James J. Buchanan, Lincoln’s predecessor, and often considered our worst president....was almost certainly homosexual.
Was made fun of for his effeminate mannerisms, and lived with one man for many years. Never married, or seemed available.
Yes, right before the destruction and murder of the Civil War. Chaos and corruption seem to follow homosexuals like flies.
Only James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln would know for sure what was in their hearts, And they’re not talking, but it’s most likely that the homosexuality rumors are nothing more than that, and the interest in casting one or the other of them as gay is just a selective reading of historical documents using a modern filter of a sexualized society.
Folks back then didn’t think or talk about sex nearly as openly, a lot of concepts would be foreign to them and probably most importantly due to grooming, bathing, and living arrangement circumstances, sex was generally not thought about in those terms.
Supposedly Buchanan was engaged at one point but his fiancee died and because of his devotion to her could not bring himself to fall in love with another woman. Whether that’s true or just put out so people wouldn’t be suspicious of him for being a bachelor, I don’t know.