WARNING. THIS BLOG IS A SURVEY OF WHAT
IS REPORTED ON THE INTERNET ON PRESIDENTIAL INFIDELITY. THE BLOG IS MEANT TO REPORT THIS CONTENT AND
IN NO WAY REPRESENTS THAT THE MATERIAL IS CORRECT. WHERE THE MATERIAL IS MORE
QUESTIONABLE, I HAVE USED RANDOM LETTERS AND NOT FULL NAMES.Is it part of being
President that you need to be loved by everyone? As researched on the internet, “Human nature
has not changed at all since the first man was born—let alone since the first president
was elected. Indeed, presidential love affairs are almost as old as the
profession itself. Many former presidents had affairs before and during their
presidencies. In their day, though, most Americans and the rest of the world
did not know about what went on—for various or obvious reasons. Following are
some alleged relationships of some of the Presidents.
Jefferson promised his
dying wife would not marry but had a relationship with wife’s half sister Sally
Hemmings and perhaps Maria Cosway in France.
Jefferson became the first to claim “executive privilege”—a term that
has acquired a number of different meanings in the life of the republic. It
includes numerous liberties for the president that go beyond the bill of rights
including “unique sexual rights
Jackson’s extramarital affair appeared to be a mistake.
He married wife Rachel Donelson Robards at 24, not knowing her divorce from
first husband Lewis Robards remained unsettled.
Van Buren after
the death of his wife in 1818, proposed to Ellen Randolph, a granddaughter of
Thomas Jefferson, before she married in 1825. In his memoirs, he refers to her
as “a very interesting young lady...and my warm friend.”
Garfield according to one biographer, had a brief
affair with a Mrs. X in New York City in 1862. His wife discovered the truth
and charged him with yielding to “lawless passion”. He later asked Calhoun to
return his love letters and then destroyed them.
As previously blogged, before Cleveland’s presidency,
33-year-old Maria C. Halpin moved to Buffalo where she kept company with
various men, including the young Cleveland. In 1874, she gave birth to a son,
whom she named Oscar Folsom Cleveland. Cleveland, never sure the child was his,
provided financial support but refused to marry her.
Wilson married in 1885 and he and his beloved Wife
Ellen had three daughters. While vacationing alone in Bermuda one year, Wilson
met and became involved in an extramarital affair with Mrs. X. They continued
meeting secretly in various places.
As previously
blogged, Harding for 15 years saw X, wife of a Harding friend. Nan
Britton while a teenager in Ohio developed a crush on Harding. In 1919, the
year before Harding’s run for President, Britton gave birth to a baby girl. She
said it was Harding’s.
Eleanor Roosevelt hired Lucy Page Mercer as her social
secretary. She unveiled Mercer and her husband’s affair in 1918. She threatened
divorce if he did not end the relationship. He agreed, but, despite his
promise, resumed the affair later, and Mercer frequently visited the white
house and was with Roosevelt when he died in Warm Springs, Georgia.
Kay Summersby was assigned to drive then General
Eisenhower during a visit to London. She had been engaged, but her fiancée had
died in combat, after which she became Eisenhower’s personal secretary and
military aid.
Correspondence
between the two later came to light and soon afterward disappeared. In the
letter Eisenhower announced his intention to divorce his wife and marry Summersby.
He never divorced his wife, and after the war he never saw Kay Summersby again.
Kennedy
is rumored to have had affairs with stripper X, painter Y, mafia wife Judith
Campbell Exner and—most famous of them all—actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe.
Just recently, White House intern Mimi Alford
also disclosed her relationship with Kennedy
One
biographer claims that Johnson had a longtime love affair with T. Interestly, she
is said to have broken off the relationship because she opposed the Vietnam War.
One
of his many sexual partners became pregnant in 1950, prior to him being in the
white house. Her name was G and she gave birth to LBJ's son.. Johnson did take
care of G and his son financially, both before and after G was born. The
illicit affair lasted for 21 years and Johnson set her up in an apartment for
their discreet rendezvous.
Clinton: Monica
and many allegedly. No need to say more.
Interestingly, I have not been able to find any reference to
first lady affairs.
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WM (253) 6/17/12
