These days, it seems like we’re constantly dealing with some political scandal. And while First Lady Melania Trump has been called out for being naked in a magazine, for covering another magazine while draped in diamonds, and for allegedly plagiarizing a speech by former First Lady Michelle Obama, she’s not the only president’s wife to have a skeleton in her closet. Other first ladies just hid theirs better. Here are some of their secrets you might not know about.
Nancy Reagan was really into astrology - After the assassination attempt on her husband, Nancy allegedly consulted an astrologer and looked to the stars for guidance regularly after that. She was a close advisor to her hubby, so when word got out about the influence astrology had in her decision making, she downplayed it.
Betty Ford was an alcoholic - Not only was she divorced, Betty Ford also went to rehab for alcohol and painkillers after her husband Gerald’s presidency. She wrote in her memoirs that she didn’t let herself get truly addicted while she was first lady and she went on to help raise awareness of alcoholism in women.
Jackie Kennedy was a heavy smoker - Everyone smoked back when her husband was president, and Jackie was no different. But she didn’t want the general public to know about her bad habit, so White House photographers were told not to take photos of Jackie in the act of smoking, and if they did, they couldn’t publish them.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a lesbian… well, maybe - There were rumors FDR had affairs before he got polio, but his wife may not have been entirely innocent either. She was close to a group of female reporters that covered the president and Lorena Hickok was one of them. Letters between the two suggested a romantic relationship. “I cannot go to bed tonight without a word to you,” Eleanor wrote to Hickok in 1933. “I felt as though a part of me was leaving tonight, you have grown so much to be a part of my life that it is empty without you even though I’m busy every minute.”
Florence Harding did not adhere to Prohibition - She wasn’t ever seen drinking herself, but when President Harding hosted poker nights, she played bartender and mixed them drinks.
Source: Woman’s Day