Rose Cleveland
When Grover Cleveland became president, he asked his sister
Rose to serve as first lady. Despite her lack of interest in social duties, she
accepted the role and focused on domestic responsibilities at the White House.
She often held receptions in the Blue Room but grew bored with the formalities
and would occupy her time by conjugating Greek verbs in her head.
Cleveland was a highly educated and academically inclined
woman for her time. She preferred conversing with intellectuals like historian
George Bancroft over other guests at the White House. Her education proved
valuable when interacting with foreign dignitaries. She published her first
book, "George Eliot's Poetry, and Other Studies," and a novel,
"The Long Run," during her time as acting first lady. Despite not
being taken seriously by the press as an intellectual due to her gender, her
national fame as first lady boosted book sales, earning her $25,000 in
royalties.
The president shielded Cleveland from the press, leading to
second-hand descriptions of her as "masculine" and a
"bluestocking". Her serious and respectable demeanor was intimidating
to many, contrasting with her brother's scandal of fathering a child out of
wedlock. She was praised for her ability to remember everyone she interacted
with. As first lady, Cleveland supported women's suffrage and the temperance
movement, banning wine in the White House. She embodied the New Woman ideal of
the feminist movement and promoted the Women's Anthropological Society. Despite
her progressive views, she held prejudices common of the time, advising against
appointing many Catholics to government positions.
During her
time as first lady, Cleveland was featured in a ballad by Eugene Field
questioning President Cleveland's marriage intentions. She embraced the role of first lady as a powerful platform to
advocate for women's suffrage, showing little concern for the traditional
domestic duties typically assigned to first ladies. Cleveland
then resumed her previous lifestyle, occasionally visiting the White House
for social events.
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