Grover Cleveland died in 1908 and in 1913, Frances married Thomas J. Preston Jr.. She continued to work in education activism after leaving the White House, becoming involved with Princeton University.

[2]: 17 Although Folsom had not finished school, Cleveland used his authority as the mayor of Buffalo to obtain for her a certificate of completion and entry into Wells College in Aurora, New York as a sophomore.

[2]: 17  Here she learned etiquette and manners from Helen Fairchild Smith, and she quickly became a prominent student at the school, taking her place at the center of its social life.

[2]: 21  Folsom was unable to attend Cleveland's presidential inauguration as it conflicted with her final exams, but she visited him at the White House during spring break some weeks later.

[4]: 247  Washington, D.C., left a positive impression on her, and she accompanied the new president on his nightly walks in the East Room while she stayed at the White House.

[4]: 248 [7]: 146  Everyone involved agreed to keep the planned wedding a secret,[5]: 269  and the president's sister Rose Cleveland served as White House hostess in the meantime.

[4]: 249 [5]: 269 By the time of the Folsoms' return voyage, reporters were tracking their whereabouts, and they were forced to board their ship home in secret.

[4]: 249  They were greeted by the press upon returning to the United States, and rumors of Cleveland's interest were seemingly confirmed when representatives of the president took the Folsoms away.

[9]: 253 The wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom took place in the Blue Room of the White House on June 2, 1886.

[2]: 29  She also became close friends with poet Richard Watson Gilder and his wife Helena, and accompanied them in meeting prominent writers of the time.

[5]: 270 [2]: 31  To accommodate all who wished to visit the White House, she hosted many social events on Saturdays to ensure that they did not conflict with the schedules of working women.

Frances endured a severe insect bite and a black eye, and she spent so much time shaking hands that she needed to use an ice pack each night.

[9]: 267 Cleveland's tenure as first lady ended after her husband lost his reelection campaign, but she correctly predicted to the staff that they would return the following term.

[9]: 273  In between her tenures as first lady, Cleveland took on charity work and grew more involved in New York social life through her charitable projects.

[2]: 72  Although they occasionally worked together on these projects, Frances and Grover for the most part led separate social lives after leaving the White House.

Her charity work in the state and her friendship with the Gilders enabled the Clevelands to build connections with New York's Four Hundred society and helped win over disaffected Republicans.

[2]: 77–78  After Grover was reelected president, the Clevelands left their home on Madison Avenue, spending the period before the inauguration living on 51st Street next door to their friend Elias Cornelius Benedict and then in Lakewood, New Jersey.

[9]: 275  She received the familiar crowds that she had encountered during her previous time as first lady as well as heads of state, including one instance in which she disregarded precedent by meeting with Infanta Eulalia of Spain at her hotel.

[1]: 144  She also continued her work in the establishment of kindergartens[2]: 82  and became involved with the Home for Friendless Colored Girls, visiting the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church with the group in 1896.

[7]: 149  When it became apparent that the president had cancer, she took responsibility for keeping his condition a secret and tending to his health, despite her pregnancy with her second child, which at this time was in its seventh month.

Fearing for her children's safety, she had the local police station post a guard at their home, choosing not to worry her husband with the news.

[2]: 139–141  Cleveland-Preston and her husband worked with activists Solomon Stanwood Menken and Robert McNutt McElroy throughout the war to promote military preparedness.

[2]: 142–143  She was appointed head of the speakers' bureau of the National Security League (NSL), where she was responsible for organizing rallies and other events to support the war effort.

[4]: 258  She caused controversy by accusing some Americans of being unassimilated, and she resigned from her position on December 8, 1919, after backlash to what some in the NSL saw as overzealous views around patriotic education.

[9]: 253  Her fashion choices and purchases influenced the behavior of consumers, and products she reportedly used enjoyed an increase in popularity.

An article published by the Atlanta Constitution falsely stated that she no longer purchased bustles, causing a decline in their popularity.

[12]: 173–174 [5]: 270  The Woman's Christian Temperance Union wrote to her requesting that she dress more modestly, fearing that she was setting a poor example.

[1]: 143 Cleveland's immense popularity led to the extensive use of her image in advertising, and many products falsely claimed to have her endorsement.

[5]: 271  Cleveland's activism focused heavily on the arts, and she was a supporter of international copyright protections, attending a convention on the subject while first lady in 1888.

[5]: 271 [9]: 260  Like many female anti-suffragists of her generation, she felt that politics was an unfortunate duty to be avoided and that it risked women's control of the domestic sphere.