The American Minute: “Bloody butchery of men, women, and children, made martyrs to their profession of Christian faith…” – President Grover Cleveland

Democrat President Grover Cleveland condemned Islamic terrorism committed against Armenian Christians in Turkey, December 2, 1895:”Massacres of Christians in Armenia and the development there…of a spirit of fanatic hostility to Christian influences naturally excited apprehension…

European powers…have assumed a duty…as agents of the Christian world…to enforce such conduct of Turkish government as will refrain fanatical brutality…as have shocked civilization.”

President Grover Cleveland wrote December 7, 1896:

“Mad bigotry and cruel fanaticism…wanton destruction of homes and the bloody butchery of men, women, and children, made martyrs to their profession of Christian faith…

Our citizens in Turkey…in the midst of dreadful scenes of danger, their safety…is by no means assured…”

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President Grover Cleveland continued:

“The outbreaks of blind fury which lead to murder and pillage in Turkey occur suddenly and without notice…

I do not believe that the present somber prospect in Turkey will be long permitted to offend the sight of Christendom…

It seems hardly possible that the earnest demand of good people throughout the Christian world for its corrective treatment will remain unanswered.”

President Cleveland defended traditional marriage, December 8, 1885:

“The strength, the perpetuity, and the destiny of the nation rest upon our homes, established by the law of God, guarded by parental care, regulated by parental authority, and sanctified by parental love.

These are not the homes of polygamy.

The mothers of our land, who rule the nation as they mold the characters and guide the actions of their sons, live according to God’s holy ordinances,

and each, secure and happy in the exclusive love of the father of her children, sheds the warm light of true womanhood, unperverted and unpolluted, upon all within her pure and wholesome family circle.

These are not the cheerless, crushed, and unwomanly mothers of polygamy.”

President Cleveland insisted on gold-backed currency and pushed to lower taxes.

In 1887, President Cleveland vetoed the Texas Seed Bill, stating:

“I do not believe that the power…of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering…

A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power…should…be steadfastly resisted…

Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.

Charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly… demonstrated.”

President Cleveland continued:

“Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character,

while it prevents…among our people of that kindly sentiment…which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood.”

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The son of a Presbyterian minister, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer on OCTOBER 25, 1887:

“The goodness and the mercy of God, which have followed the American people during all the days of the past year, claim their grateful recognition and humble acknowledgment…

by His omnipotent power He has protected us from war and pestilence and from every national calamity;

by His gracious favor the earth has yielded a generous return…

by His loving kindness the hearts of our people have been replenished…and

by His unerring guidance we have been directed in the way of national prosperity.”

President Grover Cleveland added:

“To the end that we may with one accord testify our gratitude for all these blessings,

I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart…a day of thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by all the people of the land.

On that day let all secular work and employment be suspended,

and let our people assemble in their accustomed places of worship and with prayer and songs of praise give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all that He has done for us, while we humbly implore the forgiveness of our sins and a continuance of His mercy.”