If you pay any attention to politics these days, you know that accusations of sexual impropriety, or worse, against political leaders are the stuff of everyday media reportage. Two obvious recent examples are Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
The accusations may be true, false, or exaggerated. The issue here is, how have they affected political careers? Trump and Johnson are both out of power -- now -- but there is little evidence that their alleged sexual indiscretions had much to do with their fall from political grace. In some perverse way the accusations may even have helped them with some voters.
This seems to have been true for two 19th century politicians: President Grover Cleveland of the USA and Prime Minister Lord Palmerston of the UK.
Where's My Pa?
Grover Cleveland, lawyer and Democratic governor of New York, ran for president in 1884. He had a reputation for honesty and integrity that appealed to reform-minded voters. But Republicans had held the Presidency for more than twenty years. [Image: Grover Cleveland in early 1880s, when he was Governor of New York]
Seeking to soil Cleveland's spotless reputation, Republicans accused him of fathering an illegitimate child with a young widow, Maria Halpin, ten years before. A famous cartoon published during the campaign of 1884 shows the child in the arms of his weeping mother bawling at Cleveland, "I Want My Pa!"
Cleveland blunted the charge by admitting that he might have been the boy's father. He told his campaign aides, "Tell the Truth." But his story was that Halpin had been "intimate" with several of his friends as well. Any one of them might have been the father. The boy was named Oscar Folsom Cleveland. Oscar Folsom was Cleveland's law partner.
In an interview in 1884, Halpin denied that Folsom had anything to do with her pregnancy. She insisted that Cleveland was the father, and that he had threatened to ruin her if she told anyone about what happened. He was then the sheriff, so his threat would have carried some weight. At least one historian has recently argued that Cleveland had in fact raped her.
Whatever the truth about that, when Halpin became pregnant, Cleveland allegedly accepted responsibility and provided financial support for the child. Halpin was admitted to a lunatic asylum soon after the birth. Her admission was irregular, and Cleveland may have arranged it to keep her quiet. One of the doctors who had examined her adopted the boy.
The doctors decided that she was not insane but had been drinking. Perhaps she was suffering temporary post-partum depression. She was discharged after a few days. Eventually, Halpin and Cleveland agreed a settlement and she disappeared, only to resurface in 1884. Cleveland's supporters branded her a liar, a drunk, a lunatic, and a harlot. [Image: Maria Halpin]
During the campaign a popular chant rang out at Republican events, went "Ma, Ma, Where's My Pa?" His opponent, James G. Blaine, had been involved in scandals of his own, but involving bribery, not sex. Take your pick.
Cleveland won the election, although by the slimmest of margins. After the results were in, Democrats added another line to the Republican chant: "Going to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!" The couplet even inspired songs.
The Republicans' sexual accusation against Cleveland does not seem to have hurt his run for the Presidency. It may even have helped with some voters.
Cleveland was a bachelor when he became President. He married soon after. His wife Francis Folsom, daughter of his best friend, Oscar Folsom. At 21, she was the youngest ever First Lady and the first to be married in the White House. Cleveland was 49. Perhaps he was trying to stifle future accusations?
Maria Halpin remarried and lived a private life until her death in 1902. Her son faded from the public view. Speculation has it that he changed his name to that of the doctor who had adopted him and became a gynecologist, dying in 1947.
Lord Cupid
Another political leader across the Atlantic may have benefited from stories about his illicit affairs. Henry John Temple, Third Viscount Palmerston, had held several high positions in the British government during his long and often controversial career.
He was notorious for his bellicose "gunboat" diplomacy while serving as Foreign Secretary, but the British public admired him for standing up for the national interest. They called him by the affectionate nickname "Pam."
Palmerston served two terms as Prime Minister, 1855-1858, and 1859-1865. He was the first PM of the newly formed Liberal Party. He was already 70 years when he first became PM: the oldest person to assume that office. But he was far from done. [Image: Palmerston in 1855, by Francis Cruikshank.]
Palmerston had a reputation as a ladies' man. He is alleged to have fathered at least seven illegitimate children. In 1839, he was caught trying to force himself on one of Queen Victoria's ladies in waiting at Windsor Castle. He said he had "accidentally" gone into the wrong bedroom because he was drunk. It may have been true, but the bedroom he was heading for was later said to be that of his current mistress and later wife, Lady Cowper.
The Queen was not amused. Victoria was no prude, but she was appalled by Palmerston's behavior. Unfortunately for her, he was more popular than she was with the British public.
Members of Parliament called Palmerston "Lord Cupid" due to his many affairs. His most famous and longest lasting was with Lady Emily Lamb Cowper, sister of another Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.
It was no mere fling. The affair lasted twenty years. They married in 1839, two years after her husband's death. It proved to be a strong political and personal alliance. Emily Lamb was a social and intellectual asset to her husband. [Image: Emily Lamb in the 1830s, by John Lucas]
In 1862, Palmerston was cited as a co-respondent in a divorce case. The case was brought by a journalist, Thaddeus O'Kane, who accused the Prime Minister of having an adulterous affair with Mrs. O'Kane. She claimed she had never been married to O'Kane, and thus could not be guilty of adultery.
The court eventually dismissed the case, and the judge remarked that "no stain should fall on [Palmerston's] character." But it was reported on in major newspapers.
Ironically, the leader of the Conservatives, Benjamin Disraeli, wanted the story supressed. He feared it would increase Palmerston's popularity! Palmerston's image was that of a man of vigor and energy, particularly in defending British interests.
Some sources argue that Palmerston himself encouraged gossip about the case for the same reason Disraeli wanted it ignored. He was about to call a general election and he believed rumors about his amours real and imagined would actually boost his chances.
Apparently, the voters agreed. A popular cry in the music halls of the day was "she may be Kane but is he Abel?" Perhaps the public concluded that an old man with such sexual vigor was definitely able for the job of PM.
The Liberals won the election handily and increased their majority. A letter to the editors of the New York Times after the election stated that the newspapers that had publicized the accusations against Lord Palmerston had done him an "unintentional kindness."
Unfortunately for Palmerston, he died a couple of months after the election. A story soon circulated that he died while trying to seduce a servant, though the official cause of death was listed as a "chill." Perhaps Pam was not quite so vigorous after all. [Image: Palmerston in 1863, photo from his calling card]
His wife Emily died four years later, in 1869. One wonders what she thought of it all.
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