18. James Buchanan
Before Abraham Lincoln could claim the first closeted gay or loosely oriented presidency of the United States, there was James Buchanan. He was the only president of the U.S. who remained a “confirmed bachelor,” which is code for gay. His niece, Harriet Lane handled many of the first lady duties at that time, but not all of them. Buchanan kept a housemate, William Rufus King, Alabama Senator and VP to Franklin Pierce, Buchanan’s predecessor. Folks who knew the pair referred to them as Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy.
17. George Washington
Coercing subordinates into sticky situations is a timeless tradition, one that needs to end for sure, but it was still prevalent in Washington’s day. As it was with most privileged people in that day, George Washington had slaves. One of them, a woman named Venus, caught Washington’s eye enough to produce an illegitimate heir: West Ford. Washington reportedly visited Ford as the boy aged, accompanied him to church, and spent time with him. Once Washington became the president, the visits stopped. Ford’s descendants remain unacknowledged by any official documentation.