Grover Cleveland (Encyclopedia of Presidents)

Rating:
Summary: Why Grover Cleveland was the "Veto President"
Review: Zachary Kent picks a very interesting episode to begin his juvenile biography of Grover Cleveland for the Encyclopedia of Presidents series. Cleveland had been a cigar smoker all his life and in 1893 a cancerous tumor was removed from his mouth, along with a large segment of his upper jawbone. Eventually Cleveland was fitted with an artificial rubber jaw. Surprisingly, the public never found out about the operation until nine years after Cleveland died. Perhaps it is the idea that a President of the United States got away with keeping a deep dark secret from the press and the public, but as fascinating as this little story is, Kent's biography gets much more interesting.

Grover Cleveland has always been something of a political oddity because he is the only President to serve non-consecutive terms in the White House. He was also one of the few men ever to win the popular vote but lose in the electoral college (gee, that sounds SO familiar). However, by the time students reading this volume they will probably have a greater appreciation for Cleveland and judge him to be an above-average President. Kent focuses on Cleveland's political career as a Veto Politician who rose quickly from Mayor of Buffalo to Governor of New York and then President of the United States. While the opening chapter focuses on an obvious case of deception, Cleveland's honesty was his hallmark. Kent characterizes Cleveland as the Veto President, although most of his record number of vetoes had to do with small pension bills sent up by Congress. One of the strengths of this book was how Kent focuses on the years between Cleveland's two terms, which usually gets glossed over in these short political biographies.

Actually, I am sort of surprised that Kent did not play up the President's marriage during his first term to the twenty-one year old Frances Folsom, by far the youngest First Lady in American History. Most students might know little about Cleveland's political views, but they probably know even less about his wife, who turns out to be one of the most fascinating women ever to live in the White House. The production values on the Encyclopedia of Presidents are not as snazzy as you will find in other similar series, but few juvenile histories of the Presidents provide this much information. The book is illustrated with historic black & white photographs, engravings, and political cartoons, which usually given students a better feel for the times than anything else.

Rating:
Summary: Why Grover Cleveland was the "Veto President"
Review: Zachary Kent picks a very interesting episode to begin his juvenile biography of Grover Cleveland for the Encyclopedia of Presidents series. Cleveland had been a cigar smoker all his life and in 1893 a cancerous tumor was removed from his mouth, along with a large segment of his upper jawbone. Eventually Cleveland was fitted with an artificial rubber jaw. Surprisingly, the public never found out about the operation until nine years after Cleveland died. Perhaps it is the idea that a President of the United States got away with keeping a deep dark secret from the press and the public, but as fascinating as this little story is, Kent's biography gets much more interesting.

Grover Cleveland has always been something of a political oddity because he is the only President to serve non-consecutive terms in the White House. He was also one of the few men ever to win the popular vote but lose in the electoral college (gee, that sounds SO familiar). However, by the time students reading this volume they will probably have a greater appreciation for Cleveland and judge him to be an above-average President. Kent focuses on Cleveland's political career as a Veto Politician who rose quickly from Mayor of Buffalo to Governor of New York and then President of the United States. While the opening chapter focuses on an obvious case of deception, Cleveland's honesty was his hallmark. Kent characterizes Cleveland as the Veto President, although most of his record number of vetoes had to do with small pension bills sent up by Congress. One of the strengths of this book was how Kent focuses on the years between Cleveland's two terms, which usually gets glossed over in these short political biographies.

Actually, I am sort of surprised that Kent did not play up the President's marriage during his first term to the twenty-one year old Frances Folsom, by far the youngest First Lady in American History. Most students might know little about Cleveland's political views, but they probably know even less about his wife, who turns out to be one of the most fascinating women ever to live in the White House. The production values on the Encyclopedia of Presidents are not as snazzy as you will find in other similar series, but few juvenile histories of the Presidents provide this much information. The book is illustrated with historic black & white photographs, engravings, and political cartoons, which usually given students a better feel for the times than anything else.