Sexuality of James Buchanan

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The sexuality of James Buchanan is debated. Buchanan was the fifteenth president of the United States. Some historians have proposed that he may have been homosexual. This theory was publicized by James Loewen in the book Lies Across America. Loewen did not originate the theory, however. Many of Buchanan's contemporaries speculated that he was gay. The issue was also raised, by, for example, historian Paul Boller is his book Not So! published several years before Loewen's.

[edit] Homosexual hypothesis

For many years in Washington, D.C., prior to the presidency, James Buchanan lived with William Rufus King, who had been Vice President under Franklin Pierce in 1853. King was referred to by Andrew Jackson as "Miss Nancy"^[1] while Aaron V. Brown called him "Buchanan's better half."^{[citation needed]} Buchanan wrote long, intimate letters to King.^{[citation needed]}

James Loewen argues that Buchanan's relationship with King may have been responsible for the former's pro-slavery positions. Buchanan was from Pennsylvania in the North, but King was a Southern slaveholder. Buchanan called King "among the best, purest, and most consistent public men I have ever known." He also described him as "a gay, elegant looking fellow." (Loewen, Lies Across America, p. 367)

There were many rumors at the time that Buchanan was a homosexual.^{[citation needed]} He is the only president to never marry. But whether or not he was a homosexual continues to be a point of heated debate between historians. (Steve Tally discusses King and Buchanan's relationship in more depth in his book Bland Ambition: From Adams to Quayle--The Cranks, Criminals, Tax Cheats, and Golfers Who Made It to Vice President.)