The President's Daughter

In the autumn of 1892, 20-year-old Anna Wilson decided to leave her home in Indre Østfold, Norway, and seek happiness in America. She returned alone. In April 1894 she gave birth to a daughter, Olga. Rumours of who the father might be, spread like wildfire in the local community. Several things indicate that he could be William Taft, the man who, fifteen years later, would become the United States' 27th president.

Olga grew up on a simple smallholding, but already as a young girl she was taken on trips to America. She and her mother spent every winter in Washington D.C., where Olga studied dancing and painting and paid her way by working as a nude model. – During these years mother and daughter feed a growing obsession with William Taft. They collect newspaper articles about him and wander the same streets as he does. Every summer back home in Hærland they work hard in order to scrape together enough money for their next trip to America, where they are free to stand “Dad’s” portrait on the night table without having to explain themselves to anyone. A gnawing uncertainty nags Olga: Should she try to contact “Dad”? Is he aware of her existence? And would he turn his back on her?