American Executor: Grover Cleveland - Part 2

He returns to office where once he stood,

A victor crowned by people’s second choice;

He seeks a government both fair and good,

A restrained and independent voice.

No crown commands, no monarch’s ancient voice,

Yet burdens greater than before demand—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

The treasury, the tariff, and the law

Remain the questions shaping public land;

He holds to principles he always saw—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

But storms arise no policy could tame,

The markets fall, the banks begin to fail;

A panic spreads like an advancing flame,

And confidence grows weaker, thin, and pale.

The nation looks for answers in the gale,

Yet Cleveland’s creed remains firmly planned—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

The unemployed gather, fortunes disappear,

And suffering stretches throughout the land;

The cries of crisis grow too loud to hear—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

The treasury’s gold becomes the central fight,

As silver’s advocates demand their day;

He sees the standard of the nation’s might

In gold preserved against the rising sway.

The bond is used to keep the loss at bay,

A choice that critics cannot understand—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

The Congress battles, factions disagree,

And every measure faces shifting sand;

The executive acts where it must be—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

The Pullman strike then tests the federal role,

As railways halt and commerce meets delay;

The troops are called to restore order’s goal,

Though critics question such a forceful way.

The presidency reveals that even restraint

May call for power firmly close at hand—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

For government may shrink from daily reach,

Yet cannot flee when crises strike the land;

The office learns what circumstances teach—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

So ends the term of difficult command,

A presidency tested beyond its creed;

He sought a smaller, more restrained demand,

Yet faced a world that asked the state to lead.

The voters turned, dissatisfied by need,

And gave another party the command—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

Yet history marks the lesson he displayed:

That executive power must understand

The weight of every choice that it has made—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.

Envoi:

O steward bound by principle and plan,

You held the office with a cautious hand;

Yet proved that even the most restrained man

Must act when storms arise across the land—

He guards the nation with a cautious hand.