With the sex scandal of Donald Trump for paying bribes to silence the porn star stormy danielsthe theme of the sex scandals of American presidents returns.
One of the most striking cases was that of Monica Lewinsky with Bill Clinton, who recounted the details of her “meetings” with the former president.
However, there are other details that were investigated by pornographic businessman and producer Larry Flint and published in the 2017 book One Nation Under Sex.
In an interview with the American Daily Beast, Flynt said “a lot was left out of the history books and we wanted to be more inclusive.”
The Sexual History of America’s “Founding Fathers”.
Larry Flint, known for being the founder of the porn magazine Hustlers, but also for his legal scandals, explained that “I’ve been exposing corrupt politicians for 35 years and I wanted to know if our founding fathers did the same crazy things or not“.
By “Founding Fathers” he meant the first presidents of the United States.
In “One Nation Under Sex” Flynt gives details of, for example, Benjamin Franklin. According to the founder of Hustlers: “Franklin helped save the American Revolution by seducing French women with whom he had orgies, Dolley Madison wife of 4th US president James Madison slept with anyone and James Buchanan (15th President) gay romance with a slave owner was a blessing for the secessionists”.
According to Flynt a “Abe Lincoln (16th President of the United States) liked to share a bed with men and Eleanor Roosevelt’s lesbian adventures They helped her become an advocate for equal rights.”
How the book on the sex lives of US presidents was made
The material for the book was collected over several years from sources such as the National Archives, the Woodrow Wilson Papers at Princeton and the Roosevelt Presidential Libraries, and others..
Several points particularly irritated Flynt. For example, he was shocked to discover that Buchanan had a gay lover and yet supported slavery. “You’d think he would identify with downtrodden people, but he was a staunch segregationist.“.
Flynt describes the early Kennedy era as a romantic time when people believed in government, right down to the indiscreet romances of JFK and then Jackie, despite many press efforts to keep their lives private, disillusioned with the country.
“It was really in bad taste. Don’t get me wrong: I’m the first person to defend a philandering president if he can still break even the budget,” Flynt explains. “But I think discretion has to play an important role.”
Larry Flynt: The researcher and founder of Hustlers
Flynt, who survived an assassination attempt in 1978, is paralyzed from the waist down and has spent the past 30 years in a wheelchair. For his detractors he is a seller of obscenity; to his supporters, he is a thorn in the side of self-righteous lawmakers and a champion of sexual freedom.
The publisher died on February 10, 2021 at the age of 78 at his home in Los Angeles.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.