A Secret Life sets the record straight on the sex scandal that nearly took down a president.

The child was born on September 14, 1874, at the only hospital in Buffalo, New York, that offered maternity services for unwed mothers. It was a boy, and though he entered the world in a state of illegitimacy, a distinguished name was given to this newborn: Oscar Folsom Cleveland. The son of the future president of the United States - Grover Cleveland. The story of how the man who held the nation's highest office eventually came to take responsibility for his son is a thrilling one that unfolds like a sordid romance novel - including allegations of rape, physical violence, and prostitution.

The stunning lengths that Cleveland undertook to conceal what really happened the evening of his son's conception are truly astonishing - including forcing the unwed mother, Maria Halpin, into an insane asylum. A Secret Life also finally reveals what happened to Grover Cleveland's son. Some historians have suggested that he became an alcoholic and died a young man - but Lachman definitively establishes his fate here for the first time.

In this gripping historical narrative, Charles Lachman sets the scandal-plagued record straight with a tightly-coiled plot that provides for narrative history at its best.