The Grover Cleveland Presidential Library and Museum occupies a one-story building in Caldwell, New Jersey, behind the house where its namesake spent the first few years of his life. The museum is the size of a small living room. A Dunkin' sits across the street. Until November 5, Cleveland held the distinction of being the only U.S. president to regain the office after voters turned him out: He won the White House in 1884, lost his reelection bid in 1888, and then won again in 1892. Donald Trump matched Cleveland's achievement by winning last year's presidential election, robbing him of his exclusive claim to history but also renewing interest in a president whom time has largely forgotten. The two men share little else in common. Cleveland curtailed government corruption, adhered to a restrictive view of presidential authority, and opposed expansionism; Trump flouts ethical norms left and right, chafes at limits to his power, and wants to buy Greenland. Yet their new bond could...
learn more
