6. James Buchanan and William Rufus King
James Buchanan was an American lawyer and politician of note in the antebellum period. As the United States gradually became more and more disunited over the issue of slavery, Buchanan rose to prominence in the Democratic Party, eventually becoming their candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1856. He won, despite longstanding rumors that the unmarried Buchanan (he never married, though in his youth he had been engaged for a time) was involved in a relationship with William Rufus King. Rumors of their relationship had permeated Washington society for more than three decades prior to Buchanan becoming president.
Rumors
Buchanan and King shared rooms in a boardinghouse for a decade, 1834 -1844, though at the time such living arrangements among bachelors were hardly unusual. Nevertheless, Andrew Jackson referred to the couple as “Aunt Fancy and Miss Nancy” and the two were frequent companions at social events. Another prominent politician of the day, Aaron Brown (Congressman and Postmaster) referred to King as Buchanan’s “better half” in public and in private correspondence. Rumors abounded throughout the remainder of Buchanan’s political career. His relationship with King and his refusal to ever marry (his niece, Harriet Rebecca Lane, served as his First Lady), led to their being considered Washington’s premier “odd couple” until King’s death in 1853.
