Cleveland had made many enemies in his own party by refusing to appoint unfit men to office. When, therefore, he ran for president again in 1888, he was beaten by Senator Harrison of Indiana.
But four years later, in 1892, he defeated Harrison and again became president.
The panic of 1893
179. The Panic of 1893. Cleveland had hardly taken his seat as President when hard times struck the country. Business men and laborers suffered greatly. They could not pay their debts. Men, women, and children suffered for want of bread.
The great railroad strike
The Pullman Car Company of Chicago cut down the wages of its workmen. The men called a strike which finally extended over half the states of the Union.
Chicago was the center of the strike. Hundreds of cars were burned and lives were threatened. It was impossible to carry the United States mail or freight from one state to another. Grover Cleveland ordered United States soldiers to Chicago to keep the mails going and the freight running. This broke the back of the strike. Cleveland had shown how to settle strikes in a new way.
Cleveland served twice as President and after his second term of office he moved to Princeton, New Jersey, the seat of Princeton University. Here he became famous for his lectures given before the student body.