ABSTRACT
Born on July 21, 1864, Frances Clara Folsom became the nation's youngest First Lady at the age of twentyone, when she married President Grover Cleveland. Celebrated for her beauty, thoughtfulness, and social grace, she focused most of her energy on her private roles as wife and mother. This reflected her own preference as well as the political views of her husband, who argued that the president's wife had no public position. Ironically, however, Frances Cleveland's years in the White House marked a turning point in the First Lady's role. Frances Cleveland became a national celebrity and symbol of her generation, modernizing the public image of the Democratic Party and serving as a popular trademark in the world of commercial advertising.
