BUCHANAN, JAMES (1791-1868), U.S. President

As the country's only bachelor president, James Buchanan's sexual orientation has often been the subject of speculation. There is no conclusive evidence on the subject, but writer Carl Sferrazza Anthony fueled the debate with his discovery of two letters to Buchanan by Alabama senator William Rufus de Vane King, with whom Buchanan shared rooms in Washington, D.C. for over two decades. One reads that "I am selfish enough to hope you will not be able to procure an associate who will cause you to feel no regret at our separation." Buchanan won the presidency as a compromise Democratic candidate, and his single term in office accomplished little, for himself and for the country. When he turned the White House over to his successor, Abraham Lincoln, Buchanan said,"If you are as happy on entering this house as I am leaving it, you are the happiest man on earth."