In 1884, Grover Cleveland was Accused of Rape. Two Days Later He Was Elected President of the United States

Great article

UNREMEMBERED

By Ken Zurski

In July 1884, only two years after being elected the governor of New York, a little known lawyer and relatively new politician named Stephen Grover Cleveland became the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

Cleveland’s quick rise in party ranks was no fluke. The Republicans were in disarray. Due to failing health, Chester Arthur the incumbent and former vice president who inherited the White House after James Garfield’s assassination, made only a meager effort to win his parties affections for a full term. Instead Republicans chose James Blaine, a longtime congressman from Maine.  The Democrats seized on the opportunity to elect someone who was considered an outsider.

Cleveland fit the bill.

Grover Cleveland

Conservative, religious, and “remarkable unperceptive to new ideas,” Cleveland easily won election to New York state governorship in 1882 and even though he would vote against the public’s favor on issues ranging…

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