A Man of Iron
The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland
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- £16.49
Publisher Description
“A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable” (National Review) biography of Grover Cleveland—one of America’s most unusual presidents and the first one to serve two non-consecutive terms.
“Entertaining and astute” (Booklist), A Man of Iron explores the remarkable life and extraordinary career of Grover Cleveland—the honest, principled, and plain-spoken president whose country has largely overlooked him.
Grover Cleveland’s political career—a dizzying journey that saw him rise from obscure lawyer to president of the United States in just three years—was marked by contradictions. A politician of uncharacteristic honesty and principle, he was nevertheless dogged by secrets from his personal life. A believer in limited government, he pushed presidential power to its limits to combat a crippling depression, suppress labor unrest, and resist the forces of American imperialism. A headstrong executive who alienated Congress, political bosses, and even his own party, his stubbornness nevertheless became the key to his political appeal. The most successful Democratic politician of his era, he came to be remembered most fondly by Republicans.
“With prodigious research, rich detail…and lively prose” (The Free Lance-Star, Virginia), A Man of Iron is a compelling and vivid biography joining the ranks of presidential classics such as David McCullough’s John Adams, Ron Chernow’s Grant, and Amity Shlaes’s Coolidge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms in office, Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) was more than the answer to a trivia question, according to this entertaining biography. Senik, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, characterizes Cleveland as a fierce opponent of corruption who was willing "to follow principle regardless of the political consequences." Though this integrity sparked Cleveland's meteoric rise from mayor of Buffalo, N.Y., to governor to president within the span of three years, it backfired politically when he was in the White House and opposed factions of his Democratic Party on such issues as tariff reform, the Pullman labor strike, and the gold standard. After winning the popular vote but losing in the electoral college to Benjamin Harrison in 1888, Cleveland reclaimed the presidency in 1892. Senik details Cleveland's personal scandals—including allegations that he fathered a child out of wedlock and institutionalized the child's mother; his marriage, while president, to a 21-year-old woman who had once been his ward; and the "massive cover-up" over his secret surgery to remove a cancerous tumor during the financial panic of 1893—but never seriously challenges his subject's "moral probity." Well-researched if biased, this is an enjoyable reconsideration of an underappreciated American president. Agents: Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn, Javelin.
