Cleveland's motto was "A public office is a public trust". He was known for his courage and integrity, hard work and honesty.

He was born in New Jersey, the fifth child of a minister and his wife. His father died when he was 16, making it so his family couldn't afford to send him to college. Instead, he worked in New York City at the state institute for the blind to earn money for his mother and sisters.

His next job was helping his uncle with bookkeeping for his cattle ranch in 1855, in Buffalo, New York. He then studied law and was licensed as an attorney in 1859. He hired a man to take his place in the civil War so he could stay home and earn money for his family.

In 1881, he was nominated and elected mayor of Buffalo. He served only one year, but he prevented a lot of political crimes. He was then nominated and elected governor of New York. He made unpopular but honest decisions.

Cleveland won the election for president by a small margin in 1884. His honesty made him enemies, but he did what he thought was right. He gave people jobs, not because they gave him political support, but because they were qualified. He was involved in tariff issues. In 1886, he was the only president to be married in the White House when Frances Folsom became his wife. They had two sons and three daughters.

Cleveland lost the election of 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, but won the 1892 election against Harrison. Between administrations, he returned to his law practice in New York. During his second term, he dealt with an economic depression and a railroad strike.

After he left office in 1897, he retired to Princeton, New Jersey, where he served as a trustee of Princeton University. In 1904 , he published "Presidential Problems" about his presidencies. After being sick for three months, Grover Cleveland died at his home in 1908. His last words were, "I have tried so hard to do right!"