WMBCTV: Community to Gather for Grover Cleveland Birthday Celebration

Tomorrow, March 22nd, will mark the 188th birthday of Grover Cleveland who was not only a United States president, but he was also a Caldwell native. To honor his legacy, a celebration will be held in the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Visitor’s Center, behind the original Grover Cleveland Birthplace in Caldwell at 1:30 PM tomorrow. 

“Grover Cleveland has a little bit of a story of many American presidents,” said Paul Maloney, President of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association. “He was Mayor of Buffalo, Governor of New York and President of the United States within only a couple of years… It’s a true American story.”

Not only was Grover Cleveland the first Democratic President elected after the Civil War, but he was also the first president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. Current President Donald Trump is now only the second president to follow suit and serve two nonconsecutive terms.

“Right here in the hometown, you have a museum dedicated to an American president and if you want to learn about American presidency and compare Grover Cleveland to other presidents in history, this would be a way to get started,” said Maloney.

Among a variety of activities, speakers and even singers, attendees will hear from author Annette Dunlap, who wrote “Frank: The Story of Frances Folsom Cleveland, America’s Youngest First Lady.” She will share insights into the life of Cleveland’s wife, Frances, and their time in the White House.

“She was quite a popular first lady at the time,” said Maloney. “She was young, she was fashionable, and magazines spent a lot of time covering their romance and covering her life… She was a very progressive first lady at the time.”

For more information about the birthday celebration here at the Grover Cleveland Visitor Center, you can visit presidentcleveland.org.