BUFFALO, NY – The 2024 presidential election will go down in history for many reasons.

Former President Donald Trump’s winning of two non-consecutive terms is a feat achieved by only one other president: Grover Cleveland.

“There is always baggage from a first term,” said Bren Price, the vice president of the Buffalo Presidential Center.

Every president in US history has experienced this.

“A lot of things can happen in a first term that scare people away,” Price said.

For many, including Donald Trump, this could lead to defeat in the presidential election. Only once before has a president returned to run again and win.

“Grover was kind of an America First person,” Price added.

The 22nd and 24th Presidents, Grover Cleveland, held this distinction until this election.

He won the popular vote in three elections but lost the Electoral College in the middle.

It was a brief farewell to the highest office in the land, something Cleveland’s wife, Buffalo native Francis Fulsom Cleveland, had foreseen.

“She was known to have told a steward in the kitchen, ‘Don’t change anything because we’ll be back in four years,'” Price said.

Things weren’t too different back then.

“This is James Blaine trying to convince people that here’s the old-timer and here’s the young buck,” he said, looking at an old drawing.

Political cartoons were the social media of the day.

“He wouldn’t hire friends, relatives, neighbors (or) people from the political party, he wouldn’t opt ​​out,” Price said. “That really upset the party’s regulars.”

New politicians bucked established trends.

“He put everything he had into his presidency, and it wasn’t always the right thing,” Price said.

Debates about immigration, the economy and more took center stage, albeit in different forms than today.

“It’s cyclical,” Price added.

Like Trump, Cleveland was unhappy with his successor’s leadership.

“They want to get back into the fight,” Price said.

After his second victory, he managed to unite the country – for a while.

“Immediately after Grover Cleveland took office, we experienced the Panic of 1893,” Price said. “It was a great depression, and it really affected the rest of his third term.”

His legacy was a mix of reviews.

“These (books on the table) are all very positive, but not all of them,” Price said, picking up another book. “Here is a book that some people may want to read called ‘A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland.'”

Right now the nation may feel divided.

“The nerves are frayed at the moment and will remain that way for a while,” said Price.

Only time will tell how this second term will be remembered.

“It’s my hope, and I think it’s everyone’s hope, that the arguments we’re having right now and the frayed nerves we’re having right now will eventually calm down,” Price added. “And we carry on.”

As for controversial elections, Price said in 1876 that it took 115 days to decide the election.

It was a time of violence, arson, money laundering and more.

He notes that most people don’t know this part of our history, but the fact remains that America persevered.