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By Root 1809 0

took exactly twenty-four hours. When the train pulled into the Baltimore & Potomac Depot at 6th and B Street NW in Washington, six newspaper reporters were standing on the platform to witness the arrival of the president-elect. Security consisted of a police inspector and a squadron of soldiers under the command of an army colonel who wore a flashy scarlet bandana around his neck. What followed was anything but a formal ceremony. No one seemed to know the proper protocol. It was an awkward scene, with Rose and the other ladies on board the train seen staring out the windows as porters scrambled to unload the Clevelands’ trunks and boxes. Finally, President-elect Cleveland stepped off the train. In his beaver overcoat and high hat, carrying a small leather satchel, more bookkeeper than president, he failed to make much of an impression. His face was homely and he had a double chin and he was not as tall as everyone had expected. The general consensus of those who witnessed the event was that the Cleveland campaign posters that had been plastered across the land during the election were “considerably flattering” when compared to what he looked like in the flesh. Cleveland was shown to the B Street exit where he found a team of carriages waiting for his party, and when everyone was comfortably seated, the convoy trotted off on a fifteen-minute drive to the Arlington Hotel on H Street.

A doorman held the door for Cleveland and said, “How d’ye do, Mr. President?”

Cleveland was shown to his rooms on the second floor of the Pomeroy House, which was connected to the Arlington Hotel by private corridor. The suite faced Lafayette Square, with the White House looming in plain view. President Arthur made the thoughtful gesture of sending over the chief White House doorkeeper, Sergeant E. S. Dinsmore of the Washington city police. Dinsmore knew every important personage in the capital by sight, and Dan Lamont, quickly assessing the sergeant’s value, positioned him at the H Street entrance to control the stream of distinguished visitors who came to call on Cleveland. Senator Gorman of Maryland, Horatio King, and a score of other politicians all showed up to pay their respects.

The next day, Grover Cleveland was inaugurated twenty-second president of the United States. He wore his Prince Albert coat, a high old-fashioned standing collar, and a black tie and bore the honor with becoming dignity. Cleveland had committed his entire speech to memory, only occasionally consulting notes he held in his right hand. His only regret on this great day was the absence of Frances Folsom whose midterm exams at Wells College unfortunately coincided with the inauguration. Lady Principal Helen Fairchild Smith had refused to grant Frances special leave, even to attend this never-to-be-repeated historic spectacle. Surely Frances found it a challenge to focus on her exams while the man who was romancing her with flowers was being sworn in as commander in chief, but the strict disciplinarian of Wells College could not be swayed.

As the powers of the executive branch of government were transferred to a new administration, Rose Cleveland began to acclimate herself to her role as First Lady.

A relation rather than a wife serving as First Lady was not without precedent in Washington. Rose’s predecessor, Mary Arthur McElroy, was President Arthur’s sister. (Arthur’s wife, Ellen, had died of pneumonia at age forty-two, twenty months before Arthur became president.) Andrew Johnson’s shy and sickly wife, Eliza, had made only two official appearances as First Lady and had delegated all hostess duties to their daughter Martha. And Harriet Lane had served as hostess for the only other bachelor in American history to be elected president, her uncle James Buchanan. Rose was in distinguished company.

Rose moved into a bedroom on the second floor of the White House, facing south, with a commanding view of the Virginia hills. She could also see the tallest structure in the city, the Washington Monument. The White House living quarters had undergone a complete renovation