US president Warren Harding's racy letters to his mistress revealed that he referred to his erection as "Jerry" in 15 years' worth of sexually explicit notes to his lover.
The obscure early 20th-century president died two years into office after achieving little worth remembering. But that was then. The Library of Congress will this month release more than 100 passionate notes that contain some of the most sexually explicit language ever credited to a US head of state.
"I hurt with the insatiate longing, until I feel that there will never be any relief until I take a long, deep, wild draught on your lips and then bury my face on your pillowing breasts," he told Carrie Fulton Phillips, the wife of one of his best friends, in a 1913 letter.
"Jerry came and will not go, says he loves you, that you are the only, only love worthwhile in all this world," the 29th president wrote. "He is so utterly devoted that he only exists to give you all. I fear you would find a fierce enthusiast today."
In a letter penned just before the end of World War 1, Harding said simply: "Wish I could take you to Mount Jerry."
In fairness, Harding is not the only president to bestow a sobriquet on his penis. Lyndon Johnson nicknamed his member "Jumbo" and was fond of showing it to members of Congress.
The release of the letters marks the end of a drawn-out struggle between historians eager to access them and the Harding family, keen to spare their relative's blushes.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
