Varina

by Charles Frazier

The next president entered office in deep mourning too. In his case every day marked the loss of . . . what? A roommate? An old friend? The friend’s name was King. Back when he and Buchanan were both members of the House they had lived together ten years in Brown’s Hotel as roommates. Under unusual circumstances King became vice president to Pierce for a few weeks and swore his oath of office in Havana and then died almost immediately afterward. Back in the Brown’s Hotel days—before King was vice president and long before Buchanan was president—Andrew Jackson—a brutal piece of work even if you were trying to be complimentary—liked to call the pair Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy. Every piece of correspondence between Buchanan and King was burned after King’s death. Buchanan never married. A pretty and very shrewd and sharp-eyed niece—who didn’t particularly approve of V—served as hostess, arranging state dinners and gracefully whispering in her uncle’s ear the names of people in the receiving line he might have misremembered.