ced upon him against
his wishes. But he was elected by a small plurality. This success,
reenforced by his able conduct of the office, singled him out as the
party's hope for success in the Buffalo municipal election; and after
his term as sheriff he was nominated for mayor, again without any effort
on his part. Although ordinarily the Democratic party was in a hopeless
minority, Cleveland was elected. It was in this campaign that he
enunciated the principle that public office is a public trust, which was
his rule of action throughout his career. Both as sheriff and as mayor
he acted upon it with a vigor that brought him into collision with
predatory politicians, and the energy and address with which he defended
public interests made him widely known as the reform mayor of Buffalo.
His record and reputation naturally attracted the attention of the state
managers of the Democratic party, who were casting about for a candidate
strong enough to overthrow the established Republican control, and
Cleveland was just as distinctly drafted for the nomination to the
governorship in 1882 as he had been for his previous offices.

In his career as governor Cleveland displayed the same stanch
characteristics as before, and he was fearless and aggressive in
maintaining his principles. The most striking characteristic of his veto
messages is the utter absence of partisan or personal designs. Some
of the bills he vetoed purported to benefit labor interests, and
politicians are usually fearful of any appearance of opposition to such
interests: His veto of the bill establishing a five cent fare for the
New York elevated railways was an action of a kind to make him a target
for calumny and misrepresentation. Examination of the record reveals no
instance in which Cleveland flinched from doing his duty or faltered in
the full performance of it. He acted throughout in his avowed capacity
of a public trustee, and he conducted the office of governor with the
same laborious fidelity which he had displayed as sheriff and as mayor.
And now, as before, he antagonized elements of his own party who
sought only the opportunities of office and cared little for its
responsibilities. He did not unite suavity of manner with vigor of
action, and at times he allowed himself to reflect upon the motives of
opponents and to use language that was personally offensive. He told the
Legislature in one veto message that "of all the defective and shabby
legislation w