Who was the 24th president of the United States?

Grover Cleveland was the 24th president of the United States.

Cleveland's distinction is unusual because he also counted as the 22nd president. He served his first term from 1885 to 1889, then lost the 1888 election to Republican Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland returned to the White House after defeating Harrison in the 1892 election and was inaugurated again on March 4, 1893.

Because presidential numbering counts terms in sequence rather than unique individuals, Cleveland's nonconsecutive presidencies occupy two positions in the official list. His second term lasted until March 4, 1897, when William McKinley succeeded him. Cleveland remains the only U.S. president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.

The historical setting of his second presidency included the severe Panic of 1893, one of the nation's worst economic crises of the nineteenth century. Cleveland was known for opposing high tariffs, political corruption, and expansive government subsidies. His return to office also explains why Benjamin Harrison appears among the wrong options: Harrison was Cleveland's immediate predecessor during the gap between Cleveland's two presidencies, not the 24th president.