First presidency of Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland's first tenure as the president of the United States began on March 4, 1885, when he was inaugurated as the nation's 22nd president, and ended on March 4, 1889. Cleveland, a Democrat from New York, took office following his victory over James G. Blaine, a Republican from Maine, in the 1884 presidential election. Cleveland became the first Democrat elected president since before the Civil War. His first presidency ended following his re-election defeat in the 1888 presidential election to Benjamin Harrison, a Republican from Indiana.

Cleveland won the 1884 election with the support of a reform-minded group of Republicans known as Mugwumps, and he expanded the number of government positions that were protected by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. He also vetoed several bills designed to provide pensions and other benefits to various regions and individuals. In response to anti-competitive practices by railroads, Cleveland signed the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which established the first independent federal agency. During his first term, he unsuccessfully sought the repeal of the Bland–Allison Act and a lowering of the tariff. The Samoan crisis was the major foreign policy event of Cleveland's first term, and that crisis ended with a tripartite protectorate in the Samoan Islands.

Cleveland later ran for re-election again in the 1892 presidential election, and he successfully re-elected to a second, non-consecutive term, following his victory over Harrison. He started his second presidency on March 4, 1893, as the 24th president, thus becoming the first former U.S. president to return to office.