Covers the Credit Mobilier and Whiskey Ring scandals of the Grant administration; the Teapot Dome scandal of the Harding administration; the Watergate scandal of the Nixon Administration; the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration.

This text offers a concise single-volume survey of presidential scandals in the United States that looks at the behaviour and public image of every president from George Washington to Bill Clinton. The scandals covered include Franklin Pierce's drunkenness and JFK's extra-marital affairs.

"The 1972 break-in at Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel - by five men acting under the direction of a Republican president's closest aides and his staff - created a constitutional crisis second only to the Civil War and ultimately toppled the Nixon presidency. With its sordid trail of illegal wiretapping, illicit fund-raising, orchestrated cover-up, and destruction of evidence, it was the scandal that made every subsequent national political scandal a "gate" as well." "A disturbing tale made famous by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men, the Watergate scandal has been extensively dissected and vigorously debated. Keith Olson, however, offers for the first time a "layman's guide" to Watergate, a concise and readable one-volume history that highlights the key actors, events, and implications in this dark drama. John Dean, John Ehrlichman, H. R. Haldeman, G. Gordon Liddy, John Mitchell, Judge John Sirica, Senator Sam Ervin, Archibald Cox, and the ghostly "Deep Throat" reappear here, in a volume designed especially for a new generation of readers who know of Watergate only by name and for teachers looking for a straightforward summary for the classroom."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This book explores presidential power through an analysis of the ways that U.S. presidents attempt to manage scandals. While presidents routinely stonewall to block or limit investigations into their alleged transgressions or, in some cases, cooperate with investigators, this book proposes the existence of a third way of responding to scandals—a “backfire” or the creation of a counter-scandal to try to extinguish the original scandal. The existence of possible backfires is surveyed through case studies of the major scandals that impacted the Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and Trump administrations. The development of this form of scandal response has meaningful implications concerning the growth of presidential power and its impacts on the functioning of the U.S. political system and the quality of American democracy. Changes in partisanship, the media environment, and the public’s view of the presidency and government are topics covered in the book’s explanation of the trends in scandal responses.

States based on principles and ethics always expect their leaders and politicians to respect these principles and morals and to set an example for the people and for other countries, especially if these leaders occupy the highest position in the country, which is the position of president. Although there are some say that politics has no morality and that it depends only on interests and that the ends justify the means, it has been proven through many historical events that these statements are incorrect and that those who stick to them end a tragic end and perhaps a scandal echoed over time.The Constitution of the United States is one of the most powerful and most effective constitutions in the world. This Constitution has helped to create a balanced government. The balance between the federal and state governments has been maintained. The flexibility of the Constitution has been maintained and developed to put some restrictions to protect it from hasty changes.Politician includes not only those elected, but also party officials, candidates for office, their staffs and appointees. Every president directly selects, appoints or hires several thousand people. Private citizens should only be mentioned when they are closely linked to the scandal or politician. This list also does not include crimes that occur outside the politician's tenure unless they specifically stem from acts made while in office and discovered later.Scandal is defined as "loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety". Scandals are separate from 'controversies', which implies two differing points of view and 'unpopularity'. Many decisions are controversial, many decisions are unpopular, and that alone does not make them scandals. Breaking the law is a scandal. The finding of a court is the sole method used to determine a violation of law, but it is not the sole method of determining a scandal. Also included as scandals are politicians who resign, quit, run, or commit suicide while being investigated or threatened with investigation.The history of American presidents is full of scandals ranging from sexual, financial and political scandals, some of which may amount to treason, when an external force is used to intervene in the elections in favor of a particular candidate against another candidate because this candidate will be indebted to that external force and demanding that He pays a lot of bills at the expense of his country's interests.

Discusses political scandals in the USA including Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, Whitewater and political scandals in Congress.

Discusses scandals within the presidential administrations of Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.