Did you know about all these shocking presidential scandals?
No president is flawless, and a job as difficult as leading the United States of America inevitably brings about scandals in almost every administration. Yet, some shocking presidential scandals will go down in history for their astonishing outcomes. The Monica Lewinsky scandal, for instance, has been seared into our brains continually.
But Clinton isn’t the only one who has found himself in hot water for his bedroom escapades. In fact, we can go back to our third president, Thomas Jefferson, and his long-debated involvement with Sally Hemings. Even the beauty of Camelot during the Kennedy years was anything but ideal.
And, of course, other presidents found themselves deep in secret deals that put a stain on their administrations. Legal issues surrounding the White House are likely far from over, either.
But for now, continue reading to learn about the 9 most shocking presidential scandals over the years, and leave a comment at the end to share with Today On Politics who you think messed up the most.
Shocking presidential scandal: The Watergate Scandal
The humiliation of Watergate, under the term of President Richard Nixon, completely transformed the landscape of contemporary politics, and it’s the most referenced presidential scandal in our nation’s history.
So what happened? Well, it turns out that 5 members of Nixon’s re-election campaign busted into Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. The purpose was to collect data that could be used in the campaign.
Nixon apparently didn’t know about the plans for the break-in. So then, why did he do everything he could to cover up the scandal? Ultimately, the news broke out about his involvement, only to cause a significant shock nationwide.
Shocking presidential scandal: The Whiskey Ring
Exposed in 1875, The Whiskey Ring is about a group of politicians, distributors, distillers, and others who plotted tax fraud. Whiskey distillers bribed the officials who assisted them in evading taxes by approving the stamp as if they had settled the full tax fee.
But, they would only pay 30 cents to the required 70 cents per gallon. Millions of dollars of bribery were gathered before the scheme was ultimately exposed.
The scandal didn’t involve President Ulysses S. Grant until the investigation incriminated his secretary, Orville Babcock. Grant testified in court for Babcock’s defense, who was then pardoned of all charges.
Shocking presidential scandal: President Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment
After President Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865, then Vice President Andrew Johnson took over as president and moved into the White House.
The new president was in strong opposition to giving the formerly enslaved citizens of the US the right to vote, as well as with many other actions of the Reconstruction period. He was repeatedly butting heads in Congress, specifically with Radical Republicans, who had the majority.
They passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, which prohibited Johnson from firing Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, without Senate approval. He did it anyway, which entered him into a long impeachment trial. But, Congress was left one vote short of having the two-thirds majority to approve the impeachment.
Shocking presidential scandal: President Grover Cleveland’s Illegitimate Son
Yes, even in those days, it wasn’t all that unusual for a presidential campaign to revolve around a scandal. A humiliation happened to President Grover Cleveland during his first presidential campaign back in 1884. A report broke out that he had an illegitimate ten-year-old son.
Cleveland acknowledged it, and even though it caused a huge public scandal, he was still selected as president. He was elected again in 1892, making him the first president in our nation’s history who served two non-sequential terms.
Shocking presidential scandal: The Case of Sally Hemings
President Thomas Jefferson, our nation’s 3rd president, was a widower by 1782, but that hardly made him single. He fell in love with Sally Hemings, his servant, who was of mixed race.
This shocking presidential scandal didn’t break out in real time because its details were revealed many years later when a journalist reported the story in 1802.
It turned out that Hemings and Jefferson were together for over 3 decades and had 6 children together. The story wasn’t confirmed until 1998, when DNA analysis of their offspring showed a very high chance of kinship.
Shocking presidential scandal: Iran Contra Affair
As far as the Democratic party went, President Ronald Reagan’s plan for his second term was to maintain foreign anti-communist organizations worldwide. In 1982, Democrats passed the Boland Amendment, therefore restricting the US’ engagement in international conflict.
At the same time, Iraq and Iran were at war, and Iran wanted to buy weapons from the United States. Reagan’s administration violated the trade embargo with Iran and sold them the weapons.
When everything became public in 1986, the investigation revealed that a portion of the arms deal went to funding the Contras, which was a right-wing extremist and militant group in Nicaragua. 14 members of the Reagan administration were arrested.
Still, no evidence was discovered to link Reagan to the agreement, even though he later confessed to his involvement.
Shocking presidential scandal: Teapot Dome Scandal
In 1922, under President Warren Harding, Albert Fall was the interior secretary. He managed to get complete control of oil reserves in the state of Wyoming for the Department of Interior, among them the Teapot Dome Oil Field. This effort enabled him to grant contracts to private oil companies to suit his advantage.
The strategy didn’t include bidding, meaning that the Department of Interior, ruled by Fall, could award a contract to the company of their own choosing. When smaller oil companies grumbled, the Senate embarked on one of its most essential investigations in our nation’s history.
Investigations revealed that Fall accepted extensive bribery from companies he ultimately contracted. For many folks in Washington, DC, it finally became clear how Fall quickly became so rich.
Shocking presidential scandal: Corrupt Bargain
None of the candidates in the 1824 presidential election won the majority of votes. The race was left up to Congress to determine. The candidates in question were President John Quincy Adams, son of a founding father, President John Adams, and President Andrew Jackson, a war hero.
Before the vote took place in Congress, Henry Clay declared that he would support Adams. Since Clay was a powerful House Speaker, the House heeded and selected Adams as president. To everyone’s shock, Adams then proceeded to make Clay his secretary of state.
Jackson managed to win the popular vote, so he and his supporters united in contention with the “Corrupt Bargain” between Clay and Adams and helped to select Jackson in 1828. This pack was the foundation of political actors who would thereafter form the Democratic Party.
Shocking presidential scandal: The Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton Affair
In 1996, a young Monica Lewinsky had to relocate from the White House office to the Pentagon because of the rising concern she had been too close to then President Bill Clinton. The phone conversations between Lewinsky, then 22, and Linda Tripp disclosed that she was having an affair with the president.
Lewinsky and Clinton made the whole thing even worse because they both denied the relationship. Lying about it presented brutal grounds for charges of perjury against Bill Clinton.
Ultimately, The House of Representatives impeached the president for obstruction of justice and perjury in 1998. Still, he was able to serve out the rest of his term because the Senate exonerated him.
Did you know about all these shocking presidential scandals? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. Meanwhile, if you enjoyed this article, you might also want to check out: Exposed: 9 Most Corrupt US States in the Nation