Grover Cleveland was an honest and forthright president during a period marked by scandal and political patronage. His rapid political success was the result of his reputation as a reformer willing to oppose elites and special interest groups. He was not a great orator, but he had a strong moral code that was reflected in his public statements and papers. His Message to Congress on Hawaiian Sovereignty, sent in December 1893, asked the U.S. legislature to develop a solution to the unrest in Hawaii, where American planters had overthrown the islands’ monarchy, set up a provisional government, and signed a treaty of annexation with the United States. Cleveland opposed the planters’ precipitous actions and favored restoring the Hawaiian monarchy. In his speech, he stressed that the provisional government did not have universal, broad-based support and expressed his hope to craft a compromise between the provisional government and the monarchy.