A serviceable account of Grover Cleveland's life and presidency, but, ultimately, disappointing. If you know nothing of the period or the man, it is a fine introduction, but if you know a bit about the period and the politics of the time (I am a history prof), then it comes off as shallow. By page three, Stephen Grover Cleveland is full-grown, by page 7 he is sheriff or Erie County, and by page 15 he is governor. I prefer biographies that devote a bit more time to the subject's childhood and formative years. For instance, how does his father's Calvinism impact the young Grover? Nary a mention.

The non-consecutive meat of the book is devoted to Grover's presidential terms, where he indeed displayed a free trade, limited government attitude to the politics of the day. In this sense, he is the last Democrat in the mold of Jackson, and a throwback like Harding and Coolidge would be in the 1920s. The presidency and the politics of the time are explained in detail but not in depth, and the reasoning behind Cleveland's actions—Cleveland had a political philosophy—is the most illumanitive portion of the book. The author is definitely (look at the title) advocating for a government that is limited in scope, i.e. it's not the government's job to try to make things nice for everybody, it's a neutral umpire of the law.

The book has a lengthy appendix of some of Cleveland's speeches on the role of government; serviceable endnotes and a cursory bibliography. There is an excellent selection of plates with great photographs and COLOR political cartoons that help illustrate the history and politics of the time-period, with nice captions, but the pics and toons are not mentioned in the text. ( )