21. Waiting For a Bride to Grow Up
As Frances Folsom grew up, Grover Cleveland continued to dote on her. Then, at some point, matters progressed from doting to grooming: Cleveland took to sending her flowers, with notes saying “I am waiting for my bride to grow up“. When word got out, Cleveland’s public image took no hit: people thought he was kidding. However, as things turned out, he was in deadly earnest.
After he was elected president and while Frances was in college, Cleveland sent her a letter proposing marriage, then sweated her reply like a schoolboy. She agreed, and on June 2nd, 1886, as the Marine Band was conducted by John Philip Sousa, 21-year-old Frances Folsom wed the 49-year-old president in the White House’s Blue Room. It is the only time a president was married in the White House or while in office.