Grover Cleveland actually said...

"To the Senate of the United States: A bill which originated in the Senate, entitled 'An act granting a pension to Edward Ayers,' and numbered 363, is herewith returned without approval."

"There is not a particle of proof or a fact stated either in the committee's report or the records in the Pension Bureau, so far as they are brought to my notice, tending to show that the claimant was ..."

"If any money is to be given this man from the public Treasury, it should not be done under the guise of a pension."

"I am convinced that the rejection of this claim by the Pension Bureau was correct, and think its action should not be reversed."