Monkey Business on the Campaign Trail

More scandal series drama:

Gary Hart was the Democratic frontrunner for the presidential race in 1987 when rumors surfaced that he was cheating on his wife. Hart scoffed at the accusations, telling reporters, “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” Unfortunately for Hart, they already were. The Miami Herald snapped photos of 29-year-old Donna Rice entering and leaving Hart’s home at pretty suspicious hours of the night. While Hart and even his wife made public statements maintaining that his relationship with Rice was platonic and innocent, all signs pointed to the opposite of that. Reporters eventually nabbed a photograph of Rice sitting on Hart’s lap on his boat, aptly named Monkey Business, without his wife. A humiliated Hart dropped out of the race (and the public eye) soon after.   www.nikkismith.com

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The Starr Report

Perhaps the most famous in our scandal series:

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 Lewinsky. In 2016, Attorney Ken Starr described Bill Clinton as “the most gifted politician of the baby boomer generation.”

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The Whiskey Ring

Moving on with our scandal series…

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 Whiskey Ring scandal, involved a bribery and tax evasion scandal among many high ranking members of his cabinet and whiskey distillers. It resulted in the impeachment of his secretary of war, William Belknap, who resigned before he could be convicted.

Here is our other article on the other major scandal under President Grant, the credit mobilier scandal.

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The Credit Mobilier Scandal (a.k.a. 1st Major Corruption Scandal in US History)

Taking our scandal series to the next level, we look into one of the worst scandals in US history.

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 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 themajor players was another future President: James A. Garfield.

Here is our other article on the other major scandal under President Grant, the whiskey ring scandal.

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This just might be the first sex scandal of US presidential proportions, in our latest edition to our scandal series:

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 seven years, however the debate about the truth of the matter continued until 1998 when DNA testing proved that Jefferson fathered at least one of Sally Hemming’s children.

Descendents of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings pose for a group photograph at Monticello in 1999

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