ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE STORM OF LOVE MAKING?

Excerpts of letters in which U.S. presidents proclaimed their love—and, occasionally, lust.

The correspondence assembled by the Hooblers, husband-and-wife historians, isn’t as provocative as the title suggests. (The title comes from an 1894 letter Woodrow Wilson wrote to his first wife, Ellen, after a long absence, promising “innumerable kisses,” “passionate embraces,” and “the storm of love making with which you will be assailed.”) More often, the letters are fairly restrained proclamations of courtship and affection, though there are occasional hints of distinct personalities. Rutherford B. Hayes, deeply religious, laments his “sin” of taking the time to “spoil good paper with wretched scribbling” to his future wife; Harry S. Truman, writing his future wife, Bess, during World War I, feared proposing marriage because “I don’t think it would be right for me to ask you to tie yourself to a prospective cripple.” Tender notes abound, written with various degrees of skill—Ulysses S. Grant better than any of the ones included. Living presidents are scarce, though Jimmy Carter offers a creditable love poem to his wife, Rosalynn. There are some intriguing outliers: George H.W. Bush awkwardly pleads with his wife Barbara to “Try to be closer in, more—well er romantic—on camera. I am practicing the loving look, and the creeping hand. Yours for better TV and more demonstrable affection.” Excerpts from James Buchanan’s notes build on speculation he was gay. Most notoriously, Warren Harding’s bawdy notes to his lover are thick with purple prose: “I love your poise / Of perfect thighs / When they hold me in paradise.” The Hooblers provide helpful context about the letters, many previously unpublished, but the contents themselves are often pro forma greeting card–grade sentiments that shed only modest light on the presidents’ feelings, let alone legacies.

A glimpse—only somewhat revealing—of how our presidents loved.