Democrat · 1885–1889, 1893–1897
Grover Cleveland
Limited government, the gold standard, vetoes, and little appetite for empire. The only split two terms.
Grover Cleveland was president 1885–1889, 1893–1897. The party color on the chart is Democrat. Early presidents are not forced into today’s party names. The placement note is: Limited government, the gold standard, vetoes, and little appetite for empire. The only split two terms.
The dot is economics +36 and authority +6. That is right of center on economics. The other axis sits near the middle. Color and place are allowed to disagree. Theodore Roosevelt sits left of Grover Cleveland on economics.
What was said, and what the administration did, are filed separately. Said: A public office is a public trust. Sound money, few favors. Done: Vetoes, the gold standard, and a refusal of imperial adventure. The 1890s depression broke the second term. Where those two sentences pull apart, the dot follows the governing record, not the slogan.
The nearest other presidents on these two numbers are Warren G. Harding (1921–1923, +40 / +16) and Gerald Ford (1974–1977, +22 / +12). A small distance can join people who would have disliked each other. The chart is a compression, not a claim that they were alike.
Presidents are not placed with the Voteview roll-call score used for the current Congress. Two axes cannot carry a war, a court, a tariff, and a civil-rights record as separate facts.