Shout Out to Baristaville’s Presidential Homeboy

While Washington and Lincoln are the day’s superstars (and honoring their birthdays the original purpose of this federal holiday), President’s Day has morphed into a more generic opportunity for both celebration and critical examination of all of our Commanders in Chief. On that note, we feel it appropriate to give a big shout out to Outer Baristaville’s Presidential home boy, (Stephen) Grover Cleveland.

Cleveland was born 173 years ago in Caldwell, and while his family didn’t stick around the neighborhood for more than a few years, he is as close as we get to having local ties to one of the country’s presidents — unless you count the fact that General George Washington conducted some of the Revolutionary War in Essex County.

To this day, more than 100 years after he took office for the first time, Cleveland remains the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents: he was both the 22nd and 24th.

As his political star ascended, so did the interest in preserving his Caldwell birthplace as a museum. Negotiations to purchase the Bloomfield Avenue manse in 1907, culminated in the opening of the house to the public 1913.

To this day, Cleveland continues to be an inspiration to local politicians and a source of historic pride in Baristaville. The nation’s leading repository of Cleveland artifacts and political memorabilia, The Grover Cleveland Birthplace State Historic Site is the only museum in the country dedicated to the interpretation of our native son’s life.

For information about visiting the museum (it’s closed today), click here.

On this holiday of retail sales and vacation days, we thought we would initiate a thread of Presidential trivia and invite our readers to share little-known facts or their favorite stories about the men who have held our nation’s highest office (and maybe the first ladies too).

For example, did you know that John Quincy Adams regularly swam nude in the Potomac River, that John Tyler had 15 children, or that Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital? Can you tell us who (hint, here’s his photo) is credited with saying, “I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody’s damned business”?

If you’re so inclined, you can also nominate your pick for “Greatest President of all Time.”

Here’s some trivia about Cleveland:

• He personally answered the White House phone.
• He was the only president married in a ceremony at the White House, June 2, 1886.
• He dedicated the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886.
• He was the first president to have a child born in the White House; his daughter Esther in 1895.
• The public believed Cleveland went on a fishing trip in July 1893, but he was actually having surgery for a cancerous growth in his mouth. It was not until 1917 the truth was revealed.

Happy President’s Day to all.

Photos from Wikipedia.