Top political scandals

Richard Nixon had to insist he was “not a crook.” Bill Clinton told the world he “did not have sex with that woman.”

Politics and scandal go hand-in-hand, and much of the public is beyond being shocked by the misdeeds and poor choices of folks in high places. The past few years, however, have provided a bumper crop of juicy headlines and humiliations.

Here’s a list of some of our favorites:

Rod Blagojevich: Illinois Governor essentially puts a U.S. Senate appointment up for sale, yet seems stunned when he was actually forced from office.

Mark Sanford: South Carolina governor tells aides he is going out to hike the Appalachian Trail. Instead, he flies to Argentina to see his girlfriend. Then he makes an even bigger mess trying to explain the whole thing.

Eliot Spitzer: In a classic “do as I say, not as I do” moment, New York’s crime-fighting governor gets caught in a call-girl scandal.

John Edwards: The former presidential candidate has to fess up to having a close encounter or two with a woman who was not his wife. So much for the good old boy next door image…

Ted Stevens: The Alaska Senator is convicted of accepting home renovations and other illegal gifts just eight days before the November elections. He still only loses by 4,000 votes.

Mark Foley: Six-time Florida Congressman resigns after it comes to light that he had sent sexually-explicit e-mails to underage pages.

Larry Craig: Idaho Senator is arrested after playing footsie with an undercover cop in an airport restroom.  He admits guilt, then tries to recant. Who knew a “wide stance” was open to such interpretation?

Kwame Kilpatrick — Detroit mayor who lies about having an affair with an aide eventually cops to two counts of obstruction of justice and agrees to spend four months in jail.

Jim McGreevey: New Jersey Governor resigns from office, admitting he had an affair with a male aide.

Randy “Duke” Cunningham: California Congressman is forced out after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and under-reporting his income for the 2004 tax year.

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