Illustration from History: Substitution
While Grover Cleveland is not remembered as one of America’s great presidents, there are a couple of distinctions that make him unique among the forty-five men to serve as the country’s chief executive. Most notably, Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve non-consecutive terms.1 Four years after he lost his re-election bid to Benjamin Harrison, he ran again and returned to the White House to serve a second term.
Another less important, yet interesting fact about Grover Cleveland is that he did not serve in the military. Many presidents have no military record. However, Cleveland’s experience is unusual. His four immediate predecessors in the White House each had distinguished army service during the Civil War. However, although he was of age, Grover Cleveland elected to not serve during the conflict. It was not that he did not volunteer. He was, in fact, drafted. But he hired a substitute to take his place. According to the Conscription Act of 1863, an able-bodied man called upon to serve could, for $150 (about $4000 today) hire a replacement. A 33-year-old immigrant from Poland named George Bemminsky served in Cleveland’s place. Bemminsky survived the war.
As strange as the idea of hiring a substitute for military service may seem today, over a century ago, it was widespread practice – and not just in the United States. During the Napoleonic war between England and France in the early 1800’s, French men were conscripted into the army by a lottery system. But if a man’s name was drawn, he could exempt himself from service if he could find a replacement.
One unusual incident involved a French conscript who refused to report for service when his name was drawn. He insisted that he had been shot and killed in battle two years prior. Of course, the claim seemed absurd. Initially the man’s sanity was questioned. However, he insisted that it was indeed the case. He demanded that military records be examined. They would show that he had been drafted before and had been killed in action. “How is this possible?” authorities questioned. “You are alive now.” The man explained that when his name was drawn, a close friend stepped forward and volunteered to go in his place. The man who was drafted had a large family, while his friend had no dependents. So, his friend volunteered to go as a substitute. This expression of generosity was magnified when the substitute was killed in combat. When the records were reviewed, they confirmed the man’s story. Because there was no record of the man himself serving, he was being conscripted. But upon review the government determined there was no legal claim that could be made on him. He was free. Had had served – and had died in the person of another.
Although I did not attend church or Sunday School, as a boy I recall hearing about Jesus dying on a cross. “Christ died for our sins.” What did that mean? Afterall, everyone dies, I wondered. And crucifixion was not a form of death that Jesus alone experienced. What made Jesus’ death so important? Later, as a teenager, someone gave me a gospel tract – a brief religious pamphlet – that explained to me that Jesus was sinless, and yet died as a substitute for sinners. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities… the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa 53:5, 6) Christ “was delivered for our offenses.” (Rom 4:25) “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin…” (2 Cor 5:21) The Son of God, Jesus Christ, willingly died as a substitute. He endured the just punishment each of us deserves as guilty before God. In so doing, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. Three days later God confirmed the identity of Jesus and the value of His substitutionary death by raising Him from the dead.
The law of God, which demands the ultimate punishment for sin, now has no claim on anyone who trusts in Christ. They are free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2) They died already, two thousand years ago, in the person of another – Jesus Christ.
David A. Oliver is the pastor of Ashley Baptist Church in Belding, MI.
Photo by Tierney, New Haven, Conn., of sign by Rawson & Harris, sign painters.
This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. No known restrictions on publication. Source: Library of Congress
- Lord willing, on January 20, 2025, he will become the first of two when Donald Trump is sworn in for the second time. [↩]