1. Bush’s Affair With Fitzgerald Lasted for Nearly Two Decades
George H.W. Bush term as ambassador to China was brief, and the following year, president Ford asked him to become his CIA Director. Bush accepted, but only on condition that he be allowed to bring Fitzgerald with him to the CIA as his confidential assistant. A memo in Ford’s Presidential Library, dated November 23rd, 1975, states: “Please advise me as soon as you have completed office space arrangements for George Bush and Miss Fitzgerald“. As CIA Director, Bush travelled the world, and took Fitzgerald with him. In the meantime, his wife Barbara sank into a deep depression that brought her to the brink of suicide on multiple occasions.
The affair continued, even as Bush indulged in other dalliances, such as an intense but brief affair with a young photographer during the 1980 presidential campaign. When the Reagan-Bush ticket won in 1980, Fitzgerald was brought along as a member of the vice-presidential staff. Tongues wagged, but Bush was deaf to them, and he kept his mistress by his side during his 8 years as vice president. When he ran for president in 1988, Bush appointed Fitzgerald as his liaison to Congress, and upon winning the election, he made her his chief of protocol. The affair finally ended after The New York Post exposed it during Bush’s failed 1992 reelection campaign.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
College of St. Scholastica – Ulysses S. Grant Information Center: Up Close and Personal
Cracked – The 5 Most Badass Presidents of All Time
Gawker, March 30th, 2015 – LBJ Was Obsessed With His Penis
Grunge – US Presidents Who Were Really Weird People
Heavy – Jennifer Fitzgerald: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Independent, The, January 21st, 2009 – Gerald R Ford
Live Journal – Andrew Jackson, Man of Honor
New York Times, August 12th, 2015 – DNA Is Said to Solve a Mystery of Warren Harding‘s Love Life
Smithsonian – John Quincy Adams Once Approved an Expedition to the Center of the Earth
Washington Post, July 3rd, 2014 – The First Celebrity First Lady: Frances Cleveland