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Facts That Contradict the Perception of Famous Historic Figures and Events

Khalid Elhassan March 3, 2021 34 min

Mao Zedong proclaiming the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. China Org

The White House wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom. Wikimedia

6. The President Who Groomed a Baby to Be His Bride

In 1875, Frances Folsom’s father was killed in an accident while racing his carriage. He left no will, so a court-appointed Cleveland to administer his deceased friend’s estate. That brought him in closer contact with Frances, and he became her new father figure and hero. Unlike Frances’ real father, who had been notoriously careless of both his life and his family, “Uncle Cleve” was dependable, attentive, and doting. He continued to dote on Frances as she grew up, and at some point, things went from doting to grooming: Cleveland took to sending her flowers, with notes saying “I am waiting for my bride to grow up“.

People thought Cleveland was kidding, but he was in deadly earnest. After he was elected president and while Frances was in college, Cleveland sent her a letter proposing marriage and fretted like a schoolboy while awaiting her reply. She agreed, and on June 2^nd, 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. To date, it is the only time a president was married in the White House or while in office.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.