I worked for 15 years for Christian financial teacher Larry Burkett (1939-2003), the author of such best-selling books as Debt-Free Living and The Coming Economic Earthquake. (Larry also was instrumental in the founding of Sound Mind Investing.)
One of Larry’s political heroes was Grover Cleveland, the only U.S. president (up to that time) elected to non-consecutive terms. Cleveland, a Democrat, served from 1885-1889 and again from 1893-1897.
Larry admired Cleveland’s commitment to federal spending restraint and his opposition to government largesse on behalf of favored individuals and institutions.
This morning, I found the text of President Cleveland’s Second Inaugural Address. In the following excerpts, the incoming Chief Executive addresses inflation, favoritism in government spending, and the need to encourage governmental and individual frugality. (Such issues are nothing new!)
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President Grover Cleveland’s 2nd Inauguration
March 4, 1893
My Fellow-Citizens:
…. [M]y gratitude [for your mandate] can make no better return than the pledge I now give before God and these witnesses of…complete devotion to the interests and welfare of those who have honored me.
I deem it fitting on this occasion…to briefly refer to the existence of certain conditions and tendencies among our people which seem to menace the integrity and usefulness of their Government….
[Regrettably,] our stupendous achievements as a people and our country’s robust strength have given rise to heedlessness of those laws governing our national health which we can no more evade than human life can escape the laws of God and nature.
Manifestly nothing is more vital to our supremacy as a nation and to the beneficent purposes of our Government than a sound and stable currency. Its exposure to degradation should at once arouse to activity the most enlightened statesmanship, and the danger of depreciation in the purchasing power of the wages paid to toil should furnish the strongest incentive to prompt and conservative precaution….
[W]e will be wise if we temper our confidence and faith in our national strength and resources with the frank concession that even these will not permit us to defy with impunity the inexorable laws of finance and trade….
[A]nother danger confronts us, not less serious. I refer to the prevalence of a popular disposition to expect from the operation of the Government especial and direct individual advantages….
[Government paternalism] perverts the patriotic sentiments of our countrymen and tempts them to pitiful calculation of the sordid gain to be derived from their Government’s maintenance. It undermines the self-reliance of our people and substitutes in its place dependence upon governmental favoritism….
The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned and the better lesson taught — that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully support their Government, its functions do not include the support of the people.
The acceptance of this principle leads to a refusal of bounties and subsidies, which burden the labor and thrift of a portion of our citizens to aid ill-advised or languishing enterprises in which they have no concern….
Every thoughtful American must realize the importance of checking at its beginning any tendency….to regard frugality and economy as virtues which we may safely outgrow. The toleration of this idea results in the waste of the people’s money by their chosen servants and encourages prodigality and extravagance in the home life of our countrymen.
Under our scheme of government, the waste of public money is a crime against the citizen, and the contempt of our people for economy and frugality in their personal affairs deplorably saps the strength and sturdiness of our national character.
It is a plain dictate of honesty and good government that public expenditures should be limited by public necessity, and that this should be measured by the rules of strict economy; and it is equally clear that frugality among the people is the best guaranty of a contented and strong support of free institutions….
The oath I now take to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States…suggests obedience to constitutional commands as the rule by which my official conduct must be guided. I shall to the best of my ability…preserve the Constitution by…enforcing its limitations and reservations in favor of the States and the people….
Above all, I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid.
Unfortunately, President Cleveland’s second term was tumultuous. The Panic of 1893 began just days before his inauguration, sparking a national depression. Still, historians generally regard Cleveland highly for his leadership, honesty, and adherence to moral values.
God bless America.
* By Joseph Slife, Jan 20, 2025 [Originally posted 01.25.2025, by Sound Mind Investing.]
As we enter into a new season of leadership the the United States, this is some good food for thought. We can learn from history and the leaders God raised up in the past.
What thoughts or comment might you have to President Cleveland’s address?
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