By Berl Falbaum
After more than eight years of Donald Trump, it is still difficult to understand what happened to America and its moral compass.
I have yet to hear a reasonable, logical, or acceptable explanation of why half the electorate still continues to support a man who doesn’t have a redeeming political cell in his body.
But it wasn’t always like this in U.S. politics. As we come to the home stretch of the election, I thought it might be useful to revisit some (by no means all) controversies involving unsavory behavior in politics and how once our body politic — including both major parties — responded accordingly.
On a presidential level:
—1958: Sherman Adams, chief of staff for President Eisenhower, had to resign after accepting a gift of an expensive vicuña fur coat.
—1967: Former Michigan governor, George Romney, a Republican, had to drop out of his presidential campaign after saying he had been the subject of “brainwashing” by generals
about the state of the Vietnam War. I have never understood the price Romney had to pay for that faux pas.
—1973: Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after he was accused of tax evasion and bribery. He left the office in exchange for a plea bargain.
—1974: Republican President Nixon resigned following the two-year Watergate scandal. Indeed, Republicans pushed for his resignation, telling Nixon that if he did not bow out, he would be impeached as well as convicted in the Senate.
After more than eight years of Donald Trump, it is still difficult to understand what happened to America and its moral compass.
I have yet to hear a reasonable, logical, or acceptable explanation of why half the electorate still continues to support a man who doesn’t have a redeeming political cell in his body.
But it wasn’t always like this in U.S. politics. As we come to the home stretch of the election, I thought it might be useful to revisit some (by no means all) controversies involving unsavory behavior in politics and how once our body politic — including both major parties — responded accordingly.
On a presidential level:
—1958: Sherman Adams, chief of staff for President Eisenhower, had to resign after accepting a gift of an expensive vicuña fur coat.
—1967: Former Michigan governor, George Romney, a Republican, had to drop out of his presidential campaign after saying he had been the subject of “brainwashing” by generals
about the state of the Vietnam War. I have never understood the price Romney had to pay for that faux pas.
—1973: Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after he was accused of tax evasion and bribery. He left the office in exchange for a plea bargain.
—1974: Republican President Nixon resigned following the two-year Watergate scandal. Indeed, Republicans pushed for his resignation, telling Nixon that if he did not bow out, he would be impeached as well as convicted in the Senate.
—1988: The leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Gary Hart, was caught having an extramarital affair and was forced to abandon his presidential campaign.
—1992: Republican Vice President Dan Quayle’s misspelling of potato (he added an “e” at the end), basically destroyed his entire political career. I have never understood the merits of this “controversy” either.
—1998: President Clinton was impeached on charges relating to a sexual liaison he had with an intern, Monica Lewinsky. He was acquitted in the Senate.
—2004: Howard Dean, running in the Democratic primaries for president, had to quit his presidential campaign after he let loose with what became known as the “Dean scream” — yaaaaah! — in trying to energize his supporters after losing in the Iowa caucuses. Like the Romney and Quayle gaffes, this one has left me puzzled to this day.
—2008: John Edwards, a Democratic senator from North Carolina and a “titan” in the Democratic Party who was both a candidate for vice president and president, had to resign from politics following revelations of a terribly messy extramarital affair.
On the congressional level:
—1974: Arkansas Representative Wilbur Mills, a Democrat, considered at the time the most powerful man in D.C., was involved in what was the first major sex scandal in Washington. Police caught Mills driving drunk. His passenger was a stripper, Fanne Foxe, known as the “Argentine Firecracker.” First, Mills resigned as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and then left Congress in 1976.
—2002: Ohio Congressman Jim Traficant was thrown out of office by the House of Representatives after being convicted of bribery, racketeering, and corruption.
—2005: Tom DeLay, House majority leader, was indicted for alleged money laundering. Grand juries charged that a PAC set up by DeLay skirted Texas campaign finance laws. He left Congress after a 22-year career.
—2011: Democratic New York Congressman Anthony Weiner resigned after being embroiled in a sexting scandal. He was accused of sending sexual photos via the internet to several women.
—2017: Minnesota Democratic Senator Al Franken resigned following charges of sexual misconduct.
—2024: New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez resigned following his conviction for taking bribes and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.
On a state level:
—-2008: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned following allegations that he repeatedly used the services of a high-priced prostitution ring.
—2021: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, facing possible impeachment, resigned after the state’s attorney general documented multiple accusations of sexual harassment against women.
Compare any one of the above offenses to the debauchery of Donald Trump: pathological lying, fraud, sexual perversion, racism, misogyny, antisemitism, and we won’t mention inciting the January 6 insurrection and trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Nor will we mention is daily ugly rhetoric, including support for hanging his vice president, Mike Pence, and calling for the execution of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.
We will also not mention two impeachments; millions in fines for fraud in civil trials; a guilty verdict in a civil trial for sexual assault; nor the more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment; nor the four pending criminal cases.
While any one of the historic scandals cited above are nothing compared to Trump’s record, even combined they do not equate to the depravity of Trump.
Yet, here we are with Trump possibly winning a second term for president.
Someone — anyone — please explain this to me.
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
—1992: Republican Vice President Dan Quayle’s misspelling of potato (he added an “e” at the end), basically destroyed his entire political career. I have never understood the merits of this “controversy” either.
—1998: President Clinton was impeached on charges relating to a sexual liaison he had with an intern, Monica Lewinsky. He was acquitted in the Senate.
—2004: Howard Dean, running in the Democratic primaries for president, had to quit his presidential campaign after he let loose with what became known as the “Dean scream” — yaaaaah! — in trying to energize his supporters after losing in the Iowa caucuses. Like the Romney and Quayle gaffes, this one has left me puzzled to this day.
—2008: John Edwards, a Democratic senator from North Carolina and a “titan” in the Democratic Party who was both a candidate for vice president and president, had to resign from politics following revelations of a terribly messy extramarital affair.
On the congressional level:
—1974: Arkansas Representative Wilbur Mills, a Democrat, considered at the time the most powerful man in D.C., was involved in what was the first major sex scandal in Washington. Police caught Mills driving drunk. His passenger was a stripper, Fanne Foxe, known as the “Argentine Firecracker.” First, Mills resigned as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and then left Congress in 1976.
—2002: Ohio Congressman Jim Traficant was thrown out of office by the House of Representatives after being convicted of bribery, racketeering, and corruption.
—2005: Tom DeLay, House majority leader, was indicted for alleged money laundering. Grand juries charged that a PAC set up by DeLay skirted Texas campaign finance laws. He left Congress after a 22-year career.
—2011: Democratic New York Congressman Anthony Weiner resigned after being embroiled in a sexting scandal. He was accused of sending sexual photos via the internet to several women.
—2017: Minnesota Democratic Senator Al Franken resigned following charges of sexual misconduct.
—2024: New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez resigned following his conviction for taking bribes and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.
On a state level:
—-2008: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned following allegations that he repeatedly used the services of a high-priced prostitution ring.
—2021: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, facing possible impeachment, resigned after the state’s attorney general documented multiple accusations of sexual harassment against women.
Compare any one of the above offenses to the debauchery of Donald Trump: pathological lying, fraud, sexual perversion, racism, misogyny, antisemitism, and we won’t mention inciting the January 6 insurrection and trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Nor will we mention is daily ugly rhetoric, including support for hanging his vice president, Mike Pence, and calling for the execution of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.
We will also not mention two impeachments; millions in fines for fraud in civil trials; a guilty verdict in a civil trial for sexual assault; nor the more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment; nor the four pending criminal cases.
While any one of the historic scandals cited above are nothing compared to Trump’s record, even combined they do not equate to the depravity of Trump.
Yet, here we are with Trump possibly winning a second term for president.
Someone — anyone — please explain this to me.
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
