Editing Grover Cleveland (section)

==First presidency (1885–1889)==
{{Main|First presidency of Grover Cleveland}}

===Reform===
[[File:Cleveland Tariffs (edit).jpg|thumb|200px|Cleveland portrayed as a tariff reformer]]

Soon after taking office, Cleveland was faced with the task of filling all the government jobs for which the president had the power of appointment. These jobs were typically filled under the [[spoils system]], but Cleveland announced that he would not fire any Republican who was doing his job well, and would not appoint anyone solely on the basis of party service.<ref>Nevins, 208–211</ref> He also used his appointment powers to reduce the number of federal employees, as many departments had become bloated with political time-servers.<ref>Nevins, 214–217</ref> Later in his term, as his fellow Democrats chafed at being excluded from the spoils, Cleveland began to replace more of the partisan Republican officeholders with Democrats;<ref>Graff, 83</ref> this was especially the case with policymaking positions.<ref>Tugwell, 100</ref> While some of his decisions were influenced by party concerns, more of Cleveland's appointments were decided by merit alone than was the case in his predecessors' administrations.<ref>Nevins, 238–241; Welch, 59–60</ref>

Cleveland also reformed other parts of the government. In 1887, he signed an act creating the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]].<ref>Nevins, 354–357; Graff, 85</ref> He and [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[William C. Whitney]] undertook to modernize the [[United States Navy|Navy]] and canceled construction contracts that had resulted in inferior ships.<ref>Nevins, 217–223; Graff, 77</ref> Cleveland angered railroad investors by ordering an investigation of Western lands they held by government grant. [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] [[Lucius Q. C. Lamar]] charged that the rights of way for this land must be returned to the public because the railroads failed to extend their lines according to agreements. The lands were forfeited, resulting in the return of approximately {{convert|81000000|acre|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="rrgrants">Nevins, 223–228</ref>

Cleveland was the first Democratic president subject to the [[Tenure of Office Act (1867)|Tenure of Office Act]] which originated in 1867; the act purported to require the Senate to approve the dismissal of any presidential appointee who was originally subject to its advice and consent. Cleveland objected to the act in principle and his steadfast refusal to abide by it prompted its fall into disfavor and led to its ultimate repeal in 1887.<ref>Tugwell, 130–134</ref>

===Vetoes===
{{CSS image crop|Image = CLEVELAND, Grover-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg |bSize = 315|cWidth = 220|cHeight = 250|oTop = 70|oLeft = 47|Location = right|Description = [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] (BEP) engraved portrait of Cleveland as president}}
As Congress and its Republican-led Senate sent Cleveland legislation he opposed, he often resorted to using his veto power.<ref>Graff, 85</ref> He vetoed hundreds of private pension bills for [[American Civil War]] veterans, believing that if their pensions requests had already been rejected by the [[Pension Bureau]], Congress should not attempt to override that decision.<ref>Nevins, 326–328; Graff, 83–84</ref> When Congress, pressured by the [[Grand Army of the Republic]], passed [[Dependent and Disability Pension Act|a bill granting pensions]] for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland also vetoed that.<ref>Nevins, 300–331; Graff, 83</ref> In his first term alone, Cleveland used the veto 414 times, which was more than four times more often than any previous president had used it.<ref>See [[List of United States presidential vetoes]]</ref> In 1887, Cleveland issued his most well-known veto, that of the [[Texas Seed Bill]].<ref name="nevins331">Nevins, 331–332; Graff, 85</ref> After a drought had ruined crops in several Texas counties, Congress appropriated $100,000 ({{Inflation|US|100000|1887|fmt=eq}}) to purchase seed grain for farmers there.<ref name="nevins331" /> Cleveland vetoed the expenditure. In his veto message, he espoused a theory of limited government:
{{blockquote|I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Writings and Speeches of Grover Cleveland |publisher=Cassell Publishing Co |year=1892 |location=New York |page=450 |chapter=Cleveland's Veto of the Texas Seed Bill |chapter-url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Cleveland's_Veto_of_the_Texas_Seed_Bill |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Writings_and_Speeches_of_Grover_Cleveland.djvu |isbn=978-0-217-89899-7}}</ref>}}

===Silver===
One of the most volatile issues of the 1880s was whether the currency should be backed by [[Bimetallism|gold and silver]], or by [[gold standard|gold alone]].<ref>Jeffers, 157–158</ref> The issue cut across party lines, with Western Republicans and Southern Democrats joining in the call for the free coinage of silver, and both parties' representatives in the northeast holding firm for the [[gold standard]].<ref name="nevins201">Nevins, 201–205; Graff, 102–103</ref> Because silver was worth less than its legal equivalent in gold, taxpayers paid their government bills in silver, while international creditors demanded payment in gold, resulting in a depletion of the nation's gold supply.<ref name="nevins201" />

Cleveland and Treasury Secretary [[Daniel Manning]] stood firmly on the side of the gold standard, and tried to reduce the amount of silver that the government was required to coin under the [[Bland–Allison Act]] of 1878.<ref>Nevins, 269</ref> Cleveland unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to repeal this law before he was inaugurated.<ref>Tugwell, 110</ref> Angered Westerners and Southerners advocated for cheap money to help their poorer constituents.<ref>Nevins, 268</ref> In reply, one of the foremost silverites, [[Richard P. Bland]], introduced a bill in 1886 that would require the government to coin unlimited amounts of silver, inflating the then-deflating currency.<ref name="nevins273">Nevins, 273</ref> While Bland's bill was defeated, so was a bill the administration favored that would repeal any silver coinage requirement.<ref name="nevins273" /> The result was a retention of the ''status quo'', and a postponement of the resolution of the free-silver issue.<ref>Nevins, 277–279</ref>

===Tariffs===
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" |"When we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his industry and enterprise, with only such deduction as may be his share toward the careful and economical maintenance of the Government which protects him, it is plain that the exaction of more than this is indefensible extortion and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and justice&nbsp;... The public Treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's development, preventing investment in productive enterprise, threatening financial disturbance, and inviting schemes of public plunder."
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | '''''Cleveland's third annual message to Congress''',<br />December 6, 1887.''<ref>{{cite book |title=The Writings and Speeches of Grover Cleveland |publisher=Cassell Publishing Co |year=1892 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/writingsandspee01clevgoog/page/n116 72]–73 |url=https://archive.org/details/writingsandspee01clevgoog |isbn=978-0-217-89899-7}}</ref>
|}
Another contentious financial issue at the time was the protective [[tariff]]. These tariffs had been implemented as a temporary measure during the civil war to protect American industrial interests but remained in place after the war.<ref>[https://millercenter.org/president/grover-cleveland/key-events "Grover Cleveland: Key Events"] University of Virginia Miller Center. Retrieved June 3, 2019.</ref> While it had not been a central point in his campaign, Cleveland's opinion on the tariff was that of most Democrats: that the tariff ought to be reduced.<ref name="nevins280">Nevins, 280–282, Reitano, 46–62</ref> Republicans generally favored a high tariff to protect American industries.<ref name="nevins280" /> American tariffs had been high since the Civil War, and by the 1880s the tariff brought in so much revenue that the government was running a surplus.<ref>Nevins, 286–287</ref>

In 1886, a bill to reduce the tariff was narrowly defeated in the House.<ref>[[William Ralls Morrison|Morrison]] Tariff Bill of 1886. 1886 [[Congressional Record]], Vol. 17, Part 6, Page [https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-CRECB-1886-pt6-v17/GPO-CRECB-1886-pt6-v17-8-2 5830] (June 17, 1886).</ref><ref>Nevins, 287–288</ref> The tariff issue was emphasized in [[1886 United States House elections|the Congressional elections that year]], and the forces of protectionism increased their numbers in the Congress, but Cleveland continued to advocate tariff reform.<ref>Nevins, 290–296; Graff, 87–88</ref> As the surplus grew, Cleveland and the reformers called for a tariff for revenue only.<ref>Nevins, 370–371</ref> His message to Congress in 1887 (quoted at right) highlighted the injustice of taking more money from the people than the government needed to pay its operating expenses.<ref>Nevins, 379–381</ref> Republicans, as well as protectionist northern Democrats like [[Samuel J. Randall]], believed that American industries would fail without high tariffs, and they continued to fight reform efforts.<ref>Nevins, 383–385</ref> [[Roger Q. Mills]], chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, proposed a bill to reduce the tariff from about 47% to about 40%.<ref name="graff88">Graff, 88–89</ref> After significant exertions by Cleveland and his allies, the bill passed the House.<ref name="graff88" /> The Republican Senate failed to come to an agreement with the Democratic House, and the bill died in the [[United States Congress Conference committee|conference committee]]. Dispute over the tariff persisted into the 1888 presidential election.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

===Foreign policy, 1885–1889===
Cleveland was a committed [[isolationism|noninterventionist]] who had campaigned in opposition to expansion and imperialism. He refused to promote the previous administration's [[Nicaragua canal]] treaty, and generally was less of an expansionist in foreign relations.<ref>Nevins, 205, 404–405</ref> Cleveland's Secretary of State, [[Thomas F. Bayard]], negotiated with [[Joseph Chamberlain]] of the United Kingdom over fishing rights in the waters off Canada, and struck a conciliatory note, despite the opposition of [[New England]]'s Republican Senators.<ref>Nevins, 404–413</ref> Cleveland also withdrew from Senate consideration of the [[Berlin Conference|Berlin Conference treaty]] which guaranteed an open door for U.S. interests in [[Congo Free State|the Congo]].<ref name="wealth">Zakaria, 80</ref>

===Military policy, 1885–1889===
[[File:Grover Cleveland Portrait.jpg|thumb|Cleveland in 1888]]
Cleveland's military policy emphasized self-defense and modernization. In 1885 Cleveland appointed the [[Board of Fortifications]] under [[Secretary of War]] [[William Crowninshield Endicott|William C. Endicott]] to recommend a new [[seacoast defense in the United States|coastal fortification]] system for the United States.<ref name="Berhow, pp. 9-10">Berhow, pp. 9–10</ref><ref name="cdsg.org">{{Cite web|url=http://cdsg.org/old/cdsghis4.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204073357/http://cdsg.org/old/cdsghis4.htm|url-status=dead|title=Endicott and Taft Boards at the Coast Defense Study Group website|archive-date=February 4, 2016}}</ref> No improvements to U.S. coastal defenses had been made since the late 1870s.<ref>Berhow, p. 8</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cdsg.org/old/cdsghis3.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204073359/http://cdsg.org/old/cdsghis3.htm|url-status=dead|title=Civil War and 1870s defenses at the Coast Defense Study Group website|archive-date=February 4, 2016}}</ref> The Board's 1886 report recommended a massive $127&nbsp;million construction program (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|.127|1886|r=1}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) at 29 [[Harbor Defense Command|harbors and river estuaries]], to include new breech-loading rifled guns, mortars, and [[submarine mines in United States harbor defense|naval minefields]]. The Board and the program are usually called the Endicott Board and the Endicott Program. Most of the Board's recommendations were implemented, and by 1910, 27 locations were defended by over 70 forts.<ref>Berhow, pp. 201–226</ref><ref>[http://cdsg.org/fort-and-battery-list/ List of all US coastal forts and batteries] at the Coast Defense Study Group website</ref> Many of the weapons remained in place until scrapped in World War II as they were replaced with new defenses. Endicott also proposed to Congress a system of examinations for Army officer promotions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/sw-sa/Endicott.htm|title=William Crowninshield Endicott, from Bell, William Gardner (1992), ''Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army'', Center of Military History, US Army|access-date=May 13, 2016|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081532/http://www.history.army.mil/books/Sw-SA/Endicott.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> For the Navy, the Cleveland administration, spearheaded by [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[William Collins Whitney]], moved towards modernization, although no ships were constructed that could match the best European warships. Although completion of the four steel-hulled warships begun under the previous administration was delayed due to a corruption investigation and subsequent bankruptcy of their building yard, these ships were completed in a timely manner in [[naval shipyard]]s once the investigation was over.<ref>Bauer and Roberts, p. 141</ref> Sixteen additional steel-hulled warships were ordered by the end of 1888. These ships played a vital role during the [[Spanish–American War]] of 1898, and many later served in World War&nbsp;I. Among them were the "second-class [[battleship]]s" {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|2}} and {{USS|Texas|1892|2}}, designed to match modern armored ships recently acquired by South American countries from Europe, such as the [[Brazilian battleship Riachuelo|Brazilian battleship ''Riachuelo'']].<ref>Bauer and Roberts, p. 102</ref> Eleven [[protected cruiser]]s (including the famous {{USS|Olympia|C-6|2}}), one [[armored cruiser]], and one [[monitor (warship)|monitor]] were also ordered, along with the experimental cruiser {{USS|Vesuvius|1888|2}}.<ref>Bauer and Roberts, pp. 101, 133, 141–147</ref>

===Civil rights and immigration===
Under Cleveland, gains in civil rights for African Americans were limited.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bergeson-Lockwood |first=Millington W. |title=A Recognized and Respected Part of the Body Politic: Grover Cleveland and Pursuit of Patronage |date=May 21, 2018 |work=Race Over Party |pages=86–108 |url=https://academic.oup.com/north-carolina-scholarship-online/book/16963/chapter/174239650 |access-date=July 27, 2024 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |doi=10.5149/northcarolina/9781469640419.003.0006 |isbn=978-1-4696-4041-9}}</ref> Cleveland, like a growing number of Northerners and nearly all white Southerners, saw [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] as a failed experiment,<ref>{{Cite journal |date=Spring 2001 |title=Grover Cleveland: A Powerful Advocate of White Supremacy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2679168 |journal=[[The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education]] |issue=31 |pages=53–54 |doi=10.2307/2679168 |jstor=2679168 |access-date=27 July 2024 }}</ref> and was reluctant to use federal power to enforce the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th Amendment]] of the [[U.S. Constitution]], which guaranteed voting rights to African Americans.<ref name="welch65">Welch, 65–66</ref> Though Cleveland appointed no black Americans to patronage jobs, he allowed [[Frederick Douglass]] to continue in his post as [[recorder of deeds]] in Washington, D.C., and appointed another black man ([[James Campbell Matthews]], a former New York judge) to replace Douglass upon his resignation.<ref name="welch65" /> His decision to replace Douglass with a black man was met with outrage, but Cleveland claimed to have known Matthews personally.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blacksandpresidency.com/grovercleveland.php |title="No Force bill! No Negro Domination in the South!": President Grover Cleveland and the Return to Power of the Democratic Party |website=African-Americans & the Presidency |first=Christopher Brian |last=Booker |year=2014 |access-date=November 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017175406/http://www.blacksandpresidency.com/grovercleveland.php |archive-date=October 17, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although Cleveland had condemned the "outrages" against Chinese immigrants, he believed that Chinese immigrants were unwilling to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilate]] into white society.<ref>Welch, 72</ref> Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard negotiated an extension to the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]], and Cleveland lobbied the Congress to pass the [[Scott Act (1888)|Scott Act]], written by Congressman [[William Lawrence Scott]], which prevented the return of Chinese immigrants who left the United States.<ref name="welch73">Welch, 73</ref> The Scott Act easily passed both houses of Congress, and Cleveland signed it into law on October 1, 1888.<ref name="welch73" />

===Native American policy===
[[File:HenryLDawes.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Henry L. Dawes]] wrote the [[Dawes Act]], which Cleveland signed into law.]]

Cleveland viewed Native Americans as [[wards of the state]], saying in his first inaugural address that "[t]his guardianship involves, on our part, efforts for the improvement of their condition and enforcement of their rights."<ref name="welch70">Welch, 70; Nevins, 358–359</ref> He encouraged the idea of cultural assimilation, pushing for the passage of the [[Dawes Act]], which would allow lands held in trust by the federal government for the tribes to instead be distributed to individual tribe members.<ref name="welch70" /> While a conference of Native leaders endorsed the act, in practice the majority of Native Americans disapproved of it.<ref>Graff, 206–207</ref> Cleveland believed the Dawes Act would lift Native Americans out of poverty and encourage their assimilation into white society. It ultimately weakened the tribal governments and allowed individual Indians to sell land and keep the money.<ref name="welch70" /> The act led to Native Americans ceding control of about 100 million acres of land between 1887 and 1934, which was around "two-thirds of the land base they held in 1887."<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" />

In the month before Cleveland's 1885 inauguration, President Arthur opened four million acres of [[Winnebago (tribe)|Winnebago]] and [[Crow Creek Reservation|Crow Creek]] Indian lands in the [[Dakota Territory]] to white settlement by executive order.<ref name="B141">Brodsky, 141–142; Nevins, 228–229</ref> Tens of thousands of settlers gathered at the border of these lands and prepared to take possession of them.<ref name="B141" /> Cleveland believed Arthur's order to be in violation of treaties with the tribes, and rescinded it on April 17 of that year, ordering the settlers out of the territory.<ref name="B141" /> Cleveland sent in eighteen [[company (military unit)|companies]] of Army troops to enforce the treaties and ordered General [[Philip Sheridan]], at the time Commanding General of the U.S. Army, to investigate the matter.<ref name="B141" />
{{Clear}}

===Marriage and children===
{{main|Wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom}}
[[File:Frances Folsom Cleveland.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|Frances Folsom Cleveland {{Circa|1886}}]]
Cleveland was 47 years old when he entered the White House as a bachelor. His sister [[Rose Cleveland]] joined him, acting as hostess for the first 15 months of his administration.<ref>Brodsky, 158; Jeffers, 149</ref> Unlike the previous bachelor president [[James Buchanan]], Cleveland did not remain a bachelor for long. In 1885, the daughter of Cleveland's friend Oscar Folsom visited him in Washington.<ref name="graff78">Graff, 78</ref> [[Frances Cleveland|Frances Folsom]] was a student at [[Wells College]]. When she returned to school, President Cleveland received her mother's permission to correspond with her, and they were soon engaged to be married.<ref name="graff78" /> The [[Wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom|wedding]] occurred on June 2, 1886, in the [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]] at the White House. Cleveland was 49 years old at the time; Frances was 21.<ref>Graff, 79</ref> He was the second president to wed while in office{{efn|[[John Tyler]], who married his second wife [[Julia Gardiner Tyler|Julia Gardiner]] in 1844, was the first.}} and remains the only president to marry in the White House. This marriage was unusual because Cleveland was the executor of Oscar Folsom's estate and had supervised Frances's upbringing after her father's death; nevertheless, the public took no exception to the match.<ref>Jeffers, 170–176; Graff, 78–81; Nevins, 302–308; Welch, 51</ref> At 21 years, Frances Folsom Cleveland was and remains the youngest [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] in history, and soon became popular for her warm personality.<ref>Graff, 80–81</ref>

The Clevelands had five children: [[Ruth Cleveland|Ruth]] (1891–1904), [[Esther Cleveland|Esther]] (1893–1980), Marion (1895–1977), [[Richard F. Cleveland|Richard]] (1897–1974), and [[Francis Cleveland|Francis]] (1903–1995). British philosopher [[Philippa Foot]] (1920–2010) was their granddaughter.<ref>{{cite news|first=William |last=Grimes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/us/10foot.html |title=Philippa Foot, Renowned Philosopher, Dies at 90 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 9, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref> Ruth contracted [[diphtheria]] on January 2, 1904, and died five days after her diagnosis.<ref name="Quinn">{{cite book|last1=Quinn|first1=Sandra L.|last2=Kanter|first2=Sandford|date=1995|title=America's Royalty: All the Presidents' Children|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=[https://archive.org/details/americasroyaltya00quin_0/page/131 131]|isbn=0-313-29535-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/americasroyaltya00quin_0/page/131}}</ref> The [[Curtiss Candy Company]] would later assert that the "[[Baby Ruth]]" candy bar was named after her.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/baby-ruth/ |title=Baby Ruth |first=David |last=Mikkelson |website=[[Snopes]] |date=February 21, 2007 |accessdate=June 24, 2008}}</ref> Cleveland also claimed paternity of a child with Maria Crofts Halpin, [[Oscar Folsom Cleveland]], who was born in 1874.<ref>{{cite magazine |last = Serratore |first = Angela |title = President Cleveland's Problem Child |magazine = [[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |date = September 26, 2013 |url = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/president-clevelands-problem-child-100800/ |access-date = August 15, 2023}}</ref>

===Administration and Cabinet===
[[File:Cleveland First Cabinet (edited).png|thumb|upright=1.65|alt=Cleveland First Cabinet|Cleveland's first Cabinet. <br />Front row, left to right: Thomas F. Bayard, '''Cleveland''', Daniel Manning, [[Lucius Q. C. Lamar]] <br /> Back row, left to right: [[William F. Vilas]], [[William C. Whitney]], [[William C. Endicott]], [[Augustus H. Garland]] ]]

{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
| Name = First Cleveland
| align = none
| President = Grover Cleveland
| President start = 1885
| President end = 1889
| Vice President = [[Thomas A. Hendricks]]
| Vice President date = 1885
| Vice President 2 = None
| Vice President start 2 = 1885
| Vice President end 2 = 1889
| State = [[Thomas F. Bayard]]
| State start = 1885
| State end = 1889
| Treasury = [[Daniel Manning]]
| Treasury start = 1885
| Treasury end = 1887
| Treasury 2 = [[Charles S. Fairchild]]
| Treasury start 2 = 1887
| Treasury end 2 = 1889
| War = [[William Crowninshield Endicott]]
| War start = 1885
| War end = 1889
| Justice = [[Augustus Hill Garland]]
| Justice start = 1885
| Justice end = 1889
| Post = [[William Freeman Vilas]]
| Post start = 1885
| Post end = 1888
| Post 2 = [[Donald M. Dickinson]]
| Post start 2 = 1888
| Post end 2 = 1889
| Navy = [[William Collins Whitney]]
| Navy start = 1885
| Navy end = 1889
| Interior = [[Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar]]
| Interior start = 1885
| Interior end = 1888
| Interior 2 = [[William Freeman Vilas]]
| Interior start 2 = 1888
| Interior end 2 = 1889
| Agriculture = [[Norman Jay Coleman]]
| Agriculture date = 1889
}}

===Judicial appointments===
{{main|List of federal judges appointed by Grover Cleveland}}
[[Image:Melville Weston Fuller Chief Justice 1908.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Chief Justice Melville Fuller.]]
During his first term, Cleveland successfully nominated two justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. The first, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, was a former [[Mississippi]] senator who served in Cleveland's Cabinet as Interior Secretary. When [[William Burnham Woods]] died, Cleveland nominated Lamar to his seat in late 1887. Lamar's nomination was confirmed by the narrow margin of 32 to 28.<ref>Daniel J. Meador, "Lamar to the Court: Last Step to National Reunion" ''Supreme Court Historical Society Yearbook 1986'': 27–47. {{ISSN|0362-5249}}</ref>

[[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Morrison Waite]] died a few months later, and Cleveland nominated [[Melville Fuller]] to fill his seat on April 30, 1888. Fuller accepted. The [[Senate Judiciary Committee]] spent several months examining the little-known nominee, before the Senate confirmed the nomination 41 to 20. Cleveland was the second Democratic president to appoint a Chief Justice, after [[Andrew Jackson]].<ref>Willard L. King, ''Melville Weston Fuller – Chief Justice of the United States 1888–1910'' (1950)</ref><ref>Nevins, 445–450</ref>

Cleveland nominated 41 lower federal court judges in addition to his four Supreme Court justices. These included two judges to the [[United States circuit court]]s, nine judges to the [[United States Courts of Appeals]], and 30 judges to the [[United States district courts]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}