Top 10 Strangest and Most Interesting Presidential Marriages
The sacred bond between the President and First Lady is often analyzed and over-analyzed during each administration. Is the First Couple happy? Are they having struggles in their relationship? Is one of them (or both of them) having an affair? Beyond this usual banter, there have been some presidential couples which have been worthy of such inspection, as they have involved some quite bizarre behavior and factoids. Here is the list of the 10 strangest and most interesting presidential marriages.
1. Warren and Florence Harding
President Harding was apparently quite the ladies’ man, having numerous extramarital affairs, including with a 22-year old campaign worker when he was 51. He also had a 15-year relationship with Carrie Fulton Phillips, to whom he wrote many erotic letters.
When the press became suspicious of Warren’s affairs and began to ask about Florence’s past marriage, she suggested that she had been widowed, when she had in fact been divorced. Florence was apparently very demanding, and some believe that she wrote his inaugural speech.
When Warren Harding died, Florence strangely did not request an autopsy and destroyed many of his papers, leading to theories that she had poisoned him, which has been since discredited.
2. Franklin and Jane Pierce
Jane was very against Franklin’s political career, demanding that he resign his US Senate seat (which he did) and then fainting at the news that the Democrats had nominated him as their Presidential candidate in 1852.
She openly opposed Franklin’s decision to run for president and the two grew apart before their son Benjamin’s death in a train accident. Jane attributed Benjamin’s death to God being mad at Franklin for his political ambitions. For two years after Franklin’s inauguration, Jane remained in her room, writing letters to her dead son.
3. Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln suffered from clinical depression throughout most of his life and is believed to have contemplated suicide on several occasions. Mary Todd Lincoln suffered from severe depression and headaches, as well as mood swings throughout her husband’s presidency, in addition to excessive spending, leading to speculation that she suffered from bipolar disorder. Only 1 of the couple’s 4 sons lived past eighteen years old.
4. Woodrow and Edith Wilson
Each having had his or her previous spouse die, two met in 1915, after Woodrow’s Presidency had already begun. Rumors soon began that Woodrow had cheated on his previous wife and that he and Edith had killed his first wife. Edith made the decision that the two should wait until the end of the official year of mourning for Wilson’s previous wife’s death before marriage. When a stroke left Woodrow partly paralyzed, Edith essentially took over the duties of the Presidency, even signing legislation using his hand.
5. Bill and Hillary Clinton
The modern-day political power couple, these two are now attempting to make their way back into the White House. Understood by most to be the real-life versions of Frank and Claire Underwood, these two have seemingly used each other to accumulate more power. Despite Bill being caught in affairs on numerous occasions, Hillary apparently has no desire to divorce. The Clintons have been embroiled in dozens of scandals, with more of them likely to come to light in the next year.
6. Grover and Frances Cleveland
Grover entered the White House as a bachelor, but met Frances in 1885. The odd thing about this though was that Grover had essentially known Frances her entire life, as he had been the executor of her father’s estate. Since her father’s death, Grover had supervised her upbringing. He doted on her as a child, and groomed her throughout her upbringing until he finally fell in love with her while she was at college. The two were married (Grover at age 49, Frances at age 21) in 1886 in the White House. Frances is rumored to have guaranteed to the staff a return to the White House upon Grover Cleveland’s defeat in the 1888 election, a prognostication that came true when Grover won the 1892 election.
7. John and Jacqueline Kennedy
Another apparently political marriage, these two seem to have spent much of their time attempting to get back at one another through having multiple affairs. The strange truth is that while this couple was presented to the public as the perfect All-American brand, it appears that there could be nothing further from the truth. Each is rumored to have had affairs with prominent celebrities. In 1957, due to frustration with their marriage, John sent Jackie to a clinic in Massachusetts where Jacqueline was subjected to 3 electroshock treatments, which were so barbaric that Jackie contemplated suicide afterwards. After JFK’s death, Jackie is believed to have had affairs with both Bobby and Ted Kennedy.
8. John and Julia Tyler
John’s first wife (with whom he had 8 children) died of a stroke in the White House in 1842. He had previously met Julia (who was 30 years younger than him) and the two were near polar opposites. When he first proposed, she refused, but the two began seeing each other only a few month’s after John’s first wife. The couple had a secret engagement in 1843 and a low-key wedding in 1844. John’s oldest daughter was 5 years older than Julia. The couple would go on to have 7 more children together. After the couple retired from the White House, Julia, a northerner, happily adopted Southern traditions, including the possession of slaves, which she found to be both humane and enlightened. After she moved to Staten Island, her house was nearly burned down for flying a Confederate flag.
9. Andrew and Eliza Johnson
Andrew married Eliza when the two were 18 and 16 years old, respectively. Coincidentally, their marriage’s nuptials were presided over by Mordecai Lincoln, uncle of Abraham Lincoln, the man for whom Andrew Johnson would serve as Vice President. Eliza was much better educated than Andrew, and during their marriage, she taught him how to write and do arithmetic. Once Andrew Johnson became President, Eliza was too ill to serve as First Lady, and delegated her duties accordingly. She remained in her room throughout most of the Johnson Presidency, appearing publicly only twice.
10. Zachary and Margaret Taylor
The couple were married in 1810 and had 6 children together. Perhaps most notably, their daughter Sarah Knox Taylor married Jefferson Davis in 1835. As Zachary’s political rise began, Margaret literally prayed for his defeat, fearing the consequences of his becoming President. Once Zachary had won the Presidency, multiple child births and other life rigors had taken their toll on Margaret, and she remained secluded on the second floor of the White House.