NodeJS/mySQL - ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

I am attempting to connect to mySQL through a NodeJS file, but I receive the following error:

{ Error: ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR: Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)    at Handshake.Sequence._packetToError (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/sequences/Sequence.js:30:14)    at Handshake.ErrorPacket (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/sequences/Handshake.js:67:18)    at Protocol._parsePacket (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:197:24)    at Parser.write (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Parser.js:62:12)    at Protocol.write (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:37:16)    at Socket.ondata (_stream_readable.js:555:20)    at emitOne (events.js:101:20)    at Socket.emit (events.js:188:7)    at readableAddChunk (_stream_readable.js:176:18)    at Socket.Readable.push (_stream_readable.js:134:10)    --------------------    at Protocol._enqueue (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:110:26)    at Protocol.handshake (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/protocol/Protocol.js:42:41)    at Connection.connect (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/Connection.js:81:18)    at Connection._implyConnect (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/Connection.js:222:10)    at Connection.query (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/node_modules/mysql/lib/Connection.js:137:8)    at Object.<anonymous> (/home/matthew/Node/mySqlTest/index.js:11:12)    at Module._compile (module.js:570:32)    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:579:10)    at Module.load (module.js:487:32)    at tryModuleLoad (module.js:446:12)  code: 'ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR',  errno: 1045,  sqlState: '28000',  fatal: true }

The weird thing is that I can connect fine through the terminal by running mysql -u root -p. I only get this error when running my javascript. I have been all over Google and StackOverflow, but still have not found a solution that works. I am using MySQL 5.7.16 on Ubuntu 16.04.1 on a VIRTUAL MACHINE. Not sure if a VM makes a difference here. My Javascript code is below:

'use strict';                                                                                                                                      var mysql = require('mysql');var connection = mysql.createConnection({    host: 'localhost',    user: 'root',    password: 'password'});connection.query('SELECT "foo" AS first_field, "bar" AS second_field',    function(err, results, fields) {        console.log(err);        console.log(results);        connection.end();    });

I have tried using 'locahost' as well as '127.0.0.1' in my javascript. I have a 'root' user for both 'localhost' and '127.0.0.1' in mySql.user table and I am able to see this by executing SELECT user, host FROM mysql.user WHERE user='root';

I have added privileges to 'root' user by executing this:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

I ran the above on 127.0.0.1 as well. I have also tried this:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION

I have attempted to reset the root password like this:https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MysqlPasswordReset

I have run FLUSH PRIVILEGES after each attempt. I've stopped and restarted mySQL. I have uninstalled mySQL completely and reinstalled.

All to no avail. I receive the access denied error every time I try to run the javascript, but I have absolutely no issues when I connect to mySQL via the terminal.

Any ideas?