A Brief History
On August 17, 1998, US President Bill Clinton admitted in a taped deposition that he had am “improper physical relationship” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, a lie that led to his impeachment. American Presidents have been involved in many scandals over the years, and here we list some of those, inviting our viewers to chime in and rank those executive misdeeds from bad to the worst.
(See our many other articles about political scandals.)
Digging Deeper
Andrew Jackson was married to an already married woman and was a veteran of 100 duels, including killing a man in a duel.
Andrew Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act by firing the Secretary of War and was impeached.
Grover Cleveland had an illegitimate child alleged not conceived through consensual sex, an incident called the Halpin Scandal.
Warren G. Harding was infamous for the Teapot Dome scandal and corrupt cabinet members.
Richard Nixon was infamous for the Watergate Coverup and being the only US president forced to resing.
Ronald Reagan was humiliated by the hypocritical Iran-Contra Scandal.
Bill Clinton was impeached for lying to Congress about sex with Monica Lewinsky.
Donald Trump was impeached twice and is currently the subject of several post presidential investigations, both criminal and civil.
Question for students (and subscribers): Which scandal do you think was the worst? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Banner, James. Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today. The New Press, 2019.
Nasser, Afify. THE PRESIDENTIAL SCANDALS: FROM JOHN KENNEDY TO DONALD TRUMP. Independently published, 2019.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of Clinton and Monica Lewinsky on February 28, 1997, is a work of an employee of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
