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Rh he wrote to his brother that his policy would be "to make the matter a business engagement between the people of the State and myself, in which the obligation on my side is to perform the duties assigned me with an eye single to the interests of my employers." Disinclined to the pomp of an inauguration, he walked, with a friend, from the governor's house to the Capitol, on January 1, 1883, to take the oath of office. Grover Cleveland's love of work, his dislike for display, and his determination to perform scrupulously each duty as it presented itself, regardless of possible consequences to his political future, throughout his career have appealed to the good sense rather than to the imagination of the country. The independence of the executive, and its equality of responsibility with the legislative branch, have found in him their firmest defender of recent years.

In one of his earliest acts as governor, disapproving a bill to reorganize the fire department of Buffalo in the interests of Democratic partisanship, he said: "I believe in an open and sturdy partisanship which secures the legitimate advantages of party supremacy, but parties were made for the people, and I am unwilling, knowingly, to give my assent to measures purely partisan, which will sacrifice or endanger their interests." Governor Cleveland's course was a consistent development of the policies he had carried out as mayor. His acts frequently aroused partisan resentment, but they appealed to the popular appreciation of fair play and independence.

The national political situation in 1884 was not dissimilar to the situation in New York state in 1882. The nomination of James G. Blaine divided the Republican party on issues partly personal and partly political. Samuel J. Tilden declined to be a candidate for the Democratic nomination and the Tilden forces in his own and other states supported Cleveland as the exponent of Tilden policies. These forces, his great majority as governor, and his courage in two responsible executive positions, brought the Democratic leadership to him. The ensuing campaign was exceptionally bitter, and the result very close, turning on New York state, which gave Cleveland barely one thousand plurality over Blaine.

With the inauguration of President Cleveland on March 4, 1885, the Democratic party, after a lapse of twenty-four years, resumed control of the federal administration. In both branches of congress the party had long been represented by men of commanding ability and wide experience in national affairs. Relatively the new