Bosom Friends, Thomas J. Balcerski
Bosom Friends, Thomas J. Balcerski
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Bosom Friends
The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King

Author: Thomas J. Balcerski

Narrator: Rick Adamson

Unabridged: 9 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/23/2020

Synopsis

In Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King, Thomas J. Balcerski explores the lives of these two politicians and discovers one of the most significant collaborations in American political history. He traces the parallels in the men's personal and professional lives before elected office, including their failed romantic courtships and the stories they told about them. Unlikely companions from the start, they lived together as congressional messmates in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse and became close confidantes. Around the nation's capital, the men were mocked for their effeminacy and perhaps their sexuality, and they were likened to Siamese twins.

Over time, their intimate friendship blossomed into a significant cross-sectional political partnership. Balcerski examines Buchanan's and King's contributions to the Jacksonian political agenda, manifest destiny, and the increasingly divisive debates over slavery, while contesting interpretations that the men lacked political principles and deserved blame for the breakdown of the union. He closely narrates each man's rise to national prominence, as William Rufus King was elected vice-president in 1852 and James Buchanan the nation's fifteenth president in 1856, despite the political gossip that circulated about them.

About Thomas J. Balcerski

Thomas J. Balcerski is an assistant professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University. He lives in New York City and Connecticut.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on December 16, 2021

So… were they or weren’t they? Anyone picking up a book about the precise nature of the curious relationship between our only bachelor president and his close bachelor friend (whom Andrew Jackson mockingly dubbed “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy”) is going to have one thing in mind as they begin to read......more

Goodreads review by Earl on March 26, 2023

An excellent exploration into one of American history's most consequential yet forgotten friendships. James Buchanan and William Rufus King had what today would best be called a "bromance". Due to the fact that both men were lifelong bachelors there has arisen the question of whether they were also......more

Goodreads review by Paul on July 18, 2023

Throughout "Bosom Friends," Mr. Balcerski comes off as a meticulous, thorough, cautious historian who refuses to engage in any speculation that is not supported by documentary evidence. As a result, this exploration of President James Buchanan and Senator William Rufus King's decades-long friendship......more

Goodreads review by Dalton on March 13, 2024

One of the most common stories associated with 15th president James Buchanan relates to his supposed homosexuality, seemingly proven given his years long close relationship with Franklin Pierce’s Vice President William Rufus King. Thomas J. Balcerski’s Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buch......more

Goodreads review by HopefulDaffodil on October 26, 2024

If you approach this solely as a dual biography of James Buchanan and William Rufus King, it's amazing. If you go into this expecting to find a satisfying answer as to whether or not the two of them were doing the horizontal tango with each other on the reg, you'll be disappointed. Of course, any sp......more

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