Months before his wife’s death, President Tyler is introduced to the beautiful twenty-two-year-old New York socialite Julia Gardiner at a White House reception. He is smitten, as are many of the other men in the room. Julia soon receives marriage proposals from two congressmen and a Supreme Court justice. The young woman returns to Washington the following February. The now-single president invites Julia to a private card game at the White House. Afterward, he playfully chases her around the tables.
