"What is this?" The 24th President of the United States, Cleveland, said as he looked at the document delivered to his desk by his secretary.
"Mr. President, a coup has occurred in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Our merchant groups have overthrown the Hawaiian Kingdom and established the Hawaii Republic, but now they are in trouble and are seeking our help."
Cleveland picked up the document with obvious displeasure. Although many in the country had designs on Hawaii, especially with the strongest voices within the Democratic Party,
as a Democratic President, Russell was clearly not among them because, in terms of foreign policy, Cleveland advocated for the nation to continue adopting an isolationist approach, opposing territorial expansion and the annexation of Hawaii.
