The White House has long been the home of the President and is no stranger to the strange,
even when you shift the spotlight toward Donald Trump's second in command, Vice President
Mike Pence and his wife, Second Lady Karen Pence.
These are the strange things about Mike Pence's marriage.
Being a faithful partner is essential to any successful relationship, and perhaps even
more so when occupying a public office.
After all, infidelity in the White House can easily be unearthed with even the simplest
Google search.
Need we remind anyone of former President Bill Clinton's infamous Monica Lewinsky scandal?
Or looking to more recent events, such as President Trump's alleged affair with adult
film actor, Stormy Daniels.
"And you… made love."
"Gross!
What is wrong with you?!"
Given the attention to these philanderous officials, it certainly makes sense for politicians
to distance themselves from such scrutiny.
As for Mike Pence?
He takes this idea to a whole new level.
According to an interview he had with The Hill, Pence won't even eat a meal alone with
another woman.
The vice president even goes as far as to refuse any female aides when working late
- only requesting the same gender.
Within devout evangelical circles, this is known as the "Billy Graham Rule", having been
put into practice by the famous American evangelist.
However, some of the vice president's critics have connected these views to Mike Pence's
stance on LGBTQ issues.
Of course, Pence's personal policy led to widespread backlash and a Twitter feeding
frenzy, with the criticism being that it's, well, blatantly sexist.
When hearing about Pence's strict observance of the Billy Graham Rule, Trump-impersonating
comedian Sarah Cooper had this to say on Twitter:
"I feel a lot better knowing that whenever Mike Pence refuses to dine with a woman, Trump
is right there to pick up the slack."
Abstaining from alcohol due to religious beliefs is commonplace among many groups of Muslims
and evangelical Christians - and Mike Pence is no different.
In total, about 30 percent of Americans don't drink, while another 10 percent drink the
equivalent of 12 six-packs of beer a week.
Not that weird, right?
Pence, on the other hand, is a teetotaler, at least at this time in his career, revealing
to The Hill in 2002 that he will not attend any events with alcohol unless he's accompanied
by his wife, Karen.
According to The New Yorker, the reasoning behind this likely ties once again to the
Billy Graham Rule, which is meant to avoid any appearance of faltering integrity, at
the cost of painting all women as home-wrecking seductresses.
Marriage proposals can be a great way to show how well you know your partner, and can be
one of the most significant romantic milestones in a person's life.
Not everyone can be so lucky to have three opportunities with three different wives,
such as President Donald Trump.
Arguably the key to any successful proposal is the surprise of finding the ring, but as
an evangelical Christian, it would be out of character for Mike Pence to order champagne
at a restaurant and slip a ring into the glass.
That being said, the future vice president wasn't dining out when he proposed to Karen
Pence.
According to The Washington Post:
"[Pence] hollowed out two loaves of bread, placing a small bottle of champagne in one
and [a] ring box in the other."
They then proceeded to feed the ducks at a local canal, where his wife-to-be found the
ring unsuspectingly.
Thankfully, the ring made it into Karen's hands and not the canal.
As for the bread, the couple reportedly kept the loaf as a keepsake afterward.
According to the American Psychological Association, more than 90 percent of people marry by age
50 in Western cultures.
Nonetheless, U.S. marriage rates are in a steady decline, with the marriage rate among
adults at an all-time low.
This may be due to the fact that nearly 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce.
"Hey, everyone!
It's just a divorce."
"Thanks…"
While Mike Pence may not be a contributor to the country's divorce rate, his wife surprisingly
is.
Per The Washington Post, Karen Pence met her first husband, Steve Whitaker, in high school,
and she married him when she was just 21.
At the time, Karen was a Catholic - a religion where divorce has long been frowned upon in
most cases.
That being said, if the church grants an annulment, you're free to marry again - which is exactly
what Karen did.
In fact, her split from her first husband appears to have been mutually beneficial.
The Washington Post reached out to her ex-husband, who said,
"We were kids.
We probably didn't necessarily know what we were doing."
We're all familiar with the old adage that behind every successful man is a great woman.
This rings true for Mike Pence as much as anyone else.
As Brian Howey, publisher of Howey Politics Indiana, told The Washington Post,
"I would characterize [Karen Pence] as the silent, omnipresent partner.
You knew she was there, you knew there was some considerable influence she wielded, but,
boy, she was not public about it."
Considering Karen was once an elementary school art teacher, one could assume she may not
be the most well-versed in politics.
Appropriately, she told the IndyStar,
"I don't ever get involved in policy.
[...] It is not my role."
That being said, get used to seeing her at Mike's side at any possible moment.
From events and rallies to Mike's overseas trips in office, Karen is almost always there.
Karen's importance is even recognized by Donald Trump himself.
As the story goes, when Trump called to offer Mike Pence the spot as his Vice President,
the reality TV star-turned-politician knew Karen Pence would be by his side, and immediately
asked to speak to her, as well.
While on the record she may claim not to dabble in policy, Karen seems to have the ear of
the vice president more than anyone else - and sometimes the president himself, too.
While Mike Pence was serving as a member of the House of Representatives in Washington
D.C., he received a gift from his wife that many spouses can only dream of: a second phone
to which only she had the number.
When you think of a hotline to the vice president of the United States, you might think of a
doomsday scenario, but in the case of Mike Pence, it's more of a marital aid.
According to The Washington Post, the Pence-only line was an antique red phone.
As it turns out, the old phone was Karen Pence's Christmas present to her husband, and a reminder
of the enduring connection between the couple, both physical and symbolic.
As time has passed and society has moved through a decade of different iPhones, Mike's Batphone
is still prominently displayed on his desk at his statehouse office.
While we don't expect Mike to be getting any late-night phone calls from the police commissioner,
like in Batman, we think Adam West would approve.
Being a political leader comes with a great deal of stress, and that stress needs to be
balanced with some relaxation.
President Donald Trump is no stranger to downtime, with golf being his preferred relaxation activity.
While Mike Pence may join President Trump for a few rounds of golf and has called him,
quote, "a very good golfer," he does not follow suit when it comes to enjoying some time off.
As he explained to The Hill in 2009,
"My whole approach to my career has been to vote right and go home for dinner."
If you're wondering what's on the menu, Karen Pence once told a crowd at the Conservative
Political Action Conference that the Pence's will usually be having a thin-crust supreme
pizza for dinner, if it's a Friday night.
At the end of the day, a Christian man with strong family values has always been how the
Pence patriarch presents himself.
If the opportunity arises and the vice president has some horsepower, Mike takes after his
political idol and Western film icon Ronald Reagan.
When The Hill asked what his favorite hobby was, Pence boldly replied, quote, "Horseback
riding, end of discussion."
Have you ever gotten out of the shower, confused as to which towel is yours?
Or have you seen a family member use your own personal towel, leaving you to sit in
a silent smoldering rage?
If your answer to either of these questions is "No," then Karen Pence's towel charm business
is not for you.
Karen has pioneered a solution to a problem that has allegedly plagued her time and time
again with her business venture, "That's My Towel!"
Still a bit confused?
Who could blame you!
As the second lady wrote on her now-defunct website:
"I have had so many times where I was swimming at a friend's beach house, pool, or lake house,
using their matching beautiful beach towels.
Lo and behold, I would go in the water for a dip or up to the house for a beverage, and
when I came back to my towel, it was gone!"
The charms are exactly what you might think, or as Vogue so succinctly puts it,
"Picture one of those wine-glass name tags on a metal ring and you've pretty much got
it."
Unfortunately for Karen, the business didn't exactly hit it off, and according to Mike
Pence's 2016 tax information, it actually lost over $3,000 the previous year.
It was the start of a blossoming romance truly befitting Mike and Karen Pence's strong religious
values.
According to the IndyStar, the first place the couple met was St. Thomas Aquinas Church,
where during the mass, Karen was strumming her guitar, while Mike Pence was among the
rest of the parishioners.
He chatted her up, discovering that he went to law school with her sister.
Unable to summon the courage to ask for Karen's number, the future vice president decided
his next best option would be to go to his school's registrar office to get the phone
number of Karen's sister.
Mike's persistence paid off, and after explaining the situation to the registrar, he somehow
got the number.
Mustering up the courage to ask someone on a date affects everyone - even a future vice
president.
Mike made the call, and surprisingly it was Karen who answered the phone.
Spooking himself upon recognizing her voice, he hung up.
After shaking off his nerves, Mike tried again.
They eventually met for a taco salad dinner date, followed by some ice skating with Karen's
niece and nephew.
Call it coincidence or fate, but Karen's 10-year-old niece actually bet Mike $1 that he and Karen
would get married.
In hindsight, it was a good bet.
Mike and Karen tied the knot the following year in June 1985 - and yes, even the registrar
was in attendance.
After their romantic first date of taco salad and ice skating, Mike and Karen Pence's relationship
seemed to be going well.
According to the IndyStar, It made perfect sense; after all, Karen had said that they
seemed to have everything in common.
Things were going so well, in fact, that after just eight months of dating, the future Mrs.
Pence was already planning for marriage.
While she wasn't flipping through bridal catalogs or buying a dress quite yet, Karen instead
purchased a gold cross with the word "Yes" engraved and, according to The Washington
Post, slipped it into her purse to give to Mike when he popped the question.
Typically only one person in an engagement buys a piece of jewelry, but if history tells
us anything, it's that the Pences have a bit of an odd marriage.
As it turned out, Karen didn't have to hold on to her cross for too long, as just a month
later, Mike popped the question.
To this day, Mike still has the cross that his wife gave to him, although he doesn't
wear it.
As Karen revealed to the IndyStar, the vice president is afraid he'll lose it.
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