Impartial Observer   /     np 011 Politicians Behaving Badly

With the political season about to get into full swing, I thought I would give a little life to some old scandals. Some may be familiar and some will not.

Early into George Washington’s first term, a member of his administration  Alexander Hamilton began an affair with a married woman, Maria Reynolds while serving as the Secretary of the Treasury. When her husband found out, he decided not to challenge Hamilton to a duel as was the custom, but wanted money instead. Hamilton paid.

During the  1836 election, Martin Van Buren’s running mate was Kentucky Congressman Richard Johnson. Johnson’s wife was Julia Chin. Julia was his father’s slave and he inherited her from him.  Marriage between races was illegal so he kept her as his slave. Johnson took two more wives, both Julia’s nieces. They weren’t as lucky as Julia and he later sold them.

For 25 years James Hammond was a member of the House, a senator, and governor of South Carolina. However, he only spent a total of six of those 25 years holding office, due mostly to his questionable sex life. In college, Hammond had a gay affair with a friend and rumors of this followed him his whole life. When he got older, he had relationships with four of his own nieces; in his diaries, he blamed the girls for coming on to him. When these relationships came to light, Hammond had to leave the national scene for 13 years before his reputation recovered enough to allow him to get reelected. Retrieved from http://mentalfloss.com/article/13141/4-early-american-politicians-rocked-sex-scatp://mentalfloss.com/article/13141/4-early-american-politicians-rocked-sex-sca

As the most powerful man in the free world, former U.S. President Bill Clinton could have had any woman he wanted. Rather than seeing a supermodel on the side, Bill Clinton chose to have an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton denied having sexual relations with “that woman,” but the evidence, a blue dress with suggestive stains, indicated otherwise. Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky led to his impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, but he was ultimately acquitted by the Senate. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jess-carbino/top-10-political-sex-scandals_b_51153

Larry Craig the former Idaho senator was arrested in June 2007 for lewd conduct in the men’s restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport when his foot touched the foot of the man in the stall next to him. Craig blamed the whole thing on his wide stance and denied being gay but entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge. Despite announcing his intention to resign from the Senate at a news conference in September 2007, he later decided to finish the remainder of his term. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/politicans-gay-rumor_n_4549146.html

Michigan state House representative Todd Courser planned to cover up his extra-marital affair with Rep. Cindy Gamrat by  sending a distracting mass email to Republicans that accused him of sexual misconduct with a male prostitute. He could refute the wild false claims and take the moral high ground. Any other “scandal” that might emerge afterward would seem fictional and petty in comparison. Voila! Original scandal is erased and Courser’s political career could stay on course. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/domenick-scudera/the-great-gay-sex-scandal_b_79880

As everyone knows, the most effective way to besmirch a reputation is to throw “gay” all over it. And then — as every conservative knows — the best way to raise your numbers in the polls is to uphold your heterosexuality at all costs. And your faith. And your religious freedom. And your moral superiority. Wrap yourself in God and the flag.

The phony scandal would have worked if aide Ben Graham had cooperated. But Graham refused and was fired. Unfortunately for Courser, Graham had secretly taped the representative and the actual Courser-Gamrat affair was exposed. The lesson here? Never fire someone who knows your secrets. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/domenick-scudera/the-great-gay-sex-scandal_b_79880

In 2011 former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) sent explicit (dick pics) messages via his Twitter account to a young female follower.  Weiner at first denied his actions, but later admitted to sending the pics.  He resigned from Congress. Although professing that he was reformed, he again sent pics to a woman using the twitter name of ” Carlos Danger”.Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jess-carbino/top-10-political-sex-scandals_b_51153

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