Buttigieg 'almost certain' there have been gay presidents

[brooklynite]

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said he doesn’t think he would be the first gay president if he is elected to the White House in 2020.

Asked about possible attacks on his sexuality from Republicans, the South Bend, Ind., mayor, who is gay, told “Axios on HBO” that “we've probably had excellent presidents who were gay — we just didn't know which ones.”

“People will elect the person who will make the best president,” Buttigieg said. “And we have had excellent presidents who have been young. We have had excellent presidents who have been liberal,” adding that some were likely gay as well.

“You believe that we've had a gay commander-in-chief?” Host Mike Allen asked.

“I mean, statistically it's almost certain,” Buttigieg replied.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/448837-buttigieg-almost-certain-there-have-been-gay-presidents

[Dennis Donovan]

1. James Buchanan...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan#Personal_life

Personal life

William Rufus DeVane King, 13th Vice President of the United States, a friend of James Buchanan, with whom he shared a Washington boardinghouse.

The only president to remain a bachelor, Buchanan's personal life has attracted great historical interest. Several writers have put forth arguments that he was homosexual, including sociologist James W. Loewen, and authors Robert P. Watson and Shelley Ross. One of his biographers, Jean Baker, argues that Buchanan was asexual or, at the least, celibate.

In 1818, Buchanan met Anne Caroline Coleman at a grand ball at Lancaster's White Swan Inn, and the two began courting. Anne was the daughter of the wealthy iron manufacturer (and protective father) Robert Coleman and sister-in-law of Philadelphia judge Joseph Hemphill, one of Buchanan's colleagues from the House of Representatives. By 1819, the two were engaged, but could spend little time together; Buchanan was extremely busy with his law firm and political projects during the Panic of 1819, which took him away from Coleman for weeks at a time. Conflicting rumors abounded. Some suggested that he was marrying for her money, because his own family was less affluent, or that he was involved with other women. Buchanan never publicly spoke of his motives or feelings, but letters from Anne revealed she was aware of several rumors. Coleman broke off the engagement, and soon afterward, on December 9, 1819, died suddenly. Buchanan wrote her father for permission to attend the funeral, claiming "I feel happiness has fled from me forever"; however, Robert Coleman refused permission.

After Coleman's death, Buchanan never courted another woman, nor seemed to show any emotional or physical interest. An unfounded rumor circulated of an affair with President Polk's widow, Sarah Childress Polk. Some believe that Anne's death served to deflect awkward questions about Buchanan's sexuality and bachelorhood. During Buchanan's presidency, his orphaned niece, Harriet Lane, whom he had adopted, served as official White House hostess.

Buchanan had a close and intimate relationship with William Rufus King, an Alabama politician who briefly served as vice president under Franklin Pierce. Buchanan and King lived together in a Washington boardinghouse for many years, from 1834 until King's departure for France in 1844. King referred to the relationship as a "communion", and the two attended social functions together. Contemporaries also noted the closeness. Andrew Jackson called King "Miss Nancy" and prominent Democrat Aaron V. Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "better half", "wife" and "Aunt Fancy" (the last being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man). Sociologist Loewen noted that "wags" described Buchanan and King as "Siamese twins", that Buchanan late in life wrote a letter acknowledging that he might marry a woman who could accept his "lack of ardent or romantic affection", and also that Buchanan was expelled from his Lancaster church, reportedly for pro-slavery views acquired during the King relationship. Catherine Thompson, the wife of cabinet member Jacob Thompson, later noted that "there was something unhealthy in the president's attitude". King became ill in 1853 and died of tuberculosis shortly after Pierce's inauguration, four years before Buchanan became president. Buchanan described him as "among the best, the purest and most consistent public men I have known." Baker's biography notes that his and King's nieces may have destroyed correspondence between the two men. She opines that the length and intimacy of their surviving letters (one written by King upon his ambassadorial departure being specifically cited by Loewen) illustrate in her view only "the affection of a special friendship."

[Celerity]

2. +1

[IluvPitties]

3. Yep.

[Bayard]

4. "And we have had excellent presidents who have been young."

What's that supposed to mean?

[thesquanderer]

5. That's the other big knock on him. He's gay. He's too young. So he's addressing both there. (n/t)

[Bayard]

7. Got it

[cwydro]

6. Seems pretty clear to me.

Which words are you having difficulty with?

[applegrove]

8. Abraham Lincoln

[ecstatic]

9. What's surprising is Mike Allen's response/challenge.

“You believe that we've had a gay commander-in-chief?” Host Mike Allen asked.