History isn't a neat set of boxes. We love to look back at the giants of the past and try to fit them into our modern understanding of identity, but it’s rarely that simple. When people ask were any of the presidents gay, they’re usually looking for a "yes" or "no." The reality? It’s a messy, fascinating mix of intense 19th-century friendships, cryptic diary entries, and a whole lot of "we’ll never actually know for sure."
The conversation almost always starts—and sometimes ends—with James Buchanan.
He was the only lifelong bachelor to ever sit in the Oval Office. That alone sets off the modern radar. But it’s his relationship with William Rufus King, a Senator from Alabama, that really fuels the fire. They lived together for thirteen years. In Washington circles, people called them "Aunt Fancy" and "Buchanan’s better half." It sounds like a punchline, but back then, the implications were just as pointed as they are now.
The Buchanan and King Connection
Imagine two of the most powerful men in the country sharing a home, a social life, and nearly every waking hour for over a decade. Buchanan and King were inseparable. When King was sent to France to serve as a minister, Buchanan wrote to a friend about his loneliness. He mentioned that he had gone "wooing" to several gentlemen but had no success.
That’s a weird thing for a 19th-century politician to say, right?
Historians like Jean Baker, who wrote a definitive biography on Buchanan, have pointed out that his "bachelorhood" might not have been a choice dictated by a lost love, as the popular myth about his deceased fiancée Ann Coleman suggests. Coleman broke off their engagement and died shortly after, and for a century, that was the "tragic" excuse for why he never married. But the letters between Buchanan and King suggest a much deeper emotional bond. King once wrote to Buchanan saying, "I am selfish enough to hope you will not be able to procure an associate who will cause you to feel no regret at our separation."
It’s intense stuff.
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However, we have to be careful. The 19th century had a different "vocabulary of intimacy." Men wrote letters to each other that would sound like romance novels today, even if they were just close friends. This is the hurdle researchers face when trying to answer if were any of the presidents gay. We are translating their world into ours, and sometimes things get lost in that translation.
Abraham Lincoln and the "Bedfellow" Debate
Then there’s Honest Abe.
The idea of a "gay Lincoln" isn't just a modern internet theory; it’s been a subject of serious academic debate for decades. The primary piece of evidence used by proponents like the late C.A. Tripp is Lincoln’s four-year relationship with Joshua Speed.
When Lincoln moved to Springfield, Illinois, he was broke. Speed offered to share his room and his large double bed. They slept in that same bed for years. Now, before you jump to conclusions, sharing a bed was incredibly common in the 1830s. It was a way to save money and stay warm. But it’s the emotional weight of their letters that stops people in their tracks.
When Speed left to get married, Lincoln went into a deep, clinical depression. He wrote to Speed about his fears regarding marriage and shared anxieties that felt deeply personal, almost like they were mourning a shared future.
The Nuance of the Past
We also have to look at the critics. Many historians argue that applying modern labels like "gay" or "bisexual" to men from the 1800s is anachronistic. They didn't view identity the way we do. A man could have a "special friend" and still consider himself a pillar of traditional society.
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Does that mean they weren't gay? Not necessarily. It just means they didn't have the word for it, or the social permission to live it openly.
Other Names That Pop Up
Beyond the big two, people often whisper about Alexander Hamilton (not a president, but a Founding Father) because of his letters to John Laurens. In the presidential realm, some have looked at Eleanor Roosevelt’s intense relationship with Lorena Hickok and wondered if FDR had his own private arrangements, though there’s significantly less evidence on his side than on hers.
Then there’s Baron von Steuben. While not a president, he was the man who basically turned Washington’s Continental Army into a real fighting force. He was openly living with men in a way that was scandalous even then, yet Washington protected him because his skills were indispensable. This shows that the early American elite weren't always as oblivious as we think they were.
Why Does This Matter Now?
Finding out if were any of the presidents gay isn't just about gossip. It’s about representation. It’s about understanding that the American story has always included LGBTQ+ people, even if they were hiding in plain sight or occupying the highest office in the land.
If Buchanan was gay, it changes how we view his presidency. He is often ranked as one of the worst presidents because of his failure to prevent the Civil War. Some wonder if his "cautious" and "passive" nature—traits often coded as feminine by his detractors at the time—was a byproduct of the era's homophobia. Or maybe he was just a bad politician.
The Evidence Gap
The biggest problem is "the purge."
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Families of famous figures in the 19th and early 20th centuries were notorious for burning letters. Anything that hinted at "deviance" or "scandal" was tossed into the fireplace. King’s nieces allegedly destroyed much of the correspondence between him and Buchanan. We are left looking at the ashes and trying to reconstruct the fire.
The lack of "smoking gun" evidence doesn't mean the relationships weren't real. It just means the evidence was destroyed by people who wanted to protect a legacy.
How to Evaluate History Yourself
If you’re diving into this, you need to look at primary sources. Don't just take a TikTok historian's word for it.
- Read the actual letters. You can find many of the Lincoln-Speed or Buchanan-King letters online through the Library of Congress.
- Look for contemporary accounts. What did their enemies say? Political rivals are often the first to point out "unusual" living arrangements.
- Consider the context. Bed-sharing was common. Lifelong bachelorhood was not.
Honestly, we might never get a definitive "yes." But the search itself tells us a lot about how we’ve changed as a country. We’ve gone from burning letters to writing books trying to find the truth.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you want to explore the history of LGBTQ+ figures in American politics more deeply, there are better ways than just Googling.
- Visit the sources: Check out "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln" by C.A. Tripp. It’s controversial, but it laid the groundwork for this discussion.
- Support Archives: Organizations like the Log Cabin Republicans or the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute often have resources on the history of queer people in government.
- Think Critically: When you read a biography, ask yourself: "What is the author's bias?" Older biographies tend to ignore these possibilities entirely, while modern ones might over-extrapolate.
Ultimately, the question of whether any of the presidents were gay remains one of history’s most tantalizing "what ifs." Whether it was Buchanan’s "better half" or Lincoln’s shared bed, the shadows of these relationships suggest a much more colorful and complex history than the textbooks usually let on.
To dig deeper, start by researching the "Lavender Scare" of the 1950s. It provides a stark contrast to the relative ambiguity of the 19th century and shows how the government’s attitude toward gay officials turned from "don't ask, don't tell" to active persecution. Understanding that shift makes the stories of Buchanan and Lincoln even more poignant.