TOP TEN US POLITICAL SCANDALS
by Allen Butler for Yahoo.com
10. Woodrow Wilson's Engagement
Sex has long played a role in the world
of presidential sex scandals. Woodrow Wilson, famed for his role in the
progressive movement and World War I, was not without scandal. His sin,
however, was not sex per se but simply an engagement. His first wife, Ellen
Louise Axson, died in August of 1914. The next spring Wilson met Edith Galt and
by May they were engaged. This was seen as scandalous at the time, rumors began
to fly about the President including that he had even murdered his first wife
in order to marry Galt (although they had not met until after Ellen had died).
9. Grover Cleveland's Illegitimate Son
Grover Cleveland is best known as the
only president in history to be elected for two non-sequential terms. During
his first electoral campaign in 1884 information was released that he had
fathered an illegitimate child ten years before. Unusual for a candidate mired
in such a scandal Cleveland admitted guilt in the matter. Chants of "Ma,
ma, where's my pa? Off to the White House, ha ha ha!" became popular
throughout the country, but it did not stop Cleveland from getting elected (and
elected again in 1892).
8. The Petticoat Affair
This is an often forgotten but at the
time major scandal under the presidency of Andrew Jackson, one of the most
famous presidents in United States history. It began with the marriage of
Jackson's secretary of war, John Henry Eaton, to recently widowed Margaret
Timberlake, whose husband had committed suicide. The marriage proved a great
scandal in American high society, with rumors that Eaton had been having an
affair with Timberlake which led to her first husband's suicide. Most of
Jackson's cabinet turned against Eaton but Jackson supported him, and the
controversy led to such a conflict that almost Jackson's entire cabinet resigned
over the issue. It also led to Jackson's vice president, John C. Calhoun,
falling from favor and being replaced by Martin Van Buren in Jackson's second
election campaign. Van Buren had been the only cabinet member to support the
Eatons and thus had gained Jackson's favor.
7. The Credit Mobilier Scandal
The Credit Mobilier scandal was the
first major corruption scandal in the wake of the Civil War. Starting in 1867,
several high-ranking Republican congressmen (all close supporters of soon to be
President Ulysses S. Grant), were given and/or purchased at below market prices
stock in the Credit Mobilier of America company, which was involved in the
funding and construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. The Congressmen then
proceeded to grant a number of public subsidies and other gifts to the company
to help line their own pockets. Another of the major players was another future
President: James A. Garfield.
6. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings
Thomas Jefferson's alleged relationship
with Sally Hemmings was the first presidential sex scandal in the United States
and prompted a discussion that continues to this day. In 1802 Jefferson was
charged with having an affair with his slave, Sally Hemmings, and in fact
fathering a child. Jefferson denied the charges and remained as president for
another 7 years, however the debate about the truth of the matter continued
until 1998 when DNA testing proved that Jefferson more than likely fathered at
least one of Sally Hemming's children.
5. The Whiskey Ring
Ulysses S. Grant's presidency is often
considered to be one of the most corrupt in history, and with good reason, as
two major scandals took place during his presidency. The second was the Whiskey
Ring scandal, involving a bribery and tax evasion scandal among many high
ranking members of his cabinet (and even his own private secretary) and whiskey
distillers. It resulted in the impeachment of his secretary of war, William
Belknap, although he resigned before he could be convicted.
4. Iran-Contra
Iran-Contra is one of the biggest scandals to rock the
presidency in modern times. When news that the Reagan administration was not
only selling arms to Iran but using the profits to secretly fund the Contra
rebels in Nicaragua, whom Congress had forbid the President from giving
assistance too, the story caused a firestorm throughout the country. Admiral
John M. Poindexter and Lt. Colonel Oliver North became the major targets of the
scandal and became embroiled in lengthy trials and originally convicted for
their roles although these convictions were later released on appeal, among
fourteen other persons charged criminally in the whole affair. The scandal
continues to be a black mark upon the Reagan presidency for many.
3. Teapot Dome
The Teapot Dome scandal of the Warren
G. Harding administration has long been one of the poster boys of the world of
presidential scandals. Harding transferred control of naval oil reserve lands
over to the Department of the Interior in 1921 (although it was later reversed
by the Supreme Court, who ruled the move illegal). Then Secretary of the
Interior Albert B. Fall used his new power for personal gain, giving rights to
the Teapot Dome Reserve in Wyoming to the Mammoth Oil company in return for
bribes. When the scandal broke in 1924 he was found to have accumulated over
$100,000 worth of bribes from the Mammoth Oil Company, among others. Although
Harding had already died in office prior to the scandal breaking, it became a
hot topic of controversy for years after his death and continues to plague his
now infamous legacy.
2. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky
Perhaps no other scandal in
presidential history can equal the Monica Lewinsky affair for pure
sensationalism and absurdity. President Bill Clinton's sexual affair with an
intern ultimately led to the second presidential impeachment in the history of
the country (the first was that of Andrew Johnson in 1868). Although Clinton
was ultimately acquitted of any crime, the affair became a laughing stock
around the world and led to one of the most unusual documents in political
history: the Starr Report, which intimately and often graphically described
Clinton's entire sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsy.
1. Watergate
There may be many scandals in the
annals of United States presidential history, but none can compare for sheer
impact with that of the Watergate scandal under the presidency of Richard M.
Nixon. Beginning with a break-in at the Democratic headquarters stationed in the
Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. by five members of Nixon's re-election
campaign. Although not initially involved Nixon found out about the break-in
and did everything he did to cover up the scandal. When he was ultimately found
out the news shocked the nation and led to a grand disillusionment with the
American political system. It has also led to just about every subsequent
presidential scandal, both large and small, gaining the suffix
"gate." (I.E. Whitewatergate, Monicagate, Plamegate, etc.)
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