After Coleman's death, Buchanan never courted another woman or seemed to show any emotional or physical interest; a rumor circulated of an affair with President James K. Polk's widow, Sarah Childress Polk, but it had no basis.[72] It has been suggested that Anne's death in fact served to deflect awkward questions about his sexuality and bachelorhood.[71] While Buchanan may have been asexual or celibate, many indicators suggest he was homosexual or bisexual. The argument has been put forward by Shelley Ross, biographer Jean Baker, sociologist James W. Loewen, author Robert P. Watson, and historian John Howard.[73]A source of this interest has been Buchanan's close and intimate relationship with William Rufus King (who became Vice President under Franklin Pierce). The two men lived together in a Washington boardinghouse for 10 years from 1834 until King's departure for France in 1844. King referred to the relationship as a "communion",[72] and the two attended social functions together. Contemporaries also noted the closeness. Andrew Jackson called them "Miss Nancy" and "Aunt Fancy" (the former being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man[74]), while Aaron V. Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "better half".[75] James W. Loewen described Buchanan and King as "siamese twins". In later years, Kat Thompson, the wife of a cabinet member, expressed her anxiety that "there was something unhealthy in the president's attitude".[72]Buchanan adopted King's mannerisms and romanticised view of southern culture. Both had strong political ambitions, and in 1844 they planned to run as president and vice president. One historian has found them both to be soft, effeminate, and eccentric.[72] In May 1844, Buchanan wrote to Cornelia Roosevelt, "I am now 'solitary and alone', having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone, and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection."[72]
