Whiskey Ring and  Credit Mobilier  1872

The former Civil War general had one of the most scandal-filled administrations of any U.S. president. Most prominent among these scandals was the Whiskey Ring controversy, which involved the diversion of whiskey tax revenues among politicians and whiskey distributors. Grant’s personal secretary, Orville Babcock, was among the 110 Republican politicians convicted.

Teapot Dome 1922

Harding filled his administration with friends from Ohio, who would come to be known as the Ohio Gang. Scandals involving various members of the Ohio Gang occurred throughout Harding’s presidency. The Teapot Dome scandal, which involved Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall accepting bribes from oil companies, was the most publicized one.

Watergate, 1972

Watergate began with the arrest of five men who, acting on orders from Nixon, broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel. The attempted cover-up by Nixon and his staff resulted in 69 government officials being charged.

Rather than face impeachment, Nixon resigned from office, the first and only president to step down in U.S. history. Nixon subsequently expressed regret over his actions, stating that Watergate had evolved from a “political scandal into a national tragedy.”

Nixon Pardon, 1974

President Ford angered the American public when he granted Nixon a full pardon, effectively preventing the former president from facing any criminal prosecution. The decision raised suspicions of a political deal and would haunt Ford throughout his presidency.

Iran-Contra Affair, 1981-1992

The CIA and National Security Council conceived of a plan to sell missiles to Iran in return for U.S. hostages, and then used part of the money received to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua against the Cuba-backed government. Confused? Reagan initially denied the arms-for-hostages deal, but later retracted his statement. In the end, 14 administration officials were indicted.

Oliver North, the former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and National Security Council aide, was convicted of destroying documents, accepting the gift of a $13,800 home security system and abetting the obstruction of Congress. Judge Gesell could have imposed a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fines of $750,000. Instead, he imposed a $150,000 fine, two years of probation, a three-year suspended sentence and an order to perform 1,200 hours of community service.

Iran-Contra Pardons, 1992

On December 24, 1992, President George H.W. Bush granted pardons to six defendants in the Iran-Contra Affairs. The defendants were Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state for Central America; former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane; former CIA officials Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, and Clair George; and former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

Monica Lewinsky, 1995-1996

Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about his sexual relations with White House staff member Monica Lewinsky.

Although Clinton was acquitted by the Senate and allowed to serve out the remainder of his final term, he agreed to a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license and was subsequently barred from practicing law before the Supreme Court in 2001.