"Though the people support the Government, the Government should not support the people."
Democrat President Grover Cleveland - 1887 - vetoing a bill that would have provided $10,000.00 in aid for drought stricken farmers.
And he was a Democrat! From Wikipedia:
His admirers praise him for his bedrock honesty, independence, integrity and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As a leader of the Bourbon Democrats he opposed imperialism, taxes, corruption, patronage, subsidies and
inflationary policies. His intervention in the Pullman Strike of 1894 in order to keep the railroads moving angered labor unions. His support for the gold standard and opposition to free silver angered the agrarian wing of the party.
Without question, he was one of the greatest US Presidents ever. But not everyone loved him. There were no-nothing statists back then, too:
Critics complained that he had little imagination and seemed overwhelmed by the nation's economic disasters--depressions and strikes--in his second term. He lost control of his party to the agrarians and silverites in 1896.
And it’s been downhill ever since. I rather suspect that what his critics meant by “imagination” was the willingness to use the power of the state to force citizens to do what the state wants. Leave imagination to the poets.
1 comment:
I am glad to see someone else has discovered Grover Cleveland too.
I found out about him once when I was challenged with the question: who was the last great Democratic president? Sadly, I had to go all the way back to Cleveland to find one.
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