76 Facts About Frances Cleveland

Frances Clara Cleveland Preston was the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 until 1897, as the wife of President Grover Cleveland.

Frances Cleveland was the first person to serve in this role during two non-consecutive terms and the youngest first lady in US history.

Folsom first met Grover Cleveland while she was an infant, as her father, Oscar Folsom, was a close friend to Cleveland.

Frances Cleveland became involved in education advocacy, serving on the Wells College board, supporting women's education, and organizing the construction of kindergartens.

Frances Cleveland continued to work in education activism after leaving the White House, becoming involved with Princeton University.

Frances Cleveland died in 1947 and was buried alongside her first husband in Princeton Cemetery.

Frances Cleveland's father was a lawyer who had a law partnership with Grover Cleveland.

Folsom and Frances Cleveland first met when she was still an infant; he was a regular presence in her childhood, and he bought her her first baby carriage.

Frances Cleveland was given charge of his estate and became Folsom's unofficial guardian.

Frances Cleveland attended Central High School in Buffalo, where she was briefly engaged to a seminary student, but the engagement was broken when they decided to remain friends.

Frances Cleveland accepted one of them, but this engagement was ended by a decision to remain friends.

Frances Cleveland, who became governor of New York at this time, maintained correspondence with Folsom while she attended Wells.

Frances Cleveland visited her, sent her flowers, and brought her on tours of New York when her schedule permitted.

Frances Cleveland proposed marriage by letter in August 1885, while Folsom was visiting a friend in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Everyone involved agreed to keep the planned wedding a secret, and the president's sister Rose Frances Cleveland served as White House hostess in the meantime.

Frances Cleveland visited Folsom in New York while he was in the city attending a Decoration Day parade on May 30,1886, and the Folsom women took a train to Washington, DC, on June 1.

The wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom took place in the Blue Room of the White House on June 2,1886.

Frances Cleveland was the first presidential spouse to marry in the White House, and she was the youngest presidential spouse in American history.

Frances Cleveland was 21 years old, and her groom was 49.

Frances Cleveland was immediately popular as first lady, attracting unprecedented publicity.

Frances Cleveland worked with socialite Flora Payne to better prepare for a role in high society.

Frances Cleveland became close friends with poet Richard Watson Gilder and his wife Helena, and accompanied them in meeting prominent writers of the time.

Frances Cleveland stayed involved with Wells College as well, taking a seat on its board of trustees in 1887.

Frances Cleveland maintained an openness with the public that was not shared by her husband or by her predecessor Rose Frances Cleveland.

Frances Cleveland received countless letters from the American people, many of them asking her to influence the president's granting of patronage jobs.

Frances Cleveland read all of the mail that she received, but she sought assistance from the president's secretaries in replying, eventually hiring her friend Minnie Alexander as a personal secretary.

Frances Cleveland's openness extended to the White House staff as well, with whom she maintained close relationships.

Frances Cleveland was credited with an increase in the president's sociability after their marriage.

Frances Cleveland was once even sent as the president's representative during the Great Tariff Debate of 1888 to quietly observe from the visitors' gallery.

Frances Cleveland endured a severe insect bite and a black eye, and she spent so much time shaking hands that she needed to use an ice pack each night.

Frances Cleveland avoided such publicized appearances for the rest of her time as first lady.

Frances Cleveland remained a prominent figure when her husband sought reelection in the 1888 presidential election.

Frances Cleveland struggled with the transition from public to private life, having never run a private household of her own.

Frances Cleveland underwent a period of depression over the following months, and she retreated to the Gilders' cottage in Marion, Massachusetts.

Frances Cleveland found comfort in this house, where she and her husband could lead a relatively normal life.

In between her tenures as first lady, Frances Cleveland took on charity work and grew more involved in New York social life through her charitable projects.

Frances Cleveland dedicated herself to Ruth, taking on many of the roles that a woman of her status would have typically given to a nurse, such as bathing the child.

Just as her husband was the first of only two men to ever hold the presidency for two non-consecutive terms, Frances Cleveland became the first of two first ladies to serve non-consecutively.

Frances Cleveland was more apprehensive about taking the role for a second time, now being aware of all that it entailed.

Frances Cleveland received the familiar crowds that she had encountered during her previous time as first lady as well as heads of state, including one instance in which she disregarded precedent by meeting with Infanta Eulalia of Spain at her hotel.

Frances Cleveland continued her work in the establishment of kindergartens and became involved with the Home for Friendless Colored Girls, visiting the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church with the group in 1896.

The president's work grew more difficult as the Panic of 1893 set in, and Frances Cleveland found herself tending to her husband.

Frances Cleveland provided excuses for his absences and wrote letters on his behalf, insisting that he was merely suffering from rheumatism.

Frances Cleveland gave birth to Esther in the White House, making her the only first lady to give birth in the presidential residence.

Frances Cleveland took an interest in German culture during her husband's second term, learning to speak the language and hiring a German nurse so her children would learn it as well.

Frances Cleveland's time was split between her responsibilities as first lady and those as a mother.

Harassment from the public continued at their new residence, and Frances Cleveland was particularly frightened by an incident in 1894 when three men were stalking their home.

Grover died in 1908, and Frances Cleveland was left to raise their four remaining children alone.

Frances Cleveland refused the pension to which she was legally entitled as a widowed first lady, but she did accept the franking privilege that was offered to presidential widows in 1909.

In March 1909, Frances Cleveland held a memorial service for her husband at Carnegie Hall.

Frances Cleveland was unable to prevent its publication after she discovered that it was fraudulent.

Frances Cleveland testified against Brandenburg in court, and he was found guilty of grand larceny.

Still grieving for her husband, Frances Cleveland spent time away on a vacation to Europe with her family from September 1909 to May 1910.

On October 29,1912, Wells College announced that Frances Cleveland intended to remarry.

Frances Cleveland was invited to return to the White House for a dinner to celebrate her engagement in January 1913, much to the excitement of the staff who had known her previously.

Frances Cleveland-Preston was vacationing with her children and her mother in St Moritz, Switzerland, when World War I began in August 1914.

Frances Cleveland was appointed head of the speakers' bureau of the National Security League, where she was responsible for organizing rallies and other events to support the war effort.

Frances Cleveland caused controversy by accusing some Americans of being unassimilated, and she resigned from her position on December 8,1919, after backlash to what some in the NSL saw as overzealous views around patriotic education.

Frances Cleveland-Preston became more outspoken in her political beliefs as she grew older, taking a prominent position as an opponent of women's suffrage and serving as the vice president of the New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage from 1913 to 1920.

Frances Cleveland had met the Smiths and grew upset with the anti-Catholic attacks against them.

Frances Cleveland was especially sympathetic to his wife Catherine, and Cleveland-Preston made a point of sitting with her at events as a show of support.

Later in life, Frances Cleveland-Preston was afflicted by cataracts, and she learned Braille to use a Braille typewriter.

Frances Cleveland continued to use it after her cataracts were removed, translating books into Braille for blind children.

Frances Cleveland was involved with the theater community in her old age, sometimes traveling with the theater troupe founded by her son.

Frances Cleveland-Preston attended the Princeton University bicentennial celebration in June 1946, which proved to be her final public appearance.

Frances Cleveland holds the record as the First Lady with the longest post-presidency.

Frances Cleveland was buried in Princeton Cemetery next to President Cleveland.

Frances Cleveland was much-loved as first lady, drawing an unprecedented level of media and public attention.

Frances Cleveland's reputation influenced the role of first lady for generations after her tenure.

In 1982, the Siena College Research Institute polled historians on the performances of first ladies; Frances Cleveland was placed 13th out of 42, but the 2008 edition of the poll placed her 20th of 38.

Frances Cleveland updated her fashion choices during her husband's second term.

Frances Cleveland supported the temperance movement, personally abstaining from alcohol and donating to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, but she was unwilling to impose these beliefs on others and continued to serve wine at White House receptions.

Frances Cleveland worked with charity groups, including the Needlework Guild, which made clothes for the poor, and the Christmas Club and the Colored Christmas Club, which gave gifts to children during the holiday season.

Frances Cleveland's activism focused heavily on the arts, and she was a supporter of international copyright protections, attending a convention on the subject while first lady in 1888.

Frances Cleveland supported women's education and believed it to be an important step in gender equality.

Frances Cleveland did not support women's suffrage, and she avoided commenting on the controversial issue during her tenure as first lady.