Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Stephen Grover Cleveland on March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey. The second inauguration of Grover Cleveland as the 24th President of the United States was held on March 4, 1893, less than two months before the opening of the World’s Fair in Chicago on May 1. Having previously served as the 22nd president, Cleveland is the only U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Egyptian Temple Reproduction showing the pair of obelisks. [Image from the University of Chicago Photographic Archive.]
Heading down the Midway Plaisance on his way out of the fairgrounds, President Cleveland would have passed the “Street in Cairo” attraction, occupying the block on the north side of the Midway between S. Woodlawn Avenue and (what is now) S. University Avenue. Adjacent to the “Street in Cairo” was a replica of part of the Temple of Luksor (Luxor), featuring two 75-foot-tall obelisks. On one of them was inscribed in hieroglyphs the name of president Grover Cleveland.
The following lighthearted report about President Cleveland on Opening Day comes from “The Great Fair Opens” in the June 1893 issue of Current Literature [public domain].
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Ruler of Sixty Million — Boston Transcript
One of the strangest sights that it has ever been my lot to witness was the reception given to President Cleveland by the various tribes of the earth who are quartered along the Midway Plaisance. The Turks, the Arabs, the Javanese, the Singalese, the Hindoos and the Esquimaux, who stood with staring eyes to see the chief ruler of our 65,000,000 of people, wore curious expressions when their glances first rested on him. Many of them were impressed with the President’s size, being apparently under the impression that it had something to do with his having been chosen to the office which he honors.