Ah, where are some of the great sex scandals of bygone times?
I'm old enough to remember a very hilarious one involving Wilbur Mills, the Democratic chair of the House Ways and Means Committee;
Unfortunately, Mills is perhaps best known for a scandal involving a drunken incident on October 7, 1974, with an Argentine stripper known as Fanne Foxe. Mills' car, driven by a former Nixon staffer, was stopped by US Park police late at night because the driver had not turned on the lights. Mills was intoxicated, and his face was cut from a scuffle with Foxe. When police approached the car, Foxe leapt from the car and jumped into the nearby Tidal Basin. Mills acknowledged his alcoholism, sought treatment at the West Palm Beach Institute, and joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Despite the scandal, he was re-elected to Congress in November 1974 by 60%, but in December he drunkenly staggered onstage at a Boston strip club where Ms. Fox was performing. Soon after this second embarrassment Mills was forced to step down from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. Mills is one of numerous public officials known to have drinking problems during the time. He did not seek re-election in 1976.
Another great story from the same era involved the Secretary of Agriculture - Earl Butz;
In 1976, Butz became the center of a controversy when it was revealed that he frequently told jokes that demeaned various racial and religious groups; he reportedly ridiculed Pope Paul VI for his stand on birth control, quipping that "he no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules," drawing fire from Roman Catholics, and especially those of Italian American heritage. Butz also allegedly uttered the following comment while on board Air Force One during Ford's 1976 re-election campaign: "I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight pussy; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to shit." American newspapers and news magazines wanted to cover this, but they felt that the statement was too obscene and offensive to print. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the Associated Press sent out the uncensored quotation but only two newspapers printed the statement verbatim: the Madison Capital Times and the Toledo Blade of Toledo, Ohio. Some paraphrased, saying for example that Butz had commented on the desire of black Americans to have "good sex, comfortable shoes, and a warm place to go the bathroom." Others stated that he had said something too obscene to print, and invited their readers to contact the editors if they wanted more information. The San Diego Evening Tribune offered to mail a copy of the whole quotation to anyone who requested it; more than they 3,000 did, and got copies. Negative publicity from the statement forced Butz to resign from his Cabinet post on October 4, 1976.
