato thing come first, and then it was Murphy Brown, or was it Murphy Brown, and then the potato thing? I know they were very close. Ah, yes. Here it is. Murphy Brown first, then potato." Or p-o-t-a-t-o-e, as Quayle once spelled it in the presence of a group of disbelieving grammar school students.

SEN. TOM HARKIN of Iowa is "the new William Jennings 5/8Bryan," afriend of his told Alex Beam of the Boston Herald.Just what the Democrats need -- a new version of the biggest loser in presidential election history!Harkin, like Bryan, is a populist and a great orator "who could easily electrify a convention," Beam wrote. Yes, and electrocute his party.Bryan was the party's nominee three times, in 1896, 1900 and 1908. He lost to William McKinley in 1896 and 1900 and to William Howard Taft in 1908.

A RECENT COLUMN inspired a number of telephone calls and letters of which the following are representative:Letter from Michael T. Shatterly of Ellicott City: "After pointing out that the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland, carried the South in the 1884 election, you refuted the theory that Cleveland owed his success to the fact that his Republican opponent, James Garfield, had been a Union general during the Civil War, while Cleveland, a draft dodger,...

This is the 52nd presidential election. The 25th in 1884 saw the first Democratic victory in 28 years. New York Gov. Grover Cleveland, a sound-money conservative, led the party out of its wilderness.This was the election in which war hero William Tecumseh Sherman told Republicans he would not accept the nomination, nor serve if elected. So the party turned to Maine Sen. James G. Blaine, a veteran of Congress and Cabinet for over 20 years. Cleveland had never even been to Washington.The campaign turned on personal issues.

Who knew? All this time we thought Dan Quayle was such a shallow guy, and he was actually thinking in metaphors.In his mind, Murphy Brown's out-of-wedlock baby is the metaphor for modern American immorality. Not Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator, who's taught a nation to approach complex problems by blowing up buildings. Arnold gets to be George Bush's physical fitness adviser, and nobody at the White House ever mentions the blown-up buildings as a metaphor for national violence, because the deeply thoughtful Arnold might drop a grenade down their shorts.

GEORGE W. BUSH is the Eliza Doolittle of American politics. He isn't ready to be president, but with the coaching of a couple of dozen would-be Professor Higginses, he probably can learn to talk like one.You have to admire the man's chutzpah. It takes chutzpah to put yourself forward as a candidate for the presidency after serving just a single term as governor of a state in which the lieutenant governor is the real power. (The lieutenant governor in Texas runs the legislature.)Ah, but this governor has a famous last name.

Solidarity DayEditor: On Aug. 31, the United Steelworkers of America will be participating in ''Solidarity Day '91,'' in Washington, D.C. This is a day for all working people to stand together and be heard as one voice, to let government and big business know that we will not be silenced.Many crucial issues are to be addressed on this day; health care reform, workers' rights, striker replacement, union busting and our commitment to achieving a better life for working families. Basic rights are sometimes taken for granted, but step back and look around, we are loosing more day by day.There are some people who can't see past the end of their nose, they figure if they don't acknowledge problems they will go away.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - It is hard for outsiders to imagine that before the steel mills died, the young people fled and the Bills choked, Buffalo was unbowed and proud. This was once the eighth largest city in the United States and one of its most prosperous, with mansions and parks designed by the best architects in the country. Its geography, on Lake Erie, and its crisscross railroad lines made it a pivotal hub for moving goods from the Midwest to the East. Its political influence was strong enough that two sons went to the White House: Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897)

Every four years since 1976, through seven presidential elections and four Maryland governors with countless numbers of students by his side, history teacher Laurence E. Block has made a December pilgrimage to the State House in Annapolis. He has witnessed Maryland's 10 electors make their choice for president since they picked peanut farmer Jimmy Carter. Sometimes, they're on the winning side. Other times, like this year, their votes go to the person who finishes second. Yesterday's meeting of Maryland's electors was like any other the Broadneck High School teacher had seen - except for the attention it commanded, which was fitting considering the election before it. "Certainly for me it was the most memorable," said Block, hoisting a small video camera to capture footage of his students being interviewed by men with bigger cameras.

IS THERE LIFE after the White House? As lame duck Bill Clinton studies his options, two unique fates beckon. He could be the first ex-president married to a United States Senator if wife Hillary wins her election battle in New York. Or he could be the first former chief executive ever to have his law license revoked if his Arkansas enemies have their way. For so self-absorbed a politician, either prospect must be somewhat of a distraction. His speculations have wended elsewhere -- to multi-million-dollar book contracts to pay off his legal debts, to construction of a presidential library in Arkansas, to media mogulship and high-fee political speechifying, even to running for Congress in the grand tradition of John Quincy Adams.

GEORGE W. BUSH is the Eliza Doolittle of American politics. He isn't ready to be president, but with the coaching of a couple of dozen would-be Professor Higginses, he probably can learn to talk like one.You have to admire the man's chutzpah. It takes chutzpah to put yourself forward as a candidate for the presidency after serving just a single term as governor of a state in which the lieutenant governor is the real power. (The lieutenant governor in Texas runs the legislature.)Ah, but this governor has a famous last name.

RETIRED MUSIC teacher and Savage resident Robert Perkins is becoming an authority on an interesting aspect of women's history.Several years back, Perkins read a biography of Fanny Crosby, a well-known Methodist hymn writer in the early part of the century. He knew that she was renowned in her time -- a friend of Grover Cleveland -- as famous for her lyrics as for the fact that she was blind.But he was a bit surprised to discover exactly how prolific she was since she often used aliases to sign her music.

Their courtship flourished before the turn of the century, before e-mail, back when people in love showed their devotion with tender phrases in page after page of distinctive hand. Normally their letters might have been stored away without a second thought, evidence only of an age of innocence.But these correspondents were President Grover Cleveland and the beloved who became his bride, Frances Folsom.Their newly surfaced letters -- described by one relative as poignant and gentle chronicles of the couple's daily activities -- have kicked up a debate about just how much of a private president the public should be allowed to see.On one side is a historical specialist at the Library of Congress, hoping to add what he considers an important find to the library's collection of Cleveland papers.

IS THERE LIFE after the White House? As lame duck Bill Clinton studies his options, two unique fates beckon. He could be the first ex-president married to a United States Senator if wife Hillary wins her election battle in New York. Or he could be the first former chief executive ever to have his law license revoked if his Arkansas enemies have their way. For so self-absorbed a politician, either prospect must be somewhat of a distraction. His speculations have wended elsewhere -- to multi-million-dollar book contracts to pay off his legal debts, to construction of a presidential library in Arkansas, to media mogulship and high-fee political speechifying, even to running for Congress in the grand tradition of John Quincy Adams.

WHY IS IT that every time the Republicans ask the first lady or the president to answer tough questions about Whitewatergate, they just say "No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!"?I don't know. He says it isn't important since it happened many years in the past. In fact, he said this week that he is the only president who was ever subjected to such questioning and criticism for something that happened "so long ago."Actually, in 1884 when Grover Cleveland was running for president, he was attacked for having fathered an illegitimate child in 1874.

WHY IS IT that every time the Republicans ask the first lady or the president to answer tough questions about Whitewatergate, they just say "No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!"?I don't know. He says it isn't important since it happened many years in the past. In fact, he said this week that he is the only president who was ever subjected to such questioning and criticism for something that happened "so long ago."Actually, in 1884 when Grover Cleveland was running for president, he was attacked for having fathered an illegitimate child in 1874.

This is the 52nd presidential election. The 25th in 1884 saw the first Democratic victory in 28 years. New York Gov. Grover Cleveland, a sound-money conservative, led the party out of its wilderness.This was the election in which war hero William Tecumseh Sherman told Republicans he would not accept the nomination, nor serve if elected. So the party turned to Maine Sen. James G. Blaine, a veteran of Congress and Cabinet for over 20 years. Cleveland had never even been to Washington.The campaign turned on personal issues.