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.
[Illustration: 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.