Stephan Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, New Jersey, on March 18, 1937 to a Presbyterian Minister named Reverend Richard Cleveland (Graff). He was number five out of nine children and spent a lot of time in the NY towns of Fayetteville and Clinton (Graff). When his father died, Cleveland could not go to college and has to work with his brother in New York City to support his family and was admitted to the bar in 1858, serving as an assistant district attorney for Erin County (Graff). His humble beginnings and his rise to becoming an attorney showcases his high amounts of ambition and willingness to work. These experiences also show how he had to mature quickly in order to support his family. Although his enemies would say he was a “slacker” for avoiding the Civil War draft, he had a reputation for being a hard-working lawyer (Graff). He had a savings account of $75,00 by 1881 and had served as Sheriff of Erie County from 1870 to 1873 who enjoyed more simple pleasures such as poker parties (Graff). This showcases the kind of person Cleveland was before his rise to a higher political office and the work he had done.

Cleveland avoided Partisan politics, yet when the Buffalo City Democrats asked him to run for mayor in 1881 he accepted and conducted an upset victory (Graff). Cleveland cut down on corruption within the city bureaucracy and increased efficiency and hard work within it (Graff). These accomplishments showcase not only his moral character but also show how he was fighting against Gilded Age corruption that was common-place. The party asked him to run as Governor, and he won as he was seen as an honest reformer (Graff). The work he did in Buffalo was extended to the rest of the state while he was the Governor (1882-1884), vetoing extravagant laws, challenging Tammany Hall, and generally being a hard worker (Graff). These traits could have came from his early upbringing and childhood and show how much of a political force he had become,

In all, the work of Grover Cleveland before he was president set him up to take on the highest office in the land. His upbringing and his childhood influenced his hard-working personality and reformist views that allowed him to become elected to higher offices.