Do we want a bachelor for president?
The late crop of Democratic candidates for president turns out to have an unusually high number of bachelors. Douglas Wilder of Virginia and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska are divorced, while Jerry Brown of California ("Gov. Moonbeam") has never been married.Kerrey and Brown have had glamorous recent lives, Kerrey having had a long relationship with movie actress Debra Winger, and Brown with singer Linda Ronstadt. Since Winger and Ronstadt have much higher name recognition than either candidate, it is unfortunate that both relationships have ended.
Assuming that any of these three candidates has the staying power to get the nomination to run against George Bush, it will be interesting to see if the country can stand to see a president with no first lady. We aren't accustomed to the president dating while in office even if there have been a number of presidents whose marriages were scarred by their secret affairs.
Like Warren Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Jack Kennedy.
But our culture has not prepared us for divorced or single candidates. In fact, we usually identify as much with the first lady as we do with the president. Eleanor Roosevelt had gigantic popular appeal in her own right, and Mamie Eisenhower and Jackie Kennedy were not far behind.
Gerald Ford's presidency was short-lived, but the ingratiating Betty Ford was infinitely more popular than her husband. The most popular button of the campaign was the one that said, "Betty's Husband for President."
Even now, Barbara Bush, while not possessing the sophistication of her predecessor, has enormous popular approval - as a down-to-earth, approachable first lady.
Besides, the last divorced presidential nominee was the talented and charismatic Adlai Stevenson, who twice opposed Eisenhower in the 1950s.
And the only bachelor to serve a full term as president was James Buchanan, the undistinguished leader who helped to usher in the Civil War.
Other candidates have realized this problem and acted accordingly. When Ted Kennedy tried to get the Democratic nomination for president in 1980 his marriage was already crumbling. Joan Kennedy stood bravely at his side as he announced his candidacy then stuck with him until it was over - then the marriage was also over.
Gary Hart's marriage has been unsteady for years, yet his wife traveled with him throughout the 1984 campaign, saying little but looking loyal. It was obvious that both Kennedy and Hart thought a dutiful, supportive wife was a necessity for a presidential candidacy.
So are we supposed to follow the dating patterns of our president the way we follow Donald Trump's on-again-off-again relationship with Marla Maples? Will we get excited about one of the women he dates only to find that she gave him the old heave ho? Or do we not worry about that and just wait until he finds the right one so we can enjoy a full-scale White House wedding?
Grover Cleveland was a bachelor when he was elected president, but in office he married Frances Folsom, a pretty, dark-eyed 21-year old daughter of one of his former law partners. He had been her guardian after her father died in 1875, and he proposed to her shortly after her graduation from college.
The White House wedding was one to remember, a gala occasion punctuated by the strains of the wedding march played by John Phillip Sousa. The new Mrs. Cleveland brightened Washington society and her husband's life. In fact, he was thought to be less irritable and more positive and bold in his leadership style.
So maybe a bachelor president would be acceptable - IF he promised to have a White House wedding and leave the legacy of pomp and ceremony that we all love.