Imagine, if you will, a presidential candidate who was a strong advocate for smaller government, private enterprise, and individual rights and freedoms. Most of us would assume this person was running as a Republican. Yet in the nineteenth century, he was more often than not a Democrat.

Although conservative Democrats have gradually faded into obscurity, John M. Pafford has written a glowing tribute to an important standard bearer in his new book, The Forgotten Conservative: Rediscovering Grover Cleveland. The author, a former protégé of Russell Kirk, grew up giving “little thought to Cleveland,” explaining that he “did not seem particularly interesting.” After learning more about the nation’s twenty-second and twenty-fourth president, he realized his “view of him had been too narrow,” and in actuality, there was “much to admire in him and much to learn from his life.” This little-known crusader for fiscal conservatism and the glory of capitalism clearly has something to teach modern Democrats and Republicans alike.

Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey. His family upbringing was fairly modest, and he “grew into a hearty, fun-loving young man with a strong constitution and an equally strong sense of responsibility.” Cleveland was a “diligent, solid student” who would have attended Hamilton College if not for his father’s untimely death in 1853. Fortunately, “nineteenth-century academic standards ensured that Cleveland was well educated” and “the caliber of his adult writing and speeches would be creditable for a college graduate today.” He was