Who Wants To Hear The Scandals That Have Gone On In The White House?
The President of the United States of America is not only the head of state but also the head of the government and once elected, can be removed only by a complicated impeachment process. This places a huge moral and ethical responsibility on the incumbent who has taken an oath to serve the nation and its citizen’s, protect the constitution and desist from actions which are detrimental to the nation and its nationals. History, however has a different story to tell and Americans have seen their Presidents’ embroiled in controversies and scandals.
When a wrong-doing, disgrace or moral outrage gets highly publicized, it takes the form of a scandal. When a politician indulges in illegal or unethical practices, breaks the nation’s laws and constitutional provisions or conspires to do so and gets caught in the act which is highly publicized, it gives birth to a political scandal. Listed below are some famous (and less-known) scandals involving American Presidents.
- Whiskey Ring Scandal : This scandal exposed in 1875 involved diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agents, politicians, whiskey distillers and distributors. The Whiskey Ring began in St. Louis but was also organized in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Peoria (largest city on Illinois river). A group of Republican politicians siphoned off millions of dollars in federal taxes on liquor. Though not directly involved, Republican President Ulysses S. Grant came to be associated closely with this scandal when his private secretary Orville E. Babcock was indicted but escaped conviction only due to a Presidential Pardon. Following this, the Republicans came to be associated with corruption.
- Black Friday Scandal : This scandal also happened During Grant’s Presidency and involved a gold speculation financial crisis in September 1869, set up by Wall Street manipulators Jay Gould and James Fisk. They tried to corner the gold market and tricked Grant into preventing his treasury secretary from stopping the fraud. However, Grant eventually released large amounts of gold back into the marked, causing a large-scale financial crisis for many gold investors. By this time, Jay and James had already made a fortune. Again, Grant did not personally benefit from this but his name,administration andRepublican Party came to symbolize corruption.
- Teapot Dome Scandal : A famous scandal that occurred in 1920′s during President Warren G. Harding’s tenure. His Secretary of Interior, Albert B. Fall rented public oil fields to private business entities on April 7, 1922, in exchange for personal loans. Fall was tried and convicted in 1931 and became the first U.S. Cabinet member to go to prison. A number of President Harding’s inner circle member’s committed suicide as news of corruption leaked out and the President himself died of heart-attack shortly thereafter.
- Billie Sol Estes Scandal : He was a Texas-based financier who amassed a large fortune by misusing the federal surplus grain program through fraudulent means during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s (LBJ) tenure. He claimed to be a cotton grower who grew and stocked huge quantities of cotton and then used this non-existing item as a collateral to get huge bank loans. When arrested and convicted, he claimed that LBJ was a party to the act.
- Watergate Scandal : This scandal led to a constitutional crisis in 1970′s eventually leading to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. It involved using the CIA and other officials to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters with a view to spying on them. Ironically, they got caught on their second break-in as they were getting ready to replace the earlier bug which was faulty.
- Iran Contra Affair : President Ronald Regan’s administration secretly sold arms to Iran which was engaged in a bloody war with neighbor Iraq during 1980-88 and used the money received to fund the contra rebel’s fight to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
- Monica Lewinsky Sex Scandal : Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky is a sex scandal but it led to impeachment proceedings where the former President committed perjury, ie., intentionally lied under oath. He however escaped impeachment, but it has remained the one big bad mark of his tenure.
So think about it. This has been going on since the 1870′s. Will the politicians learn or is there more to come? Only the politician’s can answer that.
Author: Eric Schultz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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