Politics and the love child

However, American culture unleashes a chorus of damnation when it comes to a politician having a Love Child. Hardly anybody mentions Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the baby of Strom Thurmond. Or Jesse Jackson’’s love child. Or Thomas Jefferson’s.

Questions began swirling a few weeks ago, about whether former presidential candidate John Edwards had fathered a Love Child. A blurry photo in the National Enquirer shows a man who could be Edwards or could be any other middle-aged man in America holding a blurry baby. While Edwards admits having an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker on his campaign, he and Hunter deny that her 5-month-old baby is Edwards’ child.

But politicians, especially those who create images of themselves as “wholesome”, are held to different standards. “Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” went the Republican jeer against Grover Cleveland, accused of fathering an illegitimate child. “Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!” was the Democrats’ answer after he was elected. “There is a sense that public figures need to be above question,” Carter says. “If they can’t control their private lives, how can they be trusted with our governance?”

Hollywood, too, was once prudish about the Love Child, but its attitude evolved. Now “there is absolutely no stigma in Hollywood around having a love child,” says Dina Sansing, entertainment director for Us Weekly.