Watergate. Billygate. Iran-Contra. Teapot Dome. Monica Lewinsky.American history is marked by era-defining misdeeds, indiscretions, and the kind of tabloid-ready scandals that politicians seem to do better than anyone else. Now, for the first time, one volume brings together 300 years of political wrongdoing in an illustrated history of politicians gone wild—proving that today’s scoundrels aren’t the first, worst, and surely won’t be the last…. From high crimes to misdemeanors to moments of licentiousness and larceny, this unique compendium captures in complete, colorful detail the foibles, failings, peccadilloes, dirty tricks, and astounding blunders committed by politicians behaving badly. Amid stories of brawlers, plagiarists, sexual predators, tax evaders, and the temporarily insane, this almanac tells all about: •The only (so far!) president to be arrested while in office: Ulysses S. Grant, who was allegedly issued a ticket for racing his horse and buggy through the streets of Washington, D.C. •The former New Jersey state senator David J. Friedland, who disappeared during a scuba diving accident in 1985. It turns out he staged the accident and served nine years in prison after being captured in the Maldives. •Tape-recorded instructions from highbrow president Franklin Delano Roosevelt on how his staff should carry out some low-down political tricks •The bizarre story of U.S. congressman Robert Potter, who castrated two men he suspected of having affairs with his wife. Potter won election to the state house while in jail—but was kicked out for cheating at cards. •Texas congressman Henry Barbosa Gonzalez: he was charged with assault in 1986 after he shoved and hit a man who called him a communist. Gonzalez was seventy years old at the time. At once shocking and hilariously funny, here’s a book that exposes the history of American politics, warts and all—and makes for hours of jaw-dropping, fascinating, illuminating reading.

Political corruption in America is worse today than it has been since the Watergate era. Americans know it, and the politicians have known it for years. Urgent calls for reform have become standard fare, but nothing changes. A Democrat President and a Republican Congress were both elected on the strength of their promises of reform. Neither has delivered. Americans contemplate the tottering remains of our ethically bankrupt political system with despair. Fact: The Christian Coalition's 1994 voter guides appear to have been skewered to favor Republican candidates in key congressional races across the country, in direct contravention of federal election law. The truth is, the politicians couldn't be happier dickering over the remains of the welfare state. Because, as you'll learn in Dirty Little Secrets, there is probably not a politician in America who does not benefit directly, personally, and continually from the status quo. Fact: The state Democratic party in Tennessee paid sums in excess of six figures to a number of groups and organizations for various political services in 1994. The problem? None of the groups actually exist, except on paper. Our Politicians, from those in the highest reaches of the Republican and Democratic parties to those in the humblest state congressional districts, evade, massage, and even break the law in order to hold on to power. But instead of merely unmasking corrupt politicians in every region of the country, Dirty Little Secrets analyzes why corruption persists in American politics, despite scandal after scandal, and in spite of periodic bursts of reform. Fact: On the eve of the 1994 elections, mock "pollsters" called up thousand ofvoters in one Wisconsin congressional district to ask whether their electoral decisions would be influenced if they knew one of the candidates was a lesbian. Most politicians want to do the right thing. But they also want to be reelected, and the system is far stronger than any honest man or woman. The influence of money and the intricacies of the levers of power make it easier for politicians to ignore the law than to obey it. In Dirty Little Secrets you will read of the conservative movement's hidden manipulations in 1994, and learn the truth about Newt Gingrich's twenty-year program of political destabilization. The history of the corrupt House the Democrats built with the help of liberal interest groups stands revealed. And Larry J. Sabato and Glenn R. Simpson expose the corrupt and illegal tactics both parties have used for decades to protect and promote their own power. Fact: In 1994, in Alabama, one local election was decided by three hundred votes. Seventeen hundred ballots cast in that election were illegally admitted absentee ballots, some of them submitted by dead people. Sabato and Simpson's fresh reporting and thousands of hours of background research include interviews with influential politicians, consultants, and political operatives, Freedom of Information Act requests, and thousands of pages of obscure campaign reports. They prove corruption is not about bad apples or colorful local traditions. And they offer a completely original plan for reform--Deregulation Plus--that will frighten both parties and make the American electorate smile for the first time in years. Dirty Little Secrets pulls together the corruption story from all parts of the country sooverwhelmingly that no one--from the White House to your house--will be able to deny that political reform must be one of the key issues of the 1996 election campaign.

This dynamic, two-volume reference work covers the complete scandal-filled history of American political corruption. Over 350 information-packed entries explore the people, crimes, investigations and court cases behind 200 years of political scandals.

"American history buffs will savor this detailed yet accessible roundup of political imbroglios." —Publishers Weekly Political scandals have become an indelible feature of the American political system since the creation of the republic more than two centuries ago. In his previous book, Libertines: American Political Sex Scandals from Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump, Michael Martinez explored why public figures sometimes take extraordinary risks, sullying their good names, humiliating their families, placing themselves in legal jeopardy, and potentially destroying their political careers as they seek to gratify their sexual desires. In Scoundrels, Martinez examines thirteen of the most famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous political scandals of other sorts in American history, including the Teapot Dome case from the 1920s, the Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s, the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s, and Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Combining riveting storytelling with insights into 200 years of American political corruption, Martinez has once again written a book that will enlighten all readers interested in human nature and political history.

The City and Sex examines American political sex scandals at the national level. Studying these events over time with an emphasis on the evolving responses of both statesmen and citizens reveals the republic’s deteriorating moral health and illuminates the country’s dangerous tendency toward servitude. Using scandals as a window through which to glimpse our deterioration, the book identifies a trajectory of decline beginning in the twentieth century, by which Americans became less tutored in virtue, less spirited in citizenship, less agreed on questions of moral significance, and ultimately less dexterous in exercising the skills of self-government. It seeks to show that the freedom from virtue won through the collapse of moral standards has produced an American citizenry increasingly prone to the kind of dependence and enslavement Alexis de Tocqueville cautioned against in the 1830s.

Corruption scandals receive significant press coverage and scrutiny from practitioners of global governance, and bilateral and multilateral donors. Across the globe, the annual publication of TI’s CPI and World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators elicits spirited denials and accusations of targeting, of neo-colonialism. Poor measures on corruption indices and the ensuing negative publicity can have serious consequences both externally, through a freeze or retraction of donor funding, and internally, through reducing the availability of public funds, and harming the credibility of serving governments and institutions. Corruption Scandals and their Global Impacts tracks several major corruption scandals across the world in a comparative analysis to assess the full impact of global corruption. Over the course of the book, the contributors deliberate the exposure and reporting of corruption scandals, demonstrate how corruption inhibits development on different levels and across different countries, the impact it has on the country in question, how citizens and authorities respond to corruption, and some local, regional and global policy and legislative measures to combat corruption. The chapters examine the transnational manifestation of corruption scandals around the world, from developed countries and regions such as the United States and the European Union, to BRIC countries Brazil and Russia, to developing countries such as Belarus, Jamaica, Kenya and Nigeria. In each case, chapters highlight the scandal, its impact, the local, regional and global responses, and the subsequent global perceptions of the country. Concluding with a review of the global impacts of corruption scandals, this book provides an important comparative analysis which will be useful to students and scholars of international development and politics, as well as to development practitioners, donors, politicians and policy makers.

Considers the social and historical significance of political scandal Examines the constant and changing features of political scandal over the past three centuries Offers an 'insider's account' of the role of the press in the reporting - and indeed manufacture - of some of the most memorable scandals of recent years Discusses the enduring.

From the 1975 Loans Affair to the 1997 'travel rorts' controversy, over the past 25 years we have become accustomed to the political crises and personal dramas of scandals unfolding in the news. More than a dozen federal cabinet ministers have been forced to resign, and some disgraced state government ministers have even served time in prison. A few scandals have directly affected the fates of governments, many individual careers have been damaged, and at times the political agenda has been sharply changed. In this innovative book political scientist Rodney Tiffen uses case studies of Australia's major political scandals to show: why some issues become scandals but others don't; how scandals are brought to light; how politicians, parliament, the courts and the media interact as scandals unfold; what scandals tell us about our political culture.

..". this timely and fascinating book ... is a handbook for those interested in gaining perspective on the appearance of and actual corruption in the American system, and ... can be read cover to cover to great profit ... it will find its way into classrooms. Scholars will use it as a means to engage and extend many of its provocative findings. However it is used, the effort is well worth the time invested." - Presidential Studies Quarterly"This volume, edited by two well-respected professors of US politics, represents the fine effort of nearly a dozen scholars to tackle this challenging subject ... Several of the essays are especially illuminating ... an important contribution to the study of political corruption in the US. Recommended."- CHOICE

Libertines seeks to understand why public figures sometimes take extraordinary risks, sullying their good names, humiliating their families, placing themselves in legal jeopardy, and potentially destroying their political careers as they seek to gratify their sexual desires. From Hamilton to Trump and the many in between, each case of sexual misconduct in this book shows the seamy side of political lives, with calculations about covering discretions or portraying them favorably occurring only after the fact.