Presidential Children Who Got Into Weird Relationships

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The president's children are often seen as American royalty. The press reports on which schools — and which parties — the first children attend, their pictures pop up on the cover of magazines and in the pages of tabloids, and the nation watches eagerly when their romantic relationships blossom (and when they fall apart). 

Perhaps the American people are so interested in the relationships of the first children because these presidential offspring sometimes choose strange partners. While one might assume the president's son or daughter would have the highest standards for their romantic interests, many of their picks are surprising, if not downright weird. 

From historical White House marriages between first cousins to rumored affairs with celebrities, to unlikely couples with dramatic weddings, it seems like there's always an odd romantic tale coming from a former, or current, first child. Here are some of the weirdest relationships that presidents' children have had throughout history.

Patti Davis had a reputation of being the rebel of the Reagan family. She was critical of her father's political policies and didn't share her parents' conservative style. She posed nude for Playboy in 1994 and even changed her last name to Davis (her mother's family name) to set herself apart from her father when she began her acting career.

Though a first daughter might be expected to marry a high-paid politician or a well-known businessman, Patti rebelled once again by marrying Paul Grilley, her 25-year-old yoga instructor. After some rumors about an affair with actor Don Johnson, which Davis denied, the two split in 1990 after just six years of marriage.

Even before her marriage, Davis was unlucky in love. She reported a string of disappointing relationships with celebrities, including actors Kris Kristofferson and Timothy Hutton, as well as Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon. "I went for men who were destined to hurt me emotionally," she told People.

Everyone knows that George W. Bush ended up with Texas native Laura Bush, but not many realize that Bush almost married another woman first. Back in the late '60s, he was engaged to Cathryn Lee Wolfman. It was even made official with an announcement (and a photo of the happy couple) in the Houston Chronicle on Jan. 1, 1967 (via Houston Press). The two met during college when Bush was studying at Yale and Wolfman was at Rice. The early engagement may seem surprising, especially given George's reputation as a boozing party guy even up until his 30s. Still, the engagement (and their breakup) made headlines for other reasons.

Wolfman came from a Jewish family, while Bush was a devout Methodist. Bush has even been known to say publicly, more than once, that those who didn't accept Jesus Christ wouldn't go to heaven. Some speculated that Bush's family, with their differing religious beliefs, could have broken up the engagement, though this was never confirmed.

The Bush twins were notorious for their partying and underage drinking back when their father, George W. Bush was in office. While Barbara eventually settled down and married screenwriter Craig Coyne in October of 2018, back in 2015, she reportedly dated a guy in the ping-pong industry. Yes, that's right, there's an industry for ping-pong.

It might come as a shock that Barbara would date anyone out of the family business of politics, but especially shocking that her one-time boyfriend Franck Raharinosy had such a bad reputation as a womanizer.

In an Observer profile from 2009, Raharinosy's business partner said, "Franck can't be stopped. He's the type of dude who's going to meet a girl at a club and make out with her — or have sex with her in the bathroom." The party guy and playboy might have been an accepted fixture during Barbara's time when she was "young and irresponsible" (a term her father used to explain his own wild years), but it made for a surprising match for the 33-year-old since-tamed Bush twin. Not surprisingly, the relationship didn't last.

Before marrying Jared Kushner in 2009, Ivanka Trump had a few other noteworthy beaus. Topher Grace, of That '70s Show fame, confirmed to People in 2018 that he and Ivanka dated for a short time back in 2006. "Certainly, it wasn't a political statement," he said of their short time together, pointing out that it was long before Donald Trump's political career.

Before dating Grace, Ivanka was linked with Lance Armstrong. A source told People back in 2006 that the two went on several dates, but apparently nothing came of it. "I have tremendous respect for Lance and all he has accomplished," Ivanka told People. "That said, we are just friends."

Quincy Jones also claimed to have gone on a date with Trump, who is 48 years his junior, before she married Kushner. He explained, in an interview with Vulture, that Tommy Hilfiger played matchmaker, telling Jones that Ivanka wanted to have dinner with him. However, Ivanka never confirmed this, and a source close to her told E! News that "this story is not true."

It's certainly a national affair when a president's child gets married. But what if the happy couple consists of not one, but two presidential offspring? This was the case when Richard Nixon's daughter, Julie, married Dwight Eisenhower's grandson, Dwight "David" Eisenhower II.

The wedding was set for December 1968, but when Nixon was elected just weeks before his daughter's big day, he prompted Julie to hold the ceremony at the White House. Getting married at the White House was, as Nixon wrote in his 1979 memoir, The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (via The Washington Post), a "unique privilege." In fact, only 15 other couples in U.S. history had done it.

However, Julie refused the opportunity. Despite both her and her fiancé's presidential lineage, the couple didn't want politics involved in their wedding. Nixon wrote in his memoir (via The Washington Post), "Both she and David felt that they wanted their wedding ceremony to be as personal and non-political as it possibly could." Instead, they wed in a nondenominational church in New York City. In 2018, The Washington Post reported that the two were still married after 50 years.

Though John F. Kennedy Jr. famously married blonde beauty Carolyn Bessette in 1996, he had a well-documented dating life before settling down. One of his former loves was actress Daryl Hannah. According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's book, The Kennedy Heirs (via People), Kennedy's mother, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, reportedly didn't approve of Hannah — and the objection made Kennedy want to be with Hannah even more.

Interestingly, Hannah wasn't the only girlfriend Onassis didn't approve of. It's reported that she also wasn't a fan of Madonna, to whom Kennedy was connected for a short time in 1988. As Christopher Anderson wrote in his book, The Good Son: JFK Jr. and the Mother He Loved, "There were many things about Madonna that rubbed Jackie the wrong way."

Kennedy also dated Sarah Jessica Parker, of Sex and the City fame, in 1991. The New York Times reported that Parker thought dating the former first son was an enjoyable experience, though the press she received during that time was overwhelming to her. She told The New York Times, "We would go places where there wasn't a soul around, and the next day I'd see pictures of us there in the tabloids."

President James Monroe's daughter, Maria Hester Monroe (1803-1850), made history when in 1820 she and Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur became the second couple to be married at the White House. 

While her wedding was certainly noteworthy, Maria's choice in husband was perhaps an odd one. As reported in Doug Wead's book, All the Presidents' Children, Maria's husband, 21-year-old Gouverneur, worked for her father as one of the "junior" White House secretaries — he was also the bride's first cousin.

But it was the wedding itself, not the couple, that would cause scandal. Maria's sister, Eliza, and their mother, First Lady Elizabeth Monroe, took over the planning of the event, and intentionally didn't invite key diplomats and cabinet members to the wedding. This was seen as a slight and caused a social scandal in Washington. Eventually, arrangements were made, likely by Monroe himself, for additional wedding receptions that political guests could attend. Unfortunately, Eliza and her mother managed to change the guest list for these events as well and the wedding scandal continued.