service by your television provider. >> tonight, first lady's influence and image focuses on frances cleveland followed by this year's commencement addresses. first, twitter ceo, and then nate silver. >> frances cleveland was a celebrity first later unlike any before her. 12 us understand -- to help us understand, we begin our story inside 1600 pennsylvania avenue.

for the first and only time in our countries history. watching frances cleveland into instant celebrity. it is the same basic layout as it would have been on juice -- june 2. when president grover cleveland and his bride to be came down what was then about large staircase to the family quarters at the west end of this corridor. they would have proceeded on the hallway, the music started up at the east side behind us here, where the united states marine band was assembled. the famous john philip sousa played the wedding march as the happy couple can down the hallway. they would have passed through these doors, these very same mahogany doors. come and the room, a different chandelier here, they would have did under -- stood under the chandelier.

said their vows. an enormous amount of flowers in the room brought from the white house conservatory. a large table where the sofa is now is a stream of potted plants and potted plants underneath. flowers were hung suspended from the moldings. the mantelpiece was covered with flowers. the fireplace was full of red begonias. it was a very brief ceremony, 7:00 p.m. an evening ceremony. the assembled throng just went down to the eastern promenade, for the bride probably to show off her dress. they went down that same hallway we were just in, to a wedding dinner in the state dining room. ♪ >> those are the strains of in 1890's recording of john philip sousa in the marine corps band playing the wedding march they

performed at the wedding -- white house nuptials of francis and grover cleveland. good evening and welcome. tonight, the story of francis. cleveland, the youngest first lady to ever serve in that role. meet our guest for the evening. the author of a bad buffet on her, -- biography on her. the press corps, describe what it was like for the nation in the 1880's and how this business of covering presidents was coming into its own. >> think about the 1880's, it is probably what i would call the age of newspapers. every city had multiple newspapers and every one of those was looking for a way to make money. the best way was to get the best story. whoever could find out where francis was saying, what she was wearing, what she was doing, what she looked like, that would help sell papers. it did not hurt that they made a

little bit of it up. >> it was not quite a secret by the time june 2 came across. use of the word was beginning to leak out and investigations into who she might be and what the circumstances could be. they were really priming. >> absolutely. from the time cleveland came into office in 1885, there was all this speculation about who could possibly be his bride. it would waver between some of the women who would help his sister and her receptions at the white house, and then this competition in the mind of the public between whether or not it was francis or her mother, and all. -- her mother, emma. people were convinced it was not francis, she was way too young. write about this time, they used to call it decoration day, cleveland sent out the wedding invitations.

at the decoration day parade in new york city, frances was introduced to the public. >> the president was not very fond of the press. we have one of many boats about the ways that he described them. here is one way you would refer to them -- those schools -- ghouls of the press. he said, i begin to fear -- this is about their honeymoon. he had some na?ve concept that they would be able to sneak away for a honeymoon on their own. he wrote when they were going at the end of the summer. she thought that he had been able to outsmart press, because they had arranged for a special two-car train, on a side rail, and they figured they could get off to an area around maryland

on some privately owned property. there was a telegraph agent who was bribed and revealed what the destination of the trade was. because it was pouring rain that night, when they got the train station, they had to take a carriage from the station to to their actual honeymoon location, the carriage got bogged down in the mud which gave the press even more time. they were staked out there by the time they got there. >> it gave rise to a new term -- keyhole journalism. >> and another term, which was associated with joseph pulitzer, looking in the keyhole to see if you could see what was going on in their private lives. >> in your book, i read that they finally try to concede and gave an interview during a honeymoon. how does that work to keep the interest down a little bit? >> he had what he called the respectable papers, then the not respectable papers.

i assume the respectable papers were those whose views coincided. he invited reporters from the so-called respectable papers to come into the cabin where he and francis were staying. they had stacked telegrams from well-wishers on the table. they shared some of those. very nicely staged, very choreographed. they allowed the press to see some of these papers, allow them to see him and her engaged to each other. it was their way of saying, now can you leave us alone? >> not only the age of news papers, but the beginning of the age of consumer branding. as we said in our introduction, there was widespread use by the president and first lady's image image to sell all kinds of products. that is how you first learned of this young first lady. looking back at the history of renting and america. if you are to use the president's image today, you would quickly get calls from

lawyers about doing that. were there any rules whatsoever about the use of the first couples in the jacco >> no, and that is why these companies get away with it. several supporters of clinton and congress were trying -- of cleveland in congress were trying to get stuff past to not use their image without permission. he had enough detractors that even though they liked frances, they do not want to give them anything they wanted. they could not get these laws passed. >> here is a bit of francis cleveland" she had about her frustration. where is this from? >> that was a letter she wrote to the editor of country magazine. he had running -- had run an ad for this company.

she had become friends and asked him to arrange for that to happen. >> we have to explain how this 49-year-old president and the 21-year-old ride ever became a couple. tell us the story of grover and frances cleveland. >> grover was law partners and friends with frances'partner -- father. cleveland supposedly gave him the first a.b. carriage and became a fixture in the house. as she grew up, she started to call him uncle cleve. her father was tragically killed when she was 11 in a carriage accident. he was not a good money manager, some people who knew more about the family history said he was a bit of a rogue. cleveland stepped in as executor and money manager to help handle the affairs and work with emma to oversee frances'education.

>> i read all of these short biographies, and it tells a story that he became interested after getting into the white house on a visit from the mother and daughter, but your tail goes back further. all the time that she was in college, he was sending loads of flowers to her and writing letters constantly. did he have his eye on her for quite a while? >> i think he did. one thing that is interesting, people know little of her history. there -- her alma mater will tell her about the special train them would come so he could come visit her. he did write her letters and send flowers. she also come -- accompanied him on campaign appearances when he ran for governor of new york. this is definitely well three- white house years. >> her family was receptive of

this relationship. what was the public reception about the age difference? >> you had some language that call them beauty and the beast, because they did not like him and he was 47 -- 49, he was portly, not necessarily the handsomest man in the world. she was an absolute stunner. dark hair, blue eyes, tall, very good-looking. there were people that thought there was something strange about it, but they fell immediately in love with her. they kind of accepted him as part of the package. >> gary robinson on twitter -- asking how they met and asks this question -- did she love him? isn't a lot of time and -- reading you spent a lot of time reading your correspondence. >> i think she started out as most people do, thinking the marriage was semantic. but the age difference was

significant. when it ensured -- matured into a deep caring. i would say it was a respectful and caring kind of love. >> grover cleveland had some very specific views of women in society and what he wanted from a wife. >> yes. >> would you explain it? >> in that time, there was still this attitude of spheres of influence where women were supposed to stay pure and take care of the home and children. that is exactly where he wanted francis to be. he did not want her pretty little head upset with notions about it and first lady -- being first lady or the demands of being in the white house or the wife of a president. he did not think that women should vote or work outside the home. >> this program, this series if you have been watching along the way, it is interactive. there are a lot of ways to do that area can send us a question on facebook. there is already a

chat going on for a little while about frances cleveland. you can also find our facebook page and be part of that. you can send us a tweet with the #firstladies. the good old fashion way, can make the phone call. here are the phone numbers. we will be working your questions in throughout our 90 minutes on frances cleveland. also something special for you, an opportunity to go inside the smithsonian's collection. you will meet lisa, the first lady's ear rate or at the smithsonian, to go behind the scenes a look at some of the frances cleveland items they have in storage here. not open to the public. we will be taking you for the first of center looks at the smithsonian collection right now.

>> we are here at the political history storage room. the collection is too fast to be on display at one time. objects not currently on the floor are stored in here. at any point, they can be used for exhibition or lend to another institution. this is her wedding dress. frances cleveland was an incredibly popular bride. she married the president in a white house ceremony, the only white house ceremony for a first lady. the bodice, filled in with a neck piece. this goes around it and creates a softening effect. it was a longsleeved dress. and this wonderful long train on the underside, trimmed in lace. even the underside of his clothes you don't see had this beautiful trimmed.

and this sweeping train. the collection contains more than clothing. at their wedding, we have public and personal pieces. one of my favorite things in the entire collection, this cake box. each of the guests at the wedding were given a satin covered box, painted with the bride and groom initials, to hold a piece of wedding cake. before the wedding, grover and frances signed a card for every cake box. inside, wrapped in lace. there would have been a piece of cake. this particular cake box was given to the minister who performed the wedding. byron sunderland. the minister at the first presbyterian church in washington d.c. that testing to the public fascination of frances cleveland. this is a piece of sheet music,

the cleveland's wedding march, composed in honor of the wedding, it was not the wedding march played at the wedding. you can see, it is decorated with pictures of mr. and mrs. cleveland. these are the images of the cleveland's together that will be part of popular culture for the next 12 years. >> we are back to our sector. i want to introduce our second guest for the evening, returning from an earlier first ladies program. a historian for colonial williamsburg, steeped in first lady's history. welcome to the conversation. let us talk about the election. anybody who thinks there is hard knuckle politics today, look at the election of 1884 that brought grover cleveland into the white house. pretty rough stuff going on. what would you like? >> politics in the 1880's is brutal. we think about earlier elections where they are taking swings at each other like jefferson and adams.

they be in the 1800 election. politics in the 1880's, you are he talks about newspapers, it is personal, it is visceral and because of the way political parties have developed, they are able to take these swipes at each other that really we would find surprising today. in 1884, all of these things would come out in the 1884 election. two candidates cannot be more different from each other. grover cleveland on the one hand who probably has very little political experience of this sort. he was mayor of buffalo in 1881. elected governor of new york in 1882. two years later, he is the democratic nominee for president. that is all the major political experience that he has. he has developed a reputation of being honest and trustworthy and a reformer. on the other hand, you have got

a guy named john blaine, the continental lawyer from maine. if anything, he has too much political experience. he has been speaker of the house, a senator from maine, one of the major figures in the republican party. he has a reputation for probably having private virtue, a good family man, but also tainted by public corruption and an inside the beltway guy. he whole campaign of 1884 ends up revolving around these things. personal politics. the greatest strength of grover cleveland, the greatest opportunity that the democrats had, is the reputation of cleveland as being a man of public virtue man as any good political operative. they went straight after

probably his most weak points, the illegitimate child. >> the refrain for anybody who studied history, ma, ma, where's your pa? gone to the white house, ha ha ha. >> an illegitimate child in buffalo, new york. given the way buffalo was at that time, a lot of breweries and immigrants and massive growth, and illegitimate child was not all that unusual. maria named him oscar. cleveland. he stepped up to the plate and said he would take responsibility for her and the child. maria perley had problems with alcohol and was not taking care of him. an opportunity developed for him to place the child in the home of the family, mr. and mrs. james king.

this young man started his life as oscar cleveland became james king junior. it was all pretty quiet, until they uncover the dirt and found out that cleveland had assumed responsibility for this child, therefore the assumption that he also was father of the child. there were some efforts to cover it up initially. then the famous line that cleveland says is, tell the truth. >> what to learn learn about cleveland from ms.? >> -- from this? >> he understands the virtue of making a story a nonstory. admit to it and move on. that is sort of how it works . stories go back and forth about why he does it. either he is telling the truth and it is his child, all evidence, the scant evidence that we have is that there is a possibility it is his child. also the possibility it is the child of frances' father.

the other part is to admit to it, make it a nonstory, say that it is true and move onto let us next. that is what happened in essence. >> how did frances' family react to this? it affected uncle cleve, the man she was eventually betrothed to. at the same time it could have been her father's child? >> the reaction was interesting, considering as we have been talking about cleveland was very obviously courting frances at this point. she has been getting lots of flowers and going amounts of campaign trips. apparently there is a story where one of her classmates came into her dorm room and happened to see a picture of cleveland of the desk and wanted to know who it was. frances referred to him at that

point as the mayor of buffalo. i don't know why it was the governor of new york. her comment was a man more sinned against than sinning. emma wrote a letter to frances saint she hated cleveland going through all this trouble with this boy. there is never any discussion in those letters about who they thought the father was. >> we will take some calls and come back and talk about the cleveland administration and its significance in history. owl from maryland, you are on. >> thank you, first of all i have been a viewer of c-span from almost the beginning. you do a wonderful job across the board. i live in allegheny county, maryland. one county east of garrett county, which is where the cleveland's honeymooned. several years ago i had to do some research on the presidents who visited this area, and i dug out my notes on the honeymoon of grover cleveland and frances. i

wrote down a few notes on want to share with you. after the white house ceremony, apparently late that night or the next morning, they boarded a private railroad car and arrived in deer park, maryland, which is in present-day garrett county. they honeymooned here for about days -- six days stayed at what is now known at the cleveland's pottage. the press followed them up from watching 10 and railroad detectives had to sit on their honeymoon cottage so reporters would not bother them. they climbed trees, they tried to spy on the couple using binoculars, they would drive the servants to try and get a jury of what they were eating, where they were going. according to accounts, they went trout fishing several times in a stream known as deep creek. they caught almost 50 trout. they attended church together in

downtown oakland, that has since been known as the church of the presidents. on their departure back to washington, a left from the deer park railroad station, it was then that the president met through orders and some of the locals. -- met with reporters and some of the locals. he said their honeymoon exceeded their expectations. they never slept better. the air and temperature were delicious and they could not have found a more suitable retreat have a searched the entire united states. >> let's jump in. you have added some details to the story from the beginning and we thank you for that area anything more to add to his description of their enjoyment? >> he has done good research. what winds up with everything i have discovered, too. >> is the cottage still around? >> data don't know. >> next up is joseph indiana. >> excellent series. francis was always concerned

about rovers wait. -- grover's weight. is there anything in research that she actually tried to get into lose weight after -- weight? >> she makes some comments -- they got a place outside of what is now part of the cleveland park section of washington d.c., oakfield. they were the first president to purchase a private residence to have someplace to go besides living in the white house. frances talks about trying to get him to walk around the farm or dress any way that that did not accentuate his weight. >> not his size as much as how he looked. expect holiday inn pennsylvania. =-- next up is paula in controlling you. >> i have a question about the wedding dress. i am assuming it is white in

color? >> it looked the more dark cream color. without the original original color? >> i think cream was the correct color. it has available his age, but believe green was more appropriate. >> any other christian echo >> -- any other questions? >> because of the age difference, if that would take place today, would we call her a gold digger in today's society? >> who would be criticized, he or she? >> he could've been criticized as robbing the cradle vomited goes both ways. it is interesting to speculate what the media would do. and his pursuit in years beforehand. in this age when nothing seems to be secret for a long time. >> what we know now about his

involvement with her from her birth, she bought her first baby carriage. he knew her her entire life. there would be people who would think this was a little creepy. moving on, modern, people think about donald trump in these kind of made december relationships. -- may-december relationships. depending on what your moral basis is for these relationships, i think you will get into a similar conversation. >> to the serious politics of the age, you told us the grover cleveland successfully ended a 24th perigee of the republican run at holding the white house. big issues of the time for the gold and silver standard, paris and corruption. what was his approach to the presidency?

ocs front executive? >> he was exceptionally strong. not to say that he was a great constitutional thinker. he was no james madison. he did have a very clear idea about what the role of the presidency was and the role of the federal government was. he thought his role as president was to be the guardian of the federal government and do what he had done as governor of new york, to go ahead and make sure that congress was not doing anything that would screw the country up. they were not going to engage in unnecessary social policy, unnecessary economic policy, he was there to keep them honest and do what he had done in these other positions and reform the broader system of internet that he thought it undermined -- of confidence that he thought it undermined. >> he used the veto 304 times.

>> more than that . if you include pocket vetoes. 414 in his first term, which is more than all presidential vetoes combined before him. these are bills like -- he thinks this is just a way for guys in congress to the cable to curry some favor among their friends. he is detailing these things left and right. he has no problem in doing that. he has no real understanding, given his experience, of how the legislative process works. he is not really about compromising with congress. he is not interested in having discussions about these issues. he cares about health reform, making sure that tariffs are being lowered, maintaining the gold standard, that is a sounder economic policy.

outside of that, he wants congress to stay quiet. >> the sad part about that, we had reached a point in our economy where terrorist reform is important because we still had tariffs that were way too high and it was hurting us internationally. probably some of the lack of that reform is hard the reason part of the reason that the depression starting that made his second term so dismal. partly because they could not yet terrorist reform in place. cleveland -- terrorist =-- heriff reform in place. burned the midnight oil. >> this might be self-evident. they pass self --

a senate.te did they use the white house to bring together any of the forces for compromise? >> lesson this and more in the previous white houses. issues said, one of his was terror for for -- tariff reform. she attends. she is over his major legislation on tariff reform. it is our direct evidence of her political influence. they are using the white house for very different kinds of things. she is able to improve his standing in d.c. by standing next to him. he had therapy tatian of -- yesterday rotation of liking poker, like smoking. she socializes them.

-- butives them some then when you're talking about the white house being used in the ways we've talked about, she is saying things like being involved in copyright legislation, focusing on intellectual property. a reception at the white house for authors to bring attention to intellectual property. of the reason why you do not see it is because cleveland -- would have happened not have it. he did not wondering gauge -- he did not want her engage. you didn't want to use her in that way or take advantage of what she probably could've done for him.

utilized her skill how first ladies have exercised before. >> enormous public interest on this young first lady that people were very excited about having in the white house. he is a great tool at his disposal. he abutted not to use it. -- elected not to use it. thiseir editorials about is his card to play. he is not going to play. he is want to focus on retelling -- be telling as much love installation as possible. it continues to undermine his political capacity. >> he ran about the fact that he -- strong roles opinions by the roles of women.

>> as part of his view that he didn't want her involved in anything political. even those things that he got involved with, which were not , you seely political, in her letters that he is angry with her because of how much time she is spending with his organizations and not involved with things that she thinks she .hould be involved with this is also the first time in the series that we have video of one of the first ladies. we thought it would be interesting to show you what the first lady looks like later on in life. we're going to to watch that as we listen to a phone call. >> hello.

-- we had a memorial day parade. >> how did you get the role of grover cleveland? >> they talked me into it. or i talked them into it. i guess he was a little bit heavier. i'm a little bit shorter. >> he said he was five foot tall and forfeit wide. -- four foot wide. >> what is a question you have for guest tonight? there was the question about veto.

it was a tough time to be a president. i just find them interesting. i'm proud of the democrats. he was the only democrat at the time. there was one democrat. >> thank you. whileked about francis she was not being used to be political. she was influenced and image. one was carefully watching the united states. we're going to its return to the smithsonian and look the dresses she chose, and learn how she might have affected style in the country. >> the fascination with frances cleveland really extended to her clothes. she was a fashion icon. women emulated her hairstyle. popularized everything she

had ended. this is a dress from the second administration. this is the most -- this is the inaugural gown. this was her down from 1893. it stated her family and became the family wedding dress. the bottom of the dress is exactly the same. the top has been remade. it originally had a satin top with a large sleeve with bows on the soldiers. lace was used to create new bodice to make it more modern. this was used by her granddaughters. >> a wedding dress and inaugural dress. >> even her everyday closer very stylish. -- even her everyday" very stylish. a lot of them look like something you could wear now. this is a jacket.

velvet.th beautiful it is definitely day where -- day wear. this is an evening pes. -- an evening he's. evening piece. .lightly more ornate this would have a matching collar. you can wear this with a shirtless and skirt. it is 100 years old now. , this the earlier dresses dress was on display before even that. this was a reception dress she would've worn during the second

administration. the 1890s are when slaves become larger. this is a beautiful skirt and bodice. a matching evening gown. large puffed sleeves. and butterflies. a description at the time talks about the butterfly moves -- butterflies. you can see the damage that light will do. velvet was originally the scholar. over the years of display it has faded. >> i'm curious about how this 21-year-old, whose family finances were rather insecure, developed this taste and style. but sometimes it is just an eight. she seemed to have had it. there was suggestion that her

grandfather, who had lost his adult children, was interested in taking care of his grandchildren, provided money to pay for her. cleveland was not as wealthy as many presidents who own large amounts of land. he was my poor man, either. one she married him, there was money to purchase my's clothing. said some trends. the one she is the most amos getting ridous for, of the bustle. it was a wire contraption that was on the back of your dress. it had gone out of fashion. a french couture decided to bring it back.

it was from the waist and over the hips. it was a slow-moving washington. reporters were looking for a story. they would say let's say she has quit wearing a bustle. the ladies had all their dresses remade. she asked for a bustle, and they said we heard that you have quit wearing them. since we have heard that, everyone has quit asking for them. but if you won't want, we will get one for you. she just looked at her and said, if they say that i stopped wearing a bustle, i guess i have scott to stop wearing a bustle. she had all her close removed -- she all her close remade. think is a remarkable reflection of exactly how important all that coverage is.

they can use the extra ones as catchers masks. >> we should make the point that women's dress reform was very political, because the clothing women were wearing was restrictive and there was a movement to release woman from these restrictive clothing. it was a battle of the conservatives you versus the liberal view. did she get involved in this at all? >> she didn't get involved in it directly. it is interesting. you look at photographs at her, she is stressed very casually. she is still wearing a dress. she's in a bathing cost them. she is wearing what we would describe as a simple shift. away from the corsets, the ornamentation. when she was -- shewas 20 dress in a way

thought the public would expect her to look. >> hello. i am just calling to say that my husband and i own the house that the cleveland's rented for two summers in marion. they came to marion because richard watson gilder had given a talk at wells college and had met mrs. cleveland. she her husband was under a lot of stress. when they found out that there was good fishing off of marrying, they came during the summer in between his two terms, and they also have the only child that was born in the white house. their oldest daughter was supposed to have been named after her. there is -- there next daughter was named after marion because they loved living here so much.

receptions here and were very successful -- accessible to the people of marion. ofpeople here are very fond the memories of the cleveland's. >> what is the house like today? ?s it still need style >> it has been added onto. they lived in it when it was more like a farmhouse. i actually have quite a few photographs of them sitting on the porch. ater on, it was made into much larger house of the shingle style. it changed. actually, grover cleveland wanted to buy this house. the owner named a high price, so he decided he was a frugal man and decided not to buy it and went down to born and bought a

house there. >> you may be getting phone calls from our guests here to see those photographs. thank you for your call. we're going to quickly run out of time on this important term of the cleveland's. how involved was she at all in any of the axis of the issues? >> the biggest issue probably the time was the copyright that she was involved in. >> i think you are right in terms of her influence. she is going are beyond just the kind of parlor politics of having people over and talking to that retail politics. she is doing things like going to rallies to support this legislation. they were hoping the -- she would actually go there on the company -- she would actually go there

on a company by the president to be associated with this legislation. >> there is a connection between what was going on in marion, massachusetts, and the support of the copyright. that was where the owner of sentry magazine and his wife, and artists, had salons. that is how francis met joseph jefferson and mark twain, and well-known writers of that time. that is why she got involved in that. she became very supportive of the copyright. i guess we should tell your viewers that the issue of the copyright is a part of the tariff issue. american writers were not able to get royalties if their works were sold abroad. get the effort was was to these international protections for merrick and authors they would be able to get royalties when their works were shoulder -- were sold internationally.

>> the major political issues of , the huge debate over the gold standard versus replacing it with something that was based on silver, ward legislation regarding the native american lands\ and assimilation that any kind of legislation dealing with the massive increase of immigration , she is not involved in any of that to any extent. there is one particular story during the first term in 1887. the near fire department asks her to go and come up to be a part of a public event. she writes back saying that she is not going to attend. it is her view of the role of first lady to not engage in

these kinds of public ceremonies without the president -- without the presence of her husband. the head of the near fire department gets ticked off about this and writes the president. he responds wrigley to him saying i agree with her decision, however it is up to her. if this is her concept of what the role of a first lady is, i supported. >> i'm not a thickly sure that was her decision. [laughter] >> today travel during the first term? wexler had a very successful western and southern to her. -- tour. this was the first time since the end of the civil war where a president embarked on this extensive to or be self -- tour of the south.

she writes letters saying do it is been a wonderful interface to were -- tour. the crowds were enormous. >> the people of st. louis make wines with her image on her to hand out. >> we are up to the 1880s. grover cleveland stands for reelection against benjamin harrison. lower the issues? at thisiggest issue tont is the economy starting teeter. the major part of the issue is really of hot -- really about

making sure that so they can shift the monetary standard to silver, they are republicans were going to get back into the white house to do that you have to get back in new york. benjamin harrison ends up being this compromised candidate. he was a cold fish the political cartoonists having their way with him. he depicted him in this huge overcoat and old-fashioned hat to suggest he is wearing his grandfather's clothes. his grandfather was a former president. he is the sort of person writing that connection into white house. but the important thing about the election in terms of the understanding of it, two things. it is the first of the big-money

elections elections. this makes kind -- campaign finance history. the republicans put $3 million into the race pretty forget bout the popular vote. they want to repot -- they want to focus on winning new york and indiana. $3 million is enormous. more than what has gone into an election up to that point. then there is the issue about what are you going to do about grover cleveland's greatest card. that will be -- it is one thing to go after grover cleveland. it is another thing to go after both. what they do is, we are back ofo this bareknuckle time thetics in which

republicans bring up the story that he is abusing frances. . >> rumors of spousal abuse during this campaign are brought up on facebook. >> i'm convinced it is untrue. she loved to go to the theater. he didn't always go with her. a lot of times she went with a member of congress or someone who was on the white house staff. the story is that a supporter from congress took her to a play, came back, had a nice chat with the president, but that is allegedly when he beat her and beat her mother. nothing was said initially. fore was a map -- minister massachusetts to started saying

these vile things from the pulpit. much like the situation with the illegitimate child, kind of bully would -- francis writes a letter that is sent to the papers. be is not supposed to political. she supposed to stay in her sphere. this letter goes out over her signature that says i wish that all of the women of this country were as fortunate as i too have a kind and caring husband. here is the interesting thing about that. even though it is her signature, it is not her handwriting. daniel mach,n by the chief of staff. >> it was craft of the administration. there are these contradictions with grover cleveland. the way the democrats user during the election obviously

you've got to tamper down this particular issue. the onection is in fact in which the image of the first lady is employed in political ways more than any other election in american history. her image on one particular 56.ing piece in 18 the democratic party is rolling out plants is -- the democratic party is rolling out frances cleveland. >> when she left the white house, she told the butler she would be back in four years. how was she confident that she -- she would be reelected? it sounds confident. thee honest with you,

moment they hit new york, she started to campaign for him. >> part of it is that he didn't lose the 1880 election. in the popular vote. he actually outpaced harrison by tens of thousands of votes. but he was swamped in the electoral system. he's the only president other than fdr to win more than two elections. >> the republicans were ahead of the democrats in doing this electoral college strategy. it worked for them. >> absolutely. >> we have another smithsonian video. this talk about the lyrical partner and the roles that it late in the election that year. sofrances cleveland is popular. people are imitating her clothes. they are wanting a piece of francis for themselves. they thought she was someone we know.

for pictures of the first lady became extremely popular. you can register on picture of mrs. cleveland to have in your home. based on these pictures, advertisers and manufacturers make an array of souvenirs. you can purchase and have mrs. cleveland in your house, in your home. you can purchase the small painted glass portrait. you can have plates. mrs. cleveland can convince you to buy a product. she is using campaigns. while we have grover cleveland running for president, we also have mrs. cleveland running for first lady. this is a set of campaign playing cards were you are electing the president, the vice president, and the first lady. this is frances cleveland and

the second administration. it looks little different. she is not the young ingénue. she is a confident matron. this is a pretty piece you could have in your home. notice at the same in his is used in this ribbon. the cleveland's visited the world fair. you can have a souvenir from the world fair. it commemorates the cleveland's. newo they are moving to york priebe are they new york city for their next top? >> it was probably a good place for frances with her interest in the arts, and cleveland will -- got a job there. he worked for a law firm. , andttorney for jpmorgan several other extremely well- known and financially well-off and influential people.

he wasn't actually practicing law at the practicing attorney as much as overseeing activities within the law firm. >> the suggestion was it was the way to reclaim the white house. >> this launch right back into it. people -- the fact of him winning the popular vote continues the democrats into thinking they're going to recapture new york. there are is some adjustments they can do in order to get back into the white house. it was very much question. what are the kind of steps they really need to take to shore up their him a tour of votes of they can get right back there? >> she gives birth to the couple's first child. there are a number of questions. wondering about the baby ruth candy bar. >> the story there is that the

first candy company about the candy bar. we should say that ruth cleveland tragically died in 1904. she would have been about 12.5 years old. it came out in 1909. ,here have been a lot of songs images, just as they used mr. and mrs. cleveland. they used baby ruth in the 1892 election. you referenced her interest as a kindergarten movement. it was a big social movement in the country at the time. >> it was designed to help americanize immigrant children and their mothers. it was the idea of being able to put children into school settings in which could teaches

them. american patriotism. it was also a tool with which as the children were learning, the mothers would warrant -- learn with them. the mothers would take that knowledge with them and bring it back to the immigration was a critical issue. >> it is extraordinary. it is the greatest. of mass immigration in america. in terms of percentage of the population. its 500,000 people coming in every year. they are german. they are irish. there are catholics. they are eastern europeans. the demographic change that the american population is going through in this major movement from a mainly a growing population to one that is based

in the cities and is focused more on manufacturing. it is having a major impact on american culture. there's the question question about how do you assimilate these immigrants. how do you deal with temperance as a political issue? you have people who enjoy a pint or two at the end of the day. these kind of issues that are coming up are the kind of things that are in her sphere. especially when you're talking about what is going on in bigger cities like new york. what do you do for the people will have the least resources among them. kindergarten was a way to get at that. she remained interested in

kindergarten throughout her life. is that true? >> she did. she had a kindergarten for ruth. daniel lamotte was back as the chief of staff. both men had children about the same age. there was a kindergarten in the white house. frances was active in higher education. she founded a college. she was very active with their alma mater. >> the 1892 election was a rematch between benjamin harrison and grover cleveland. the first lady and mrs. harrison died just before the election all stop how did that affect the election? first lady, mrs. harrison, does jive before the election. how did that affect the election? -- just died before the

election. how did that effect the election? >> he was never terribly interested in campaigning. it does put a little bit of an impact. it impacted him negatively. he had no gusto. harrison suffered major defeats during his presidency. the economy was going into a tank. there was not anything that he could do about it. the republican party was splintering. his secretary of state resigned right before the end of the presidency. he wanted to see if he could get one last bite at the nomination apple. the democrats are finding a better recipe to call lasts. in the 1892 election, it was the backdrop.

the crumbling economy and the crumbling republican party. >> in 1892, frances's production comes true. here was both economic-- prediction comes true. there was both economic uncertainty in the country. president cleveland returned to office. soon after was one of the most interesting presidential stories. he is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. he gets to numbers in the lineup. soon after, they discovered a spot in his mouth. he was a cigar smoker. it leads to an interesting story in which frances cleveland was involved. >> he called his doctor because the spot bothered him. they decided that he was probably -- that it was probably cancerous.

esther was born in the white house. they went to a rental house that they had been renovating in the cleveland park section. all of a sudden, there was an announcement in the paper that they changed their plans. mrs. cleveland wanted to take her baby to their place in massachusetts. she wanted to enjoy the wind and breeze. frances goes on a yacht with her friends. the yacht comes back and grover cleveland gets on it. in the meantime, to dispel some rumors, they said that he was on a diet program. they said he was on the 1890s version of weight watchers. he is gone for a month on the yacht. the press starts to say, what is

going on, mr. president? frances says, he's just having a good time fishing. he needs the rest. he needs this time away. finally, he arrives. he has to go back for a final operation. a reporter finally breaks the story. the administration, unfortunately, decided to discredit him. she wrote to joseph jefferson and said, when you think a child would have more sense than that?

>> were worried about infection. >> absolutely. >> this is an incredible tale. the president is off the coast of the united states being operated on for cancer surgery. yes his entire upper jaw removed. he is with a prosthesis. and, he is hidden from the press. >> daniel lamont and frances said that he was just off on a fishing trip. they tried to cover every step that they could. >> there are fears that the economy would tank further. >> this is the issue. there are bigger things at stake, in terms terms of the american economy. the markets are very jittery. the vice president, who was the grandfather of adlai stevenson, was not someone who is seen as being reliable.

his supporters believed that any hints that the president was in danger at all, in terms of his health, would send the markets further into the tank. all of the investors would pull out and accelerates a tank that was already in full swing. they had to maintain the liquidity in the markets. the only way to do that was to keep this completely secret. we're not talking about a little secret. they have to do a surgery to make sure that that there are no external scars. >> he sounded like he was purposely ok. >> it must've been a skill to learn how to speak with that. marvin from los angeles.

you are on. >> my question has to do with what mrs. cleveland did after she left office. the next democratic first lady, mrs. wilson, got involved in international affairs and attended democratic conventions. so did eleanor roosevelt. jacqueline kennedy worked to save places like grand central station. did frances get involved in any way? did she attends democratic conventions? did she use her influence politically? >> we will get to that story and a few minutes. thanks for asking that. that is an important question. patricia, your question. >> hello susan. i never miss your friday night program. >> thank you.

>> i wrote a book about my grandfather and there is a chapter -- my grandfather was appointed as he on a dirt secretary of state. -- as the secretary of state. his wife is frances's closest friend in aurora. they often visited the white house. frances was the godmother to my father. i still have the long dress. my question is this -- the temperance movement? >> i lost track of catherine willard. she and frances were indeed good

friends. frances introduced catherine tookrd to mr. baldwin.she a temperance vow. she honored that up until the latter part of her life. >> unlike the hayes, she served alcohol. >> absolutely. >> it is not a policy issue of hers. the temperance movement was not just about temperance. they were the biggest critics of her in the first term. >> they did not like her sleeveless dresses or her low net line.

he thought she was being immodest. -- they thought she was being immodest. >> i found myself very busy with my social duties beginning again and my two babies. i give so much time to the children because i won't be cheated by the babyhood by anything. frances cleveland held weekly summits for working women. did she continue that during her second term? question mark >> -- second term? >> she did not. she scaled back the social calendar. she said it was necessary from a diplomatic standpoint. they tried to get out of the white house to a house that they had in another part of washington. >> there was concern about the cleveland children at that time. people will concern. how do the cleveland's approach this? >> people decided that they did

not like her. she started closing the white house gates so that the public could not see the children armor -- or her when they were out on the grounds. a kidnappingvered plot, which made her more vigilant to the children. >> we have another video on the cleveland children. >> one of the children has always been popular with the public. -- white house children have always been popular with the public. when she became first lady, she was a young bride. she developed her style. when grover cleveland was reelected, both baby ruth and the harrison grandchild were part of the campaign. this is a piece of sheet music. the music talks about the two babies vying for who will be the next baby in the white house. during the second term, the cleveland's had their second child. her name was esther.

esther cleveland. she has eyes that open and close. the public was so fascinated with them. every time they went outside, mrs. clinton was afraid that people would try to pick up the children. they felt that the first children needed to be protected. they were part of the american family. mrs. cleveland had a second home. they only stayed in the white house during the social season. they had a private residence the rest of the time. >> her approach to protecting the children made her less popular with the american public. the economy continue to be challenged.

by the time they finished their second tour of duty in the white house, what was the american public's view of the cleveland's? >> the economy was in the midst of the worst depression in american history. it lasted five or six years. unemployment was above 10%. he was seen as being able to do nothing about it. in fact, he was not able to do very much about it. frances was seen as being much more withdrawn. these questions about the first family great game for the very first time. -- creeped in for the very first time. there is a reporter was snipped a lock off of bruce hare. there were concerns about the security. the white house security staff

goes from four to 27. she is seen as being much more aloof to the american people. she is not the same personality that we came to expect during the first term. you combine these two things together, they cannot wait to get out of the white house by the end of their first term. >> maplewood, new jersey. hello, sarah. >> cleveland is buried in princeton, new jersey. along with ruth and frances -- frances. i had no idea. i figured that out. >> we're about to learn the story of of their post-white house years. he was a new jersey native. after he ran for the white house for the second and final time, how did they decide where to live next? >> what is interesting is, she

said that they could not go out and look for a house on their own. they had agents. finally, they both came down for breakfast and one said to the other one, i had an idea where we should live. the other one said, i did, too. they decided on princeton, new jersey. it was the best from the time that they got married. they were a family unit. they got involved in princeton university. she got involved in the growing number of women who graduated college. they adopted princeton students who did not have family close by or money. they provided a home and support

for them. cleveland worked with the life insurance association. he wrote articles. >> and had more children? >> they had more children. -- >> and had more children? >> they had marchal didn't. -- they had more children. their first was richard. in 1903, she gave birth to their last child. >> how long after that did the president died question mark >> he died in 1908. -->> how long after that did the

president right? >> he died in 1908. he probably had cancer. it was a slow, drawn out, painful death. he died in the house in princeton. >> there are a number of comparisons drawn between frances cleveland and jacqueline onassis kennedy, the public fascination with her and that she remarried when she became a widow. what is the story about her remarriage? how long after his death did she remarry? >> it was 1913. it was to a professor at princeton. he had moved to wales from princeton. he is a professor of archaeology. they were a couple years apart from each other. his name was thomas hobson. she made a point of saying that she and the president had very little in common. he found boring what she found interesting. it is different with the second husband.

they had a lot of interests in common -- they had a lot to share interest. interest in traveling. they had much better relationship. >> how public was mrs. cleveland's life after grover cleveland's death? >> she had to manage the press. it waned over time. she was active during world war i. she was active with an organization which made him made garments that they gave to nonprofits for giving out in emergency situations. you could still read these items about her.

the obsession was nowhere near to what it was during the white house years. >> she continued to be against women's suffrage. >> she was the vice president of the league of anti-suffrage from 1913 on tell women got the right to vote. >> what was the public's reaction to a first lady who is campaigning so vigorously against women's suffrage? >> it is interesting that there there is this split. there was a debate on whether or not it is necessary for women to have the right to vote. whether or not it is important part of women's role in life. mrs. cleveland exercised her own right to vote. yet, she was still part of a way of thinking about women and their place in american society that developed in the 1870s and 1880s. that first wave feminism.

if you want to be the best woman that you can possibly be, that is by exercising authority within your own special realm. this is what grover cleveland thought about what women should be able to do. so, opposing women's voting, and also her language during world war i and when she was doing in terms of trying to be active in supporting american patriotism. the qaeda speeches that she did during world war i are incredible pieces of rhetoric. she becomes a very different woman after her marriage to her second husband. -- the kind of speeches that she did during world war i are incredible pieces of rhetoric.

she becomes a very different woman after her marriage to her second husband. front, shesonal also helped raise some of her grandchildren. >> she did. richard's first wife was an alcoholic. so, they were divorced. mrs. cleveland thought it was important for her to have -- for them to have a mother. mrs. cleveland helped to raise cleveland robertson. -- anne cleveland robertson. >> understand her grandmother was very kind and help to raise you. >> that is true. she was my grandmother.

this one incident happened on a sunday night in new hampshire where we spent the summer. on sunday nights, we used to get together the family and the cleveland family to sing hymns. we all really enjoyed that. but, each person had their own favorite hymn. one sunday, i got together with a group and went bowling with my cousin and square dancing friends. we had a very good time. i do not think there is anything terribly malicious about it.

my godmother and one of my grandmother's closest friends and called my grandmother and said, where was ann during the hymn singing? my grandmother called me to her desk. she said, with a quiet smile, she would like to have me back for the rest of the summer. she did it because my godmother, who was a very dear lady, was very influential and very strict. my grandmother was trying to be strict with me. i appreciated that. i obviously went back and saying sang hymms. >> your grandmother didn't drink because of the temperance plies the temperance pledge. >> oh yes.

my grandmother was older. i stopped by. i love to see her. i stopped by. she had a porch that had a lovely view of the mountains. she was having her breakfast and she was taking her medicine with her breakfast. she announced, with a laugh, that she was taking her medicine that was supposed to be good for her heart. it was whisky. grandmother had always -- she allowed alcohol to be served in the white house. she herself had never had whiskey.

i can assure you that she did not like it as medicine. we thought that was pretty funny. that was the way she was. joke onhought it was a herself. she had a wonderful sense of humor. she can laugh at herself. she did not appreciate whiskey. >> that whole interview runs about six minutes long. ann cleveland robertson. we have posted all of it on c- influencest ladies: and image. we have a little depository there. we have just a short time. i want to get larry in from frankfort, kentucky. >> good evening. a question for dr. dunlap.

local history suggest that eleanor lindsay was a very close friend of frances because they were both younger women married to older men. i wonder if dr. dunlap knows about this relationship and, more generally, what her relationship was with otherwise in washington? wereth other wives who much older? >> i do not know anything about the relationship with ms. lindsay. she did an excellent job of having friendships with some of the older washington wives. that was held by the fact that older wives took her under her wing. she was a young bride. they respected her. she had a great relationship with them. >> did future presidents are other first ladies ever invite france's cleveland act the white house? -- back to the white house?

>> she was invited in 1913. >> the press took a good view of her marriage? >> there is only one criticism of the remarriage. for the most part, people embraced it. she was back in washington a number of times. she met sherman and eisenhower. she maintains her level of celebrity. >> this is the dunlap biography. >> frank was originally a given name. it was a nickname that she went by. >> what the grover cleveland call her? >> frank. >> in your closing paragraphs, you make the case that she has been lost to history but shouldn't be. why?

>> she was strong on education and the arts. >> and the role of first lady? >> she changed it in terms of putting education in the forefront. she took care of children. she was very concerned about them. >> where would you put her in the pantheon of first ladies? >> she's the first national celebrity first lady. i think we're talking about the development of of our understanding of the institution of first lady. she is the first one in which we think about what the uses are all the celebrity, and good ways and bad ways. the first family was owned by the american public. we talked about how that could be a positive tool for the presidency. if only grover cleveland could have seen that. >> thanks to both of you.