The election is over. We’ve cast our votes, the winners have been declared and now it’s time to let go of party animosity and find ways to work together. And you know what always makes me feel good? A wedding!
The only president ever to marry in the White House was Grover Cleveland, when he married twenty-one year old Frances Folsom. There may have been (and in fact, there was) a twenty-seven year age gap between them, but they had a happy marriage by every account I’ve heard or read.
But while other presidents did not marry in office, most of them did marry at some point before getting elected. In fact, the only lifelong bachelor to serve as president of the US was James Buchanan. His neice, Harriet Lane, was his official hostess. Several others were widowers when they took office, such as Thomas Jefferson who depended on his older daughter, Martha, and his good friend Dolley Madison to handle the particulars of the social side of things.
So what did some of our most famous leaders look like on their wedding days? Take a look and see!
Here are Gerald and Betty Ford on their wedding day in 1948. He was late to the wedding due to campaign obligations… but it paid off. He was elected to Congress just three weeks later.
Or how about someone less recent and more celebrated? For instance, Abraham and Mary Lincoln:
Yes, that’s their wedding picture.
I love this sweet, intimate moment between Bill and Hillary Clinton. It’s a flat out lovely wedding photo.
On a more awkward note, here are Harry and Bess Truman with their wedding attendants.
JFK and Jackie look a lot more animated in this wedding picture. Interesting fashion note, Jackie designed her own gown. It’s long been one of my favorite wedding gowns ever. I like it almost as much as I like mine.
George and Barbara Bush cutting their wedding cake. I’m not sure what the observer on the right is thinking, but if he’s anything like me, he’s wishing for chocolate.
And here’s our current president and first lady in the aftermath of their 1992 wedding. My guess is it’s a pretty good match for how they felt one wednesday morning:
