How do presidents have time for extramarital affairs?
A. It’s not as common as one might think. The ones that did had a lot of help. People whose purpose it was to make sure it did not become known. Very few presidents have had a real paramour. Roosevelt had Lucy Mercer, who was a private secretary to Eleanor. The day Roosevelt died, virtually the last image he saw was the face of Lucy Mercer. It was painful to Eleanor who found out Lucy had been there when he died, and he had broken his promise to her [to stop seeing Mercer]. Q. Are first ladies a necessary presidential accessory? A. Less as a political, theatrical prop than the role they really have in the presidents’ lives. Lady Bird Johnson was a great example of this. Here was a guy with huge psychological mood swings up and down all the time. She was almost like an in-house psychologist. People should erect a statue to Lady Bird Johnson just for being able to keep her husband functioning as president. Q. What do you admire about Abraham Lincoln? A. The thing I liked the most as a ch
