When Donald Trump won back the Presidency in this past election, most people probably thought that this was the first time that this historic feat had been accomplished, but they would be wrong. This remarkable feat was accomplished one other time, 130 years ago, by Grover Cleveland, who became the 22nd and 24th President after being defeated for re-election in 1888 and coming back to win in 1892.

But who was Grover Cleveland?

He was born in 1837, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and raised in upstate New York. He later relocated to Buffalo, where he became active in civic and political affairs.

By 1881, Cleveland had attained enough prominence and recognition to be elected Mayor of Buffalo. The next year, in 1882, he was elected Governor of New York.

He had a reputation as a fiscal conservative and an incorruptible politician who tried his best to root out corruption in state government.

In 1884, he was a compromise candidate for President by the Democratic Party, beating out better-known candidates such as Benjamin Butler and Samuel Tilden. In that election, he defeated the Republican candidate, former Speaker of the House James G. Blaine. Cleveland benefited from a split in the Republican Party that year and was elected the 22nd President.

Cleveland was seen as a reformer. He said that any political appointee did not have to be of the same party as him but only needed to be competent. He maintained a fair and bipartisan employment record among his appointees.

He set up the Interstate Commerce Commission, which helped to regulate and prevent some of the railroads’ excesses.

His fiscal conservatism caused him to veto many spending bills, including increased pensions for Union Army veterans. This caused a great deal of resentment and great political problems, which may have been a factor in his subsequent defeat for re-election. He was also a strong opponent of high tariffs, which also caused political problems for him.

Cleveland was defeated for re-election in 1888, in part due to a poorly run campaign and some of his controversial stands during his administration.

Even with this loss, Democrats turned to Cleveland again as their presidential candidate in 1892, bringing about a re-match with Republican Benjamin Harrison.

This echoes the Trump campaign this year because some observers claimed this was a re-match with Joe Biden, but only with Kamala Harris in his place.

Cleveland returned to the Presidency by defeating Harrison and becoming the 24th and 22nd President of the United States.

Unfortunately, Cleveland returned to office at a very bad economic time. The economic Depression of 1893, which took place that year, was the worst economic crisis until the Great Depression of 1929. These dire economic conditions set up discontent among the working class, particularly railroad workers, resulting in the Great Railroad Strike of 1894. Cleveland used federal troops to break up that strike and gained the hatred of railroad workers and other workers across the country.

In foreign policy, he opposed the annexation of Hawaii and adopted a broader interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, opposing Great Britain’s encroachments on Latin America.

Cleveland decided not to seek further re-election in 1896. He went home to a quiet retirement and died in 1908.

It might be interesting to note how Lycoming County voted in Cleveland’s three election campaigns.

In 1884: Cleveland, 5,500; James G. Blaine, 5,355; 1888: Cleveland, 7,467; Benjamin Harrison, 6,591; and in 1891: Cleveland, 7,532; Harrison, 5731.

Lycoming County returned to the Republican fold in 1896 with William McKinley.