Julia Tyler

As a young woman, Julia Gardiner shocked New York High Society when she posed as a model for a department store advertisement. Many notable men of Washington sought her hand; however, she literally swooned into President Tyler’s arms after witnessing her father's death in an explosion. The thirty-year age difference between the president and his bride made for juicy gossip, but the union successfully produced seven children. Julia reigned supreme on the family's southern plantation. She was outspokenly pro-slavery and encouraged her sons to fight for the Confederacy. Financially strapped after the war and the death of her husband, Julia lobbied Congress for a presidential widow’s pension until it was granted in 1880.