If you think that the title is a typo or error, you are mistaken. President Obama may be the first president to openly support gay marriage, but what many Americans don't realize is that America has already elected its first gay president -- at least that's what many scholars and historians, including me, believe.
Considering I was born and raised in New Jersey, I am very familiar with politicians who secretly lead double lives. For example, a few years back, Jim McGreevey, a popular governor who was married with children, was exposed by a male former lover and then publicly came out as gay. In the past and present, men (and even some women) have felt the need to conceal their sexuality in order to maintain specific images in their professions. I also have to imagine that gay athletes feel that they have no choice but to conceal their sexuality until they are retired, out of fear that, if their teammates and team owners found out, they would be completely ostracized. Though politicians do not have nearly the same alpha image as athletes, they still feel the need to present the "traditional" family image in order to gain votes and win elections.
With American sentiment slowly but surely shifting in favor of same-sex marriage, many Americans may begin to call for a gay presidential candidate. However, what they don't realize is that many historians already believe we have had a gay president, and I am not referring to Abraham Lincoln, who was known to share his bed with men, especially his dear friend Joshua Speed. Nor am I referring to President Chester A. Arthur, who earned the nickname "Elegant Arthur" for his exquisite taste in décor and fine clothes, which included nearly 80 pairs of pants. Additionally, even though Bill Clinton definitely seems to be the experimental type, we have no proof that he had any "relations" with male interns. The president to whom I am referring is James "The Bachelor President" Buchanan, who was the 15th president of the United States, from 1857 to 1861, and preceded "Honest Abe."
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