This website is, we hope, the beginning of an ambitious project: to found a "brick and mortar" Grover Cleveland Library and Museum in Buffalo, New York, the City he so ably served as Mayor and Governor.

The Grover Cleveland Library is a project of Free New York, Inc., a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research corporation based in Buffalo but serving New York State. Our application for tax exempt status is pending. If and when we are approved, we will begin to accept donations of Grover Cleveland books and memorabilia and look for a suitable location for the museum.

Why Grover Cleveland? Because his record has must to teach us. As Mayor of Buffalo and Governor of New York State, he was a reformer who fought corrupt political machines. He went on to serve ably as our last Jeffersonian President, holding firm to the principles of constitutionally-limited and decentralized government. As a man, he was widely revered for his character and honesty.

Grover Cleveland also served as an inspiration for the Upstate Tax Revolt, according to James Ostrowski’s book, Political Class Dismissed:

Buffalo’s greatest statesman, Grover Cleveland, a progressive in the truest sense of the word, helped pave the way for Buffalo’s glory days. Cleveland was the last of the Jeffersonian presidents (1885-1889, 1893-1897). Before that, as Mayor of Buffalo, he helped fight the corrupt political machine, or “ring”

as it was then known, and its patronage and pork barrel politics.[1] In a campaign speech, he said, “It is a good thing for the people now and then to rise up and let the office holders know that they are responsible to the masses.”[2] Cleveland was so successful fighting the machine that he was elected Governor of New York in 1882.[3] Cleveland’s Jeffersonian philosophy as President was described by historian John V. Denson:

Cleveland stood for sound money and the gold standard, and he was opposed to the protective tariff. He advocated the increased respect and sovereignty of the States as a check on the power of the central government. Cleveland generally supported the ideas of a limited federal government and the strict construction of the constitution, a free-market economy, and the separation of banking from government.[4]

With your help, we can build a fitting tribute to commemorate the life and career of this fine man and at the same time help focus the world's attention on the fascinating and important history of Buffalo, New York.