Mark Foley and Other U.S. Political Scandals

When these high profile scandals pop up in Washington, the media falls all over it, as though it were stunning news, when, in fact, the only surprising thing is that the person in question got caught.

Scandal fits politicians like a well-tailored suit. Either there is something about power that appears to tempt otherwise decent people towards corruption or they were already that way when they arrived on the scene and power only helped what was inside them bloom.

Mark Foley's actions and hypocrisy are, to be sure, something to be concerned about, but he is only one of many, both past and present, who have apparently gone over to "the dark side."

Some other instances of elected officials or political candidates with less-than-becoming conduct are as follows:

Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding, a Republican, was our 28th President and quite a magnet for scandal and rumors.

He was whispered to have been involved with the Ku Klux Klan at one time and, on the other hand, was rumored to have been of "questionable" heritage, both extreme accusations without any real foundation. The express purpose was to cause him embarrassment and the loss of votes.

There was much more solid evidence, however, that he had romantic affairs outside of his marriage with two women. One of them,.Carrie Fulton Phillips, was pretty riled that he refused to divorce his wife for her, and she threatened to spill the beans to the public. She ended up getting monthly hush money payments to encourage her to keep things quiet. The other woman, Nan Britton, was said to have met with Harding in the Oval Office for occasional trysts, and their relationship was still going strong up until the time he died.

Britton was not as content to keep her lip buttoned and wrote a book about their affair, with the claim that he had fathered her child.

As if that wasn't enough, one of this country's worst political scandals involved members of Harding's cabinet and was known as The Teapot Dome Scandal. His Secretary of State Albert Fall ended up serving time in prison for defrauding the governent.by taking bribes for lease of public oil lands. Other members of Harding's cabinet were tainted, as well. Harding
was not involved in the deception, but his biggest faults were his naivete and inability to be a strong leader..

To this day, the historical view of his Presidency is one of scandal and mediocrity.

John F. Kennedy

Sure,John F. Kennedy, Democrat and 35th President, was clearly one of our most charming, erudite chief executives, and his tragic death by assassination in 1963 has kept him forever enshrined as a political superstar.

Numerous disclosures have come out, however, about his womanizing, before and during his years in the White House. He had adulterous affairs with Marilyn Monroe and other Hollywood starlets, mobster Sam Giancana's girlfriend Judith Exnor and probably a host of other interchangeable females.

In spite of this information being disclosed in the years after Kennedy's death, the Camelot myth remains intact.

Edward "Ted" Kennedy

Massachusetts senator, Ted Kennedy, youngest brother of JFK, is living proof that the Kennedy name itself is enough to overcome any scandal.

Still, in spite of a long and successful political career, one word is responsible for keeping Ted Kennedy from fulfilling his ambition to run for the office of President of the United States.

That word is ... Chappaquiddick.

In 1969, after driving off with Mary Jo Kopechne, a young woman who had attended the same party that night at Chappaquiddick, he accidentally drove the car over a bridge into a lake. He managed to escape from the car, but Ms. Kopechne was not so lucky and was left to drown.

While Kennedy was able to swim away, he took 10 hours to contact the police, choosing instead to touch base with his attorney first.

He went to court, received a suspended sentence and got some heat for the incident for awhile, but he has continued to be re-elected every election year to the Senate and is now considered to be a respected "elder statesman" of the Democratic Party.

Wilbur Mills

I remember well when the Wilbur Mill scandal broke. I was a sophomore in high school then and this was hot stuff, at the time.

Mills, from Arkansas, was one of the most powerful Democrats that ever served in Congress and the least likely person the public would have supposed would have been part of one of the most humiliating personal scandals of that time. The term "sex appeal" hardly fit this bulbous-nosed, physically unappealing man.

A drunken Mills was a passenger in a car that got stopped by the cops and his female companion, one Ms. Fanne Foxe, Argentine stripper extraordinaire, decided ,for some reason, to get out of the car and leap into the Tidal Basin.

The ensuing negative publicity caused him a great deal of humiliation and Mills announced his plans to go to AA. beat his alcohol addiction, which he eventually claimed to have done successfully.

I guess the folks in Arkansas are the forgiving type, because he was actually re-elected. However, poor Wilbur couldn't seem to resist either the bottle or Fanne and got caught with her in another drunken situation.

It's a shame that Wilbur Mills is more identified now with this lapse of moral judgment than for the accomplishments he made during his long Congressional career.

Neil E. Goldschmidt

Goldschmidt, a Democrat, was Oregon's governor from 1987-1991 and was a powerful businessman, as well, known for his aggressive tactics.

Prior to that, he had served as the mayor of Portland and was, at that time, the youngest mayor of any American city.. It was later discovered that during his mayoral gig, he had been having frequent sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl and that attempts had been made to conceal this fact.

He dodged the bullet, in terms of having to receive any punishment for having sex with a minor, but his political career was ruined when the truth came out in 2004

Jim West

Jim West, a "conservative" Republican, was the mayor of Spokane, Washington and very powerful, in his own right..

It was discovered in 2005, in an online undercover sting, that this outwardly anti-gay politician was, in fact, frequenting chat rooms to lure young males, sometimes offering special gifts and even an office position.

West was also accused of molesting two underage males 20 years previously, but denied doing this. The disclosure of West's actions shocked his city and state. A recall election allowed Spokane citizens to unload him.

Newt Gingrich

The former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, was once a power to contend with in Washington, D.C. Representing the state of Georgia, he had become a conservative icon

He was fined $300,000 in 1997 for ethic violations. Also, some rather unsavory revelations came out about his love affair with an employee. According to his personal history, Newt Gingrich hasn't been exactly solicitous of his two ex-wives. He allegedly dumped both of them when they were suffering from serious illnesses.

He fijnally came to a decision to resign as Speaker and depart from Congress. In an ironic twist, the man who replaced him as Speaker- Dennis Hastert- is now the subject of controversy, regarding how much he knew about the Mark Foley situation.

There have been rumblings recently from his camp, suggesting he might desire to make a Presidential bid. I'm pretty sure that there are way too many bones rattling around in his closet for his candidacy to be considered seriously.

Jack Ryan

Jack Ryan, handsome,clean-cut Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, was forced to end his bid for Congress in 2004.

His former wife alleged that Ryan went to raunchy sex clubs, taking her along and attempting to have her do certain sex acts in the presence of others. These seedy details were discovered when their divorce records were unsealed. This was not something, of course, that sat well with the usual Republican constituency.

Whether the accusations were really true or not, the damage was done and Ryan quit his political run.

Gerry Studds

Democrat Gerry Studds was another D.C. politician who took advantage of young male pages. In 1983, it was revealed that he had been having a sexual relationship with a 17-year old boy who served as a Congressional page.

Despite this, his party overlooked this little "misstep" and, apparently, so did voters, since he was re-elected to office in the next five elections. In spite of his reprehensible person al actions, he remained in good standing with the Democrat Caucus for years afterward.

Hm ...do I detect a little "double standard" here? Strange how Democrats are not as concerned about "personal accountability" when one of their own is the sexual offender in question.

Ken Calvert

This California Congressman from the sunny state of California was once greatly respected and supported by conservative Christian groups. The staunch Republican took a firm stand, publicly, on the values they believed in.

Unfortunately, he didn't follow the same values he espoused. He was caught, despite his efforts to make a quick getaway, in a compromising position with a prostitute in 1993.

Despite this and accusations of corruption, it doesn't seem to have slowed down his Congressional career an awful lot.

Gary Hart

I recall seeing those newspaperr photos of Gary Hart, with Donna Rice sitting atop his lap.

Before this scandal came about, Hart had thrown his hat into the ring to be nominated as the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate for 1988.

After his adulterous goings-on with model Donna Rice, while aboard a yacht, aptly named the "Monkee Business," were exposed, Hart decided it was best to abandon his Presidential aspirations.

The photos of he and Rice on the cover of The National Enquirer weren't exactly helpful, either. When you are in the same publication that reports Elvis sightings, your political career is pretty much on the skids.

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton

Bill Clinton was our 42nd President and there has probably been no one, since JFK, who was as charming and affable.

The rumors of adultery were there even before he was elected, but his denials and wife Hilary's dogged support seemed to be enough to influence the majority of voters to put him in office.

During the course of that time, a lawsuit was brought against him by Paula Jones, an Arkansas government worker,who claimed that he made a sexual pass at her. Other stories from other women surfaced as well, but none of them dampened his popularity.

When he was accused of having an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a much younger White House intern, Clinton lied to a grand jury, the public and his wife. (Who of us who saw it can fail to remember Bill Clinton's earnest look into the television cameras, as he pointed his finger towards us and declared, "I did not have sexual relationships with that woman?"

For his misrepresentation, Clinton was impeached, but not removed from office.

Despite this setback, he has managed to recreate himself, image-wise, since his time in office ended, and is now a successful speaker and sought-after campaigner for Democratic candidates.

Trust Me, I Could Go On, But ...

In the course of doing research for this article, I came across a number of stories on this topic. As you can see, neither party is in the position to label the other as more or less immoral than the other, since both have people within their sacred circles who were and are guilty of irresponsible and reckless behavior.

My conclusion comes down to a very old and very true saying: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

In other words, the faces and names may change from one election year to the next, but we can always expect that, among those we put in office, will be individuals destined to be the next subject of yet another political scandal.

Sadly, Mark Foley is just one of many.