Let's Talk About Sex, Bay-bee
Jimmy Knox Polk wasn't really the President of Sexy. In fact historians believe that crude surgery that Polk had as a teenager to remove gallstones likely damaged his plumbing and left his little president unable to stand at attention. (Too graphic?) The fact that he and Sarah Polk had no children offers some support for this theory. But other presidents have used the oval office to get their groove on. Behind the cut are some of the better known examples.
1. Bill Clinton: On nine occasions Bill Clinton engaged in various forms of sexual behavior — up to but not including genital penetration — with Monica Lewinsky, then a 22-year-old intern, in and around the Oval Office. The exact details were eventually compiled by Kenneth Starr, who served as Special Independent Counsel. The Republican dominated House of Representatives impeached Clinton in 1998. He was acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice after a twenty-one-day Senate trial. He emerged from the proceedings more popular with the American people than he had been before them.
2. Thomas Jefferson: A widower during his time in the white house, it is alleged that Jefferson lived with one of his female slaves and fathered her children. Sally Hemings was one of his slaves, and she came to Paris to care for Jefferson's nine-year-old daughter, Isabel. She appears to have spent the rest of her years at Monticello, Jefferson's Virginia home. She also had six kids. Genetic testing and genealogical study have established a clear link between Jefferson and the Hemings' brood. Late twentieth-century DNA testing (see Jefferson DNA data) indicated that a male in Jefferson's line, most likely Thomas Jefferson by the weight of historical evidence, was the father of at least one of Sally Hemings' children.
3. Warren Harding: Harding is the only president whose affairs led to the extortion of a major political party. He is alleged to have had a fifteen-year romance with Carrie Fulton Phillips, the wife of a friend, who the Republican National Committee reportedly paid hush money to on a monthly basis. Once in office, Harding allegedly took up with one Nan Britton, thirty years his junior. According to Britton, Harding introduced her to a small closet in the White House, where they exchanged kisses and made sweet presidential love. Britton claimed to have had an illegitimate child by Harding as well. In 1923, Harding died unexpectedly from ptomaine poisoning. Rumors ran rampant that his wife, Florence, had poisoned him, a theory promoted by a discredited private investigator named Gaston Means.
4. Grover Cleveland: In 1884, while running for President, Cleveland was hit with allegations that he had an illegitimate son with a woman named Maria Crofts Halpin. Cleveland took responsibility for the child and was elected anyway. Then, two years after taking office, he got married—not to the mother of his child, but to the 21-year-old daughter of his friend, Oscar Folsom, who also had an affair with Halpin. Oh, and the name Halpin gave her bastard child? Oscar Folsom Cleveland.
5. John F. Kennedy: Kennedy's affair with Marilyn Monroe is the one history remembers, but a dalliance with another, much less famous woman led to allegations of mafia connections. Judith Campbell Exner (who, like Monroe, was supposedly introduced to Kennedy by Frank Sinatra) was linked to both Kennedy and Chicago mob boss Salvatore Giancana in the 1960s. In 1988, Exner told People magazine that she'd carried messages between Kennedy and Giancana. She later said she had Kennedy's child aborted and also slept with the President's brother, Bobby.
6. Franklin D. Roosevelt: One woman held FDR's fancy for nearly as long as his political career -- Lucy Mercer. Originally hired as FDR's wife's secretary, Lucy and Franklin enjoyed a romance that nearly came to an end in 1918 when Eleanor (his wife AND distant cousin) discovered their love letters. She offered a divorce, but FDR vowed never to see Lucy again. Despite this, it is alleged that they enjoyed a romantic relationship until 1945. Lucy was even with Roosevelt at the time of his sudden death in Georgia.
7. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Ike reportedly had a relationship outside of his marriage with Kay Summersby, who worked as his driver during the war. He had even talked about divorcing his wife Mamie. Fortunately for Eisenhower's career, his superior officer, General Marshall threatened to take action if he did not break it off, and Ike, ever the good soldier, followed orders and broke it off.
Those seem to be the top 7 in lists I've found online. (I left out the ones about James Buchanan being gay because I've already devoted an entire journal entry to it here.)
1. Bill Clinton: On nine occasions Bill Clinton engaged in various forms of sexual behavior — up to but not including genital penetration — with Monica Lewinsky, then a 22-year-old intern, in and around the Oval Office. The exact details were eventually compiled by Kenneth Starr, who served as Special Independent Counsel. The Republican dominated House of Representatives impeached Clinton in 1998. He was acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice after a twenty-one-day Senate trial. He emerged from the proceedings more popular with the American people than he had been before them.
2. Thomas Jefferson: A widower during his time in the white house, it is alleged that Jefferson lived with one of his female slaves and fathered her children. Sally Hemings was one of his slaves, and she came to Paris to care for Jefferson's nine-year-old daughter, Isabel. She appears to have spent the rest of her years at Monticello, Jefferson's Virginia home. She also had six kids. Genetic testing and genealogical study have established a clear link between Jefferson and the Hemings' brood. Late twentieth-century DNA testing (see Jefferson DNA data) indicated that a male in Jefferson's line, most likely Thomas Jefferson by the weight of historical evidence, was the father of at least one of Sally Hemings' children.
3. Warren Harding: Harding is the only president whose affairs led to the extortion of a major political party. He is alleged to have had a fifteen-year romance with Carrie Fulton Phillips, the wife of a friend, who the Republican National Committee reportedly paid hush money to on a monthly basis. Once in office, Harding allegedly took up with one Nan Britton, thirty years his junior. According to Britton, Harding introduced her to a small closet in the White House, where they exchanged kisses and made sweet presidential love. Britton claimed to have had an illegitimate child by Harding as well. In 1923, Harding died unexpectedly from ptomaine poisoning. Rumors ran rampant that his wife, Florence, had poisoned him, a theory promoted by a discredited private investigator named Gaston Means.
4. Grover Cleveland: In 1884, while running for President, Cleveland was hit with allegations that he had an illegitimate son with a woman named Maria Crofts Halpin. Cleveland took responsibility for the child and was elected anyway. Then, two years after taking office, he got married—not to the mother of his child, but to the 21-year-old daughter of his friend, Oscar Folsom, who also had an affair with Halpin. Oh, and the name Halpin gave her bastard child? Oscar Folsom Cleveland.
5. John F. Kennedy: Kennedy's affair with Marilyn Monroe is the one history remembers, but a dalliance with another, much less famous woman led to allegations of mafia connections. Judith Campbell Exner (who, like Monroe, was supposedly introduced to Kennedy by Frank Sinatra) was linked to both Kennedy and Chicago mob boss Salvatore Giancana in the 1960s. In 1988, Exner told People magazine that she'd carried messages between Kennedy and Giancana. She later said she had Kennedy's child aborted and also slept with the President's brother, Bobby.
6. Franklin D. Roosevelt: One woman held FDR's fancy for nearly as long as his political career -- Lucy Mercer. Originally hired as FDR's wife's secretary, Lucy and Franklin enjoyed a romance that nearly came to an end in 1918 when Eleanor (his wife AND distant cousin) discovered their love letters. She offered a divorce, but FDR vowed never to see Lucy again. Despite this, it is alleged that they enjoyed a romantic relationship until 1945. Lucy was even with Roosevelt at the time of his sudden death in Georgia.
7. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Ike reportedly had a relationship outside of his marriage with Kay Summersby, who worked as his driver during the war. He had even talked about divorcing his wife Mamie. Fortunately for Eisenhower's career, his superior officer, General Marshall threatened to take action if he did not break it off, and Ike, ever the good soldier, followed orders and broke it off.
Those seem to be the top 7 in lists I've found online. (I left out the ones about James Buchanan being gay because I've already devoted an entire journal entry to it here.)