White House gossip

by Edna M. Colman

CHAPTER VII

FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER
CLEVELAND

March 4, 1885, to March 4, 1889

THE fourth of March, 1885, dawned fair and warm, the finest weather ever known in the history of the city of Washington on Inauguration Day. Cleveland luck had captured the weather. The city seemed to respond to the spring air, and block after block blossomed with fluttering banners, waving flags, and tri-coloured bunting. Huge lithographs of Cleveland and Hendricks were displayed in store windows, as well as from the windows of residences. The usual tribe of vendors of canes, buttons, noise-makers, and such, seemed to have multiplied their numbers until they were thick upon every block of the line of march.

The railroads and the Potomac River boats had poured into the city more than half a million people, and hotels and boarding houses overflowed their most elastic limits, while hundreds of private houses not entertaining friends and relatives responded greedily to the quadrennial opportunity to profiteer. Never before or since has there been so general a representation of all of the states as composed the military and political organizations in the parade that attended the ceremony of Mr. Cleveland’s induction into office.

Members of the Senate Committee of inaugural arrangements called on the President-elect at the Arlington Hotel in President Arthur’s carriage, and, with Mr. Cleveland, returned to the White House afterward. When the march to the Capitol began, these, with President Arthur, occupied the first carriage, and Vice President-elect Hendricks followed in the second. They were escorted by the first division of the inaugural parade, with the Seventh Regiment of New York leading. Pennsylvania sent 8,000 state militia, reaching almost from the Treasury to the Peace Monument, a moving field of blue. These were followed by the Richmond Blues, led by General Fitzhugh Lee, later elected Governor of Virginia. The Grand Army and countless other patriotic and civic organizations and marching clubs added their units to this wonderful pageant. General Henry W. Slocum, as Grand Marshal, led the procession briskly through a record-breaking throng drawn by the great enthusiasm over the return of the Democratic party to power after twenty-four years.

Vice President-elect Hendricks received the oath from the President pro tempore of the Senate, Mr. Edmunds; the new senators were sworn in as usual, and the President-elect deviated from the usual procedure by making his inaugural address before taking the oath. This address was received with absorbed attention and, when published, produced a great deal of comment in which criticism and approval were given in full measure, especially as Mr. Cleveland was the first President actually to deliver his address, the others having read their manuscripts. Since he had a natural ability readily to memorize his own writings, he had no need of carrying a manuscript.

As he concluded his remarks, he turned to Chief Justice Waite, who administered the oath.

President Arthur had provided one of his usual delightful luncheons, after which President Cleveland went to the stand to review the marvellous pageant assembled in his honour, comprising 25,000 men whose passing consumed more than five hours. Dusk was closing down upon the city when the last group swept past and saluted.

No procession in any part of our broad land is at all like an inaugural parade. The appearances of the new incumbent of the White House before and after taking the oath call forth incidents, episodes, comments, complimentary and critical, of a type wholly American. Thus, the crowd whiles away the hours between the ride to the Capitol and the return to the White House. The journey to the ceremony of swearing in the President-elect is usually made in company with the retiring head of the nation, and is often a divided honour, tinged with the regret of parting with the man who has filled the place for four years. Coming back, the new leader fills the picture. All triumphant, he belongs to the people, and demonstrations carry the note of jubilation grateful to the ear. Many amusing things happen in a good-natured celebration, and human nature unrestrained effervesces and bubbles over the rim of everyday restraint. One sees and hears the flamboyant individuals—always in evidence—who knew the new President in every stage of his life and career.

Among the many amusing features of the Cleveland parade was the arrival of President Cleveland’s baggage. The crowd patiently waiting in the covered stand across from the White House found great entertainment in watching the open wagon piled high with shabby and travel-scarred trunks, all marked “G.C.” in large white letters, which turned in at the White House gates. The large white letters and the destination sent the crowd into shouts of laughter at “Grover’s moving in!” The crowning feature was a huge bent-wood armchair, large enough for three ordinary men, which topped the load. This was the first of the thousands of gifts sent to Mr. Cleveland by admirers and favour-seeking citizens.

One of the charming stories of Grover Cleveland illustrates his great love and understanding of children. After his election in 1884, while in Kenwood, he requested that the children attending the Convent of the Sacred Heart be given a holiday on his Inauguration Day. In spite of all of the demands upon his time and attention in departing for Washington, he did not forget the matter, but on March 2d sent a check for fifty dollars to provide a celebration. With it he sent a note to the Mother Superior.

Albany, Mar. 2, 1885.

Dear Mother O’Rorke:

I send by my good friend Mr. McCall something which I hope will cause the little ones at the Convent to know that, while they are thinking of me, they are not forgotten by the man who in the midst of their holiday is undergoing the most perplexing ordeal that his life can bring to him.

With many kind thoughts of you and all of the good people, I am,

Yours faithfully,
Grover Cleveland.

The letter and the check brought great delight. They were duly acknowledged and the President told of the details of the party. After the feast was finished, the children were provided with tiny bottles of champagne, from which a toast was drunk to “Our new President, Grover Cleveland,” and certainly no other toast carried more unselfish affection and sincere good wishes for the new President than the one from the Convent pupils, who also sent him a telegram of congratulation to the White House on the evening of Inauguration Day.

Preparations to make the inaugural ball of the new Democratic President outstrip all of its predecessors had gone on for months. The new Pension Building, recently completed, was chosen for the affair. New York decorators transformed the interior into an extravagantly beautiful scene. Ferns, palms, flags, and draperies, costing thousands of dollars, covered walls and arches. In the President’s room stood a huge throne chair made of flowers, while a gigantic globe, also of flowers, was made to represent the State, the War, and the Navy departments, and flower scales, the Department of Justice. The Marine Band, under the direction of John Philip Sousa, furnished dance music for more than two thousand couples. Eight thousand people attended this ball, and while the highly waxed dancing hall measured three hundred by one hundred and sixteen feet, there was never at any time during the entire evening room on the floor for all those desiring to dance.

President Cleveland, his sister, Miss Rose Cleveland, who came from Holland Patent to preside over the White House for her bachelor brother, with Vice President and Mrs. Hendricks, attended for a short time.

While such of the populace as paid five dollars per ticket danced at the President’s ball, the rest of the city enjoyed the fireworks on the ellipse south of the White House. The following evening, a band concert in the Pension Building drew another crowd, who cheerfully paid the admission fee to see the rooms and their decorations.

Cleveland had not come into office unopposed. When it had become evident that President Arthur would not be nominated to succeed himself, Republican attention had again turned to James G. Blaine, who had been nursing presidential ambitions for a number of years, and who was the outstanding leader of that party. The National Republican Convention assembled in Chicago on June 3, 1884, with no organized opposition to threaten the prospects of Mr. Blaine, who was nominated, early in the course of the proceedings. Having a coloured man as temporary chairman was the unusual feature of this convention, the office being filled by John R. Lynch, former representative from Mississippi. Ex-Senator John B. Henderson, of Missouri, was the permanent chairman. General John A. Logan (“Black Jack”), was nominated as the running mate of Blaine. Their nicknames, the “Plumed Knight” and the “Black Eagle,” formed the basis for some of the campaign jingles.

The National Democratic Convention likewise convened in Chicago, July 6, 1884, at which Grover Cleveland was put forward, his nomination having been made certain by the withdrawal in his favour of Samuel J. Randall of Pennsylvania. Grover Cleveland was nominated on the second ballot. Thomas Hendricks of Indiana received the nomination for Vice President without opposition.

Conventions were plentiful in the land that summer. A national Prohibition convention chose Pittsburgh for the scene of its operations, opening on July 23d. Ex-Governor St. John of Kansas and William Daniel of Maryland were chosen for the president and vice president. The National Greenback Convention met in Indianapolis on May 29th, nominating General Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts for president and A. M. West of Mississippi for vice president. Still another was that of the Woman’s Equal Rights Party, which met in San Francisco, September, 1884, and nominated Mrs. Belva Lockwood, of New York, lawyer, lecturer, and suffrage leader, for the Presidency.

To Belva Ann Lockwood belongs the honour of being the second woman nominated for the Presidency of the United States; likewise to her also belongs the honour of being the first woman admitted to practise before the Supreme Court. For this privilege, she had to get a bill through Congress permitting women to practise law, and worked tirelessly for three years to create favourable sentiment before the barrier was lifted. When she finished her efforts, every court in the land was open to her, and never again was a woman lawyer’s application refused because she was a woman and, as in Mrs. Lockwood’s case, a married woman.

Mrs. Lockwood worked tirelessly for equal rights for men and women and drafted and secured the passage of a bill giving to women in governmental service equal pay with men for equal work.

The Woman’s Equal Rights Party nominated her for the Presidency, in San Francisco in 1884 and again in 1888. While she had not sought the honour, she conducted vigorous campaigns.

In forty-three years of legal practice, her greatest effort was always on behalf of the soldier, sailor, and marine, and during this time she handled more than seven thousand pension cases, alone. She also secured the passing of a bill appropriating $50,000 for bounties for soldiers and marines.

Through her work for world peace, she probably acquired the greatest fame. For thirty-six years she was a member of the Universal Peace Union, attending the International Peace Bureau at Bern for more than a quarter of a century, and taking a leading part in every large gathering in this cause, beginning with the first Peace Congress in 1885. She compiled the peace treaties of the United States and secured the introduction of the first bill in Congress for an international arbitration court.

After the Peace Congress in London, in 1890, though sixty years of age, Mrs. Lockwood remained abroad long enough to take a course of lectures at Oxford. When eighty-two, she started off to Europe to carry a peace message to the women of the world, and in 1916, just a year before her death, she gave an address on the re-election of Woodrow Wilson, giving seven reasons for his choice. This was used as campaign literature.

With the nominees of five different parties in the field, each making a fight for the needed votes to insure victory, the political atmosphere became tense. Courtesy and politeness seemed forgotten as the contest became one of the ugliest in the national history; no effort was spared to discredit, defame, and disqualify the candidates. The private life and character of each of the two most prominent was mercilessly attacked, and both Blaine and Cleveland were subject to fierce gruelling in the exposé of incidents, episodes, and transactions of their earlier lives. Sentiment appeared to be overwhelmingly strong for Blaine as party leader, but he was not optimistic. He had seen the coveted victory slip from his grasp before, and he was wearied with defeats and hopes deferred!

A few days before election, the tide was turned against Blaine, and the distrust of him crystallized by the speech of the Reverend M. Burchard, veteran minister representing a delegation of clergymen. In his remarks, Mr. Burchard warned his country against “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion,” and thus gave to the anti-Blaine factions a slogan which Tammany at once placed on billboards, bulletins, and banners, and sent its ringing echoes through the succeeding years as a warning to all subsequent campaigners. Blaine once again dropped his banners in defeat, though Cleveland carried only a meagre victory of a thousand votes in his state.

Mr. Cleveland served as Governor until the meeting of the Legislature after election, when he closed his career with this, the shortest message on record:

January 6, 1885.

To the Legislature:

I hereby resign the office of Governor of the State of New York.

Grover Cleveland.

Until elected to the Presidency, Grover Cleveland concerned himself but slightly with the history of his family, being content with the fact that his line had comprised honourable men and good women, who had filled their respective places with honour to themselves. Each generation turned out ministers, though they shifted their sectarian allegiance—Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Episcopalian denominations being represented by clergy of this name.

Richard Falley Cleveland, the father of Grover, a Yale graduate, was a Presbyterian minister. His task was to bring up and educate a family of nine children on an annual income of $600.

As so many youngsters in the family made it necessary for young Grover to go to work early, at fourteen he secured a place in the general store, where for the sum of fifty dollars a year he swept floors, cleaned windows, opened and closed shutters, sold calico and sugar, beans and ribbon, hardware and candy. He shared the bare attic room over the store and its discomforts with another boy—no carpet, no stove, no wall paper to modify the icy wind blowing through the cracks between boards. In winter, they froze, and in summer, they were almost prostrated with the heat under the rafters. Their bed had a lumpy straw-stuffed tick in lieu of a mattress, to the knots and lumps of which only youth could adjust itself and still sleep.

Soon, he had saved and earned enough in other ways to be able to attend the academy at Clinton, and at seventeen, after his father’s death, he was teaching in the New York Institution for the Blind, where his elder brother, William, also a Presbyterian clergyman, was the principal.

Finally, he took Horace Greeley’s advice, “Go West, young man, go West!” and started for Ohio. He halted at Buffalo, took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar.

Mr. Cleveland was a bachelor for many years. He took care of his mother, who preferred living in her own home in the little village at Holland Patent, where she died in 1882. He gave a liberal education to his youngest sister, Rose, a talented girl.

In 1881, he was the city’s choice for Mayor. In six months, his methods and careful administration saved the city more than a million dollars. By this careful supervision and elimination he became known as the “Veto Mayor.”

He was elected Governor of New York, September 20, 1882, and in that capacity continued his methods and practices as Mayor. The “Veto Mayor” advanced to the “Veto Governor” and won the respect of men of both parties.

Thus, as the Democratic party had been gradually regaining its pre-war status, the popular Governor of New York, the state that would swing the election, was regarded as the logical man to be the presidential candidate and the one nominated and elected.

When Cleveland began considering his Cabinet, while he was still at Albany letters serious and amusing poured in—asking office, giving advice; congratulatory, denunciatory. One newspaper man called on him and stated that from time to time he would send him information about public men, unsigned, but in his own handwriting. Daily envelopes came in, with cards of convenient form for filing, treating of nearly everybody proposed for the Cabinet, distinguished visitors announced in the public press as on their way to Albany, and well-known men generally—a separate card for each person. Good points were written in red ink; discreditable facts and characteristics were in black ink. Each card was a concise record of the deeds, character, and influence of the man dealt with, and gave an incisive, impartial, and accurate analysis of those about whom they were written from the point of view of an able and experienced observer of current events. The whole record made a kind of judgment-day book of men of both parties conspicuous in national affairs, in civil life, and in the army. Many people were surprised at the knowledge shown by Cleveland of the political affiliations of prominent men.

When the portfolios were finally announced, there was general satisfaction. In selecting Senator Bayard of Delaware for Secretary of State, President Cleveland satisfied a large following that had twice declared its desire for Bayard as President. Senator Bayard’s charming family was a distinct acquisition to the official group.

Daniel Manning, of New York, as the new Secretary of the Treasury, was also a happy choice. Manager and owner of the Albany Argus, a clever politician, and president of a National Bank, he possessed many qualifications for this post. There was an expression of universal satisfaction that he was to preside over the national money vaults.

Upon the capable New England shoulders of William C. Endicott, astute lawyer and advocate of Civil Service Reform, was placed the responsibility of the War Department.

The fortunes of our long-neglected navy, with its ninety more or less obsolete warships, were destined to undergo radical changes under the efficient direction of William C. Whitney, of New York. The story of how Mr. Whitney transformed the navy is an epic in American leadership and an epoch in American history.

The Secretary of the Interior, Lucius Quintus Curtius Lamar, of Mississippi, represented the South. He was regarded as especially keen minded, a moulder of public opinion.

Postmaster General Vilas was a Vermonter by birth and a Westerner by adoption, having established his business career in Wisconsin, from which state he went into the Union Army. He was an expert in the intricate machinery of American politics.

The legal authority of the new Cabinet came from the Senate, a man with an enviable reputation. This was Attorney General Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas.

This Cabinet has been considered one of remarkable strength, but Grover Cleveland was always the President.

Most important to every President is his choice of a private secretary. Cleveland, in selecting his official family, lost no time over deliberation on this position. He simply took with him to Washington Daniel S. Lamont, from every standpoint the best man for the position, fitted in every way for the important part he was to play in the national drama. Mr. Lamont set an example for the future by establishing a new standard and a new conception of the part of the Executive Secretary.

By the middle of March, the President was fairly settled and gave his first official reception, to which the Diplomatic Corps and Congress were invited, to meet the new Cabinet. As the Marine Band played “Hail to the Chief,” the President came down the stairs with Mrs. Bayard on his arm, while the new Secretary of State escorted Miss Rose Cleveland, with the rest of the Cabinet following in succession. It was soon apparent that the President was not in his congenial element; such affairs were not to his taste. He had an enormous capacity for work and a great deal of work to do, of which the social end did not seem to him a really vital part.

Old families of the city, who had ignored the White House since the days of the kindly Buchanan and the lovely Harriet Lane, found it convenient, expedient, and agreeable to call upon the President and Miss Cleveland. While this was done out of deference to the party, it did not impress the new Executive to the extent of securing for them any more attention or consideration than was given to any other representatives.

The church people of Washington were eager to secure the new head of the nation as a communicant. The matter was settled by Miss Cleveland, who chose the First Presbyterian Church at Four and One Half Street. At her first reception, March 21st, the Reverend Byron Sunderland and his wife presented themselves to her. He was delighted when Miss Cleveland reminded him that her mother had attended his church in New York State. Because of this association, she took a pew in his Washington church, which was used later by Mrs. Grover Cleveland.

The first Easter after he came to the Presidency, Mr. Cleveland won the hearts of the Washington children by reviving the custom of rolling eggs on the lawns of the White House, a custom peculiar to the Capital City. The President loved children, and he not only opened the grounds for the usual egg-rolling, but received all the youngsters in the East Room, shaking hands with each one. Many of them, responding to his friendly smile, presented him and his sister with battered eggs. Between four and five thousand children, black and white, of every class, race, and condition attended. The only badge of eligibility was a basket of multi-coloured eggs.

Congress was in extra session for months, and the question of appointments under Civil Service occupied a large share of attention of the entire administration, placing a check, as it did, upon the old-time practice of wholesale dismissals with each new administration. This literal interpretation of the purpose of Civil Service, whereby a man need not lose his position unless guilty of neglect or abuse of his office, was a distinct shock to those of the older order, who believed that to the victor belonged the spoils.

From the first year of his term, Cleveland became involved in difficulties with some of the most influential men of his own party over his determination to uphold the reform and to adhere to his resolution to keep principle above partisanship.

His contest with the Senate over the Tenure of Office Act, which he insisted had fallen into innocuous desuetude, resulted in a complete victory for him, and he was not thereafter handicapped in his appointments. His attitude from the beginning on military pensions attracted wide comment. He demanded proof of real merit on the part of any applicant. Because of his vetoing so many private pension bills, he became the “Veto President.”

The entire nation was saddened by the death of General Grant during the first summer of the Cleveland administration.

Late in November, Vice President Hendricks passed away, before he had served even a year of his term.

Following his death, Congress passed the Presidential Succession Bill. It was a measure that provided for the filling of the Executive Office in the event of the deaths of both President and Vice President, by the Secretary of State, then the Secretary of the Treasury, and so on, through the membership of the Cabinet, should any such necessity arise. This became a law in January, 1886.

The New Year’s Reception of 1886 was exceptional in its large attendance. The weather was propitious and thus encouraged the timid to get themselves into their best bibs and tuckers and present themselves in line. The President greeted his guests cordially as Colonel Wilson made the introductions. The gowns of the receiving ladies drew much attention. Miss Cleveland was especially smart in her white silk and garnet velvet. Mrs. Bayard wore white silk crêpe. Mrs. Whitney was elegant with her magnificent diamonds and her white ottoman silk with its embroidered panel front of crystal and pearls. Mrs. Endicott’s heliotrope satin was draped with thin chiffon of deeper tint, and Mrs. Vilas’s pink satin and point lace offered a bright colour contrast to the others.

The Cabinet was blessed with a goodly share of young daughters and nieces to add life and gaiety and keep up the social traditions. Among them was Miss Kate Bayard. The reception was the last formal White House function that she attended, as her untimely death occurred two weeks later and was followed by that of her mother. This was so unexpected and such a shock as to throw a shadow over the whole official group; she was to have assisted Miss Cleveland at a White House function on the day she died.

MRS. GROVER CLEVELAND

In her wedding gown

In the social life of Washington in Cleveland’s days, the activities of William C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy, and his charming wife, eclipsed those of any other public man. A local paper gives some account of their home:

“In a temporary residence, they at once began to entertain, and by the fall, when they had the house now the William A. Slater home, on I Street, selected, their hospitalities were well under way. The house was done over, the ballroom addition put on, and a modernizing touch put everywhere. Each winter, the Secretary and his wife gave weekly receptions and balls, at which the smart folk in official and resident society were present, and a supper of all the substantials and delicacies, with champagne in plenty, was a regular feature. Dinners for home and visiting grandees were just as numerous as cotillions as large as the ballroom would permit, musicals, and every other fashionable diversion.

“Mrs. Whitney’s Wednesdays at home were attended by hundreds. There was always a well-spread refreshment table, a floral decoration, and the presence of the beaux and belles of every year, and the visiting public by the hundreds. The last hour of these afternoon gatherings was regarded as the smartest rendezvous of the capital. Other daylight parties at the Whitney home were just as frequent. Readings, musicals by professional and amateur talent continued throughout each season.

“The Whitneys, besides, carried on a fashionable country life at Grasslands, in the Tenleytown direction. The Country Club bought the property later. Their weekend parties there during the Christmas season and throughout the spring were most entertaining episodes. The Secretary gave the use of the place during the summer at stated times to the clerks of his department and their families for picnicking. He distributed presents of turkeys at Christmas time to all of the homekeeping employees of the Navy Department.

“A spring entertainment of note was the tea which followed the Easter Monday christening at St. John’s Church of the baby daughter born to the couple that year. Baby Dorothy Whitney of that day is now Mrs. Willard Straight of New York.

“There were souvenirs for all the guests at the house—egg-shaped, white moire boxes, prettily ornamented and bearing the date and the baby’s name. The boxes were filled with tiny egg-shaped candies.

“Mrs. Whitney gave some Christmas tree parties in that I Street ballroom which were a revelation to many of her visitors, who had never seen anything so bewilderingly gorgeous. A tree reaching to the ceiling would be shining with tinsel and glittering effects, and the centre for one of the merriest gatherings of the West End. Sometimes the party was for the children from St. John’s Orphanage, when substantial gifts followed the other pleasures. Both husband and wife took interest in local affairs and were generous in their charities. Mrs. Whitney’s death followed shortly after her return to New York to reside.”

With the Easter festivities came rumours of an approaching White House wedding. Gossips had reported the betrothal of the President and Miss Folsom, and whispers of a Paris trousseau and of the beauty of the bride, “the little schoolgirl friend” whom Miss Cleveland had introduced during a few days’ visit of the early winter. But no official confirmation was forthcoming. The bachelor President, past the age when men are apt to marry, like his predecessor had long been the target for maids and widows matrimonially inclined. He had disposed of his obligations to provide the White House mistress by installing his sister as its chatelaine, but this arrangement was not wholly ideal. Miss Cleveland was gracious and responded to every demand upon her, but she had her own career urging its claims. She was a cultured, educated teacher and author, who filled her difficult rôle with dignity and intelligence. While in the White House she completed a book, “George Eliot’s Poetry and Other Studies,” which, through the prestige of her position, had enormous circulation—twelve editions—bringing her more than $25,000. This offered a convincing argument for a return to her own work, and rumour claimed that she was wholly delighted over the prospect of a White House bridal, and especially pleased that it was to be Miss Folsom, her brother’s ward and the daughter of his former partner.

Prior to his accepting public office in the late sixties, Grover Cleveland and Oscar Folsom had been law partners. He was a frequent visitor at the Folsom home, when the little blue-eyed, brown-haired daughter, Frances, was attending the select French kindergarten conducted by Madame Bucher in Buffalo. The bachelor mayor made a pet of her. She always climbed upon his knee when he came and called him “Uncle Cleve.” In 1875, when she was eleven years old, her father, Oscar Folsom, was killed in a carriage accident. It was later discovered that he had made his partner the guardian of his child. Mrs. Folsom, the mother, took the little girl to Medina, her own home town, but the latter later returned to Buffalo to attend school. Finally, she entered Wells College, where she was a student for three years. Miss Folsom was a favourite among teachers and pupils; also an object of envy to the girls who all noted the letters and flowers from the Governor of New York. While she was in college, Cleveland was nominated for the Presidency, and there was much buzzing of girlish tongues over the regular letters from Washington.

The following June, when the class of ’85 held its commencement at Wells, no young graduate attracted more attention and comment than pretty Miss Folsom. This was due, in part, to the superb flowers which came to her from the White House, over which there was much gossip and speculation.

Before she sailed with her mother for a year of sightseeing in Europe, the President had conveyed to her his desire to lose a ward and gain a bride. To the intimate family group only their engagement was announced.

Miss Folsom, with a French trousseau, finally arrived in May. She was met by Secretary Lamont, who checked all newspaper attempts to approach her for information by whisking her and Mrs. Folsom aboard a steamer he had waiting. He personally conducted them to the Gilsey House, where they remained for a few days. President Cleveland, in the meantime, concluded that his presence was necessary in New York on Memorial Day. Thus their final plans were completed. He returned at once to Washington, and early on the morning on the second of June, Miss Rose Cleveland hurried to the station, returning shortly with the young lady and her mother.

All day the President and his lovely fiancée addressed unusually elaborate boxes of wedding cake, each carrying a card bearing their combined autographs. The President had previously sent to a limited number of guests the following simple form of invitation:

Executive Mansion,
May 29, 1886.

My dear Mr.——

I am to be married on Wednesday evening at seven o’clock at the White House to Miss Folsom. It will be a very quiet affair and I will be extremely gratified at your attendance on the occasion.

Yours sincerely,
Grover Cleveland.

As this was the first and only time a President was married in the White House, the wedding marked an epoch in the history of the mansion.

All day a regular army of florists bent their skill upon the decoration, transforming the Blue Room into a fitting marriage bower. Cartloads of blossoms, vines, ferns, and palms, with flags and shaded lights, turned all of the state apartments into a fairyland of flowers, to form a proper setting for the loveliest bride and the youngest mistress the White House has ever known.

The Blue Room was especially lovely. The mellow light of the tapers in the great candle stands, five feet high, a gift to President Jackson, added to the beauty of the scene. The mantels were banked with flowers. On one the date was outlined in pansies; on the other, the letters “F. C.,” in white and pink roses.

Miss Folsom had originally planned that at her wedding, her grandfather, of Folsomdale, whom she called “Papa John,” was to be present and give her away. His death while she was crossing the Atlantic upset these arrangements, so with the first strains of Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March,” the President and his girlish bride came down the stairs unattended even by her mother.

The bride’s gown was of absorbing interest. It was of rich corded ivory satin trimmed with soft folds of India silk edged with orange buds and blossoms. The same material was draped to form an overskirt, also edged with the dainty blossoms, which were artistically arranged over the entire costume. The four-yard train she managed as perfectly as if she had always worn it. A coronet of the bridal flowers held the soft silk tulle veil in place. More than five yards in length, it fell gracefully over the entire train. Long gloves met the short sleeves. A diamond necklace, the President’s gift, and her sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring, were her only jewels.

The bridal couple took their places facing the Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Byron Sunderland, who performed the marriage ceremony, and the Reverend William Cleveland, brother of the bridegroom, who concluded the ceremony with the blessing. Immediately from the navy yard came the presidential salute of twenty-one guns, announcing the news to the city, and all of the church bells rang a marriage chime.

An informal reception and collation followed, during which came many messages of congratulation, among them one from Queen Victoria. The decorations of the dining room were beautiful beyond description. The great mirror purchased for the mansion by Dolly Madison and used by every President since made a realistic sea for the full-rigged ship Hymen, constructed of pansies and pink roses, with the national colours on the mainmast and tiny white flags with “C. F.” on the other masts.

The guests included the Cabinet, the relatives, and the close personal friends. About eight o’clock, the bridal couple were ready for the departure. The President had replaced the conventional evening clothes with his customary black business suit, and “Mrs. Cleveland,” as everyone delighted in addressing her, was fully as beautiful as in her wedding gown. They left the rear door of the mansion in a shower of rice, old shoes, and good wishes, and were driven to the Baltimore and Ohio Station. Here a special train awaited to take them to Deer Park, Maryland, where the President hoped to rest and do some fishing. They had expected to spend a quiet time away from the curious public, but, to their dismay, the following morning they found a pavilion had been built overnight directly opposite their cottage and was thronged with newspaper correspondents and photographers.

Hopes of seclusion vanished with the rush of summer visitors to Deer Park and the arrival of a Church Convention. They went trout fishing, Mrs. Cleveland being initiated in the proper methods of baiting her own hook, and the President settled down on a comfortable log to enjoy his favourite sport. But even the remote woods were invaded by the visitors eager to get a glimpse of the distinguished pair. Mrs. Cleveland let her husband fish alone the next day or so, and finally, on June 9th, when more summer visitors arrived to enjoy the unusual pleasure of a President of the United States for a neighbour, President and Mrs. Cleveland decided that national business was urgent, and they returned to Washington.

On their return from Deer Park, the President and Mrs. Cleveland gave an evening reception to a large group. This was Mrs. Cleveland’s introduction to official and social Washington as the First Lady of the Land. In her wedding gown, she was especially lovely, and her natural charm, poise, and sweet cordiality established her popularity. It was conceded that, of all the many splendid things that President Cleveland had done, there was none that could do so well for him as his marriage.

The prolific use of Mrs. Cleveland’s pictures by patent medicine, perfume, candy, and underwear manufacturers, and firms of all kinds in advertising their wares called forth a well-intentioned protest that finally found expression in a bill being introduced in the House of Representatives on March 6, 1888, which read in part:

“Be it enacted, etc. That any person or persons for themselves or others or for corporations who shall publicly exhibit, use or employ the likeness or representation of any female living or dead, who is or was the wife, mother, daughter or sister of any citizen of the United States without the consent in writing of the person whose likeness is to be used shall be guilty of high misdemeanor and shall upon indictment be fined not less than $500. nor more than $5,000. and stand imprisoned until fine and costs are paid.”

Needless to add, the bill joined the great procession of the unpassed measures. Mrs. Cleveland inaugurated Saturday afternoon receptions, so that women who were employed might also have the opportunity to visit the White House. At many of her receptions, people would go through the line several times just to see her smile and again shake her hand.

Although Mrs. Cleveland’s time was so filled with demands that she had little time for informal correspondence, the appeal of a child was never ignored. At the opening of Lent, a Sunday-school superintendent of Youngsville, Pa., gave each of his thirty-three pupils between seven and ten years of age one penny with the instruction to invest it in something that could be sold and reinvested so that at the end of Lent each child would have an Easter offering to bring representing its own industrious effort. A little girl of this group wrote to Mrs. Cleveland enclosing in the letter a penwiper which she had made and which she asked the First Lady to buy, telling the story.

Mrs. Cleveland sent the following reply:

Executive Mansion, Washington,
May 9, 1888.

My dear little Friend:

I am very glad to buy your holder. You did not say how much it was so I send you twenty-five cents and I trust it will help you a little. I think it is very nice for little girls to know how to help and I trust you will go on all your life doing what you can for others.

Sincerely your friend,
Frances F. Cleveland.

A competent housekeeper was installed, and thus the new mistress of the mansion enjoyed her life there intensely. She was fond of dogs, and the big mastiff, a gift to her, seemed to realize the great importance and dignity of his position, as he majestically walked or stood by her side. She was an enthusiastic amateur photographer. Mrs. Cleveland loved the flowers. The conservatory was a constant delight to her. She filled the private part of the house with song birds, mocking birds, and canaries. Upon one occasion, the President, trying to concentrate upon a message late in the night, had to call one of the White House staff to remove a mocking bird that insisted upon singing. The story related is to the effect that, after the bird had been placed in an unlighted room, his song ceased, and the President, becoming anxious lest his wife’s pet might take a chill, had it carefully placed out of drafts.

Mrs. Cleveland, wholly natural, unaffected, and genuine, won the hearts of the people literally by the minute. She liked people and everyday things. She had a quality of cordiality in her greetings that was convincingly sincere. One of the little bits of gossip of her first reception shows the President’s pride and confidence in her ability to carry her social responsibilities without his supporting presence. Mrs. Folsom had invaded his office to urge that he go down to see that everything started off well. Though exceedingly busy with papers piled high, he accompanied her, and they slipped into the room without being observed by the new First Lady. They stood watching her fully five minutes as the long stream of people were being presented to her. They heard her cheery, hearty greetings, saw the pleased, admiring faces, and then the President—more the proud husband than the nation’s chief—touched his mother-in-law on the arm and pridefully, though laconically, remarked, “She’ll do! She’ll do!”

Upon the jubilee of the entrance of Pope Leo XIII into the priesthood, President Cleveland sent felicitations and a handsomely bound copy of the Constitution of the United States. The event, which occurred January 21, 1888, had been brought to the President’s attention by Cardinal Gibbons, and it was through that prelate that the gift was sent. In transmitting it, Cardinal Gibbons wrote:

“It is a tribute paid to Your Holiness by the ruler of sixty million of free men, a ruler elected by them, who feels deeply the supreme responsibility of his exalted station, his dependence upon God’s providence and who has had the wisdom and fortitude to discharge faithfully and conscientiously all the important duties devolving upon him.”

The Pope in responding said:

“As the head of the Church I owe my duty, love and solicitude to every part of the Church, but toward America I bear especial love. The care of your nation is great. Your government is free. Your future full of hope. Your President commands my highest admiration.”

Between the disapproving clergy and the opposing politicians, who classed the gift as a bid for votes, the incident caused wide discussion.

For months stories were current of the abuse of Mrs. Cleveland by her husband. Every little trip was construed into a permanent break, and even Mrs. Folsom’s journeys were charged to trouble in the White House. Both the President and his wife were aware of these tales but ignored them, until, finally, Mrs. Cleveland felt constrained to reply to one letter and permit publication of her statement.

Executive Mansion, Washington,
June 3, 1888.

Mrs. Nicodemus
Dear Madam:

I can only say in answer to your letter that every statement made by the Rev. C. H. Pendleton in the interview which you send me is basely false, and I pity the man of his calling who has been made the tool to give circulation to such wicked heartless lies. I can wish the women of our country no greater blessing than that their lives may be as happy and their husbands as kind, attentive, considerate and affectionate as mine.

Very truly,
Frances F. Cleveland.

Praise was showered upon the President’s highly popular wife, who never made a mistake. Without a word, she settled problems that had stirred tempests of discussion. The matter of wines was settled by her for herself. She merely turned down her glass, declining thus to use them, and the quiet dignity placed her action above argument. She made the unsightly bustle unfashionable and set also an example of simple and becoming hairdressing.

It fell to the President to announce to the nation the loss of another ex-President—his immediate predecessor—Chester A. Arthur, who, after his retirement, never recovered his health which had been undermined and shattered by the anxieties of office. He died in his home within two years after he left the White House.

This was the period when many noted authors, writers, and artists made Washington their abiding place at least for a time. Among them, Frances Hodgson Burnett, at the high tide of her popularity, had established herself on Farragut Square. Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, from the sheltered seclusion of the porch of Prospect Cottage, was wielding her prolific pen and producing a novel a year. Joaquin Miller had built his unique cabin in the trees, a mecca for all kindred spirits and for throngs of the curious. The learned Spofford and the gifted Bancroft rode horseback in literary companionship. The spell of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman was upon the city; and Grace Greenwood, Gail Hamilton, Mary Clemmer Ames were listed among the shining lights of the press so valiantly served by Townsend and Poore and dozens of others. Mary S. Logan was already filling bookshelf space. Olivia Edson Briggs, trenchant and satirical, had stamped upon the public mind the quality of her Olivia letters, compendiums of news—gossip, politics, and fashion. Mary S. Lockwood won favour reminiscing over the city’s quaint, half-forgotten old homes, so replete with romances and tragedies of national history. The literary élite, too numerous to mention, left their stamp upon the life of the flourishing, shifting population of the most unique city in the world, where no rank, power, or residence is permanent.

President Cleveland’s first administration was distinguished by his firm stand for Civil Service Reform. The first movement toward reform had begun in 1853, though nothing was done. Presidents Grant and Hayes also had taken up the matter, but it remained for President Cleveland to take a stand that proved its value. A new Cabinet portfolio was created—the Department of Agriculture. Norman J. Colman, then serving as Commissioner of the Bureau of Agriculture, being made its Secretary.

Congress created the first of the governmental commissions through the Interstate Commerce measure. This was the first step toward standardizing rates on railroads and became the basis for a long struggle before railroads became regarded and treated as monopolies needing regulation for the best interest of the public. The creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission was a radical step that was not understood, and drew to itself and its promoters great criticism.

In fact, criticism of President Cleveland’s policies was general. He was blamed more or less for the conditions that led to the riot in Chicago in Haymarket Square, which was instigated and engineered by disgruntled foreigners. Bombs were thrown. Seven policemen were killed and sixty wounded, and, while the leading rioters were executed, the people of the country were deeply disturbed.

The year 1886 has often been called the year of strikes. Beginning with the opening of the year in New York, among the street-car conductors, they spread their disruption pretty well over the country.

This administration witnessed also the greatest advance in development and power of the great companies or corporations, as well as that of the labour organizations. A number of important laws were enacted. Among them, one provided definite rules for counting the electoral vote, so as to avoid all doubts and disputes over the election of the President. Another had for its object a uniform railroad rate for passengers and also for freight. Another prohibited the importation of Chinese labour.

President Cleveland, in placing his interpretation of principle above partisanship, had made a remarkable record for achievement, but he also had aroused great antagonism, and the Republican party capitalized upon the opposition to his methods by wresting the power away from the Democrats and electing a Republican as his successor.