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Full Description
"American history buffs will savor this detailed yet accessible roundup of political imbroglios." —Publishers Weekly
Political scandals have become an indelible feature of the American political system since the creation of the republic more than two centuries ago. In his previous book, Libertines: American Political Sex Scandals from Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump, Michael Martinez explored why public figures sometimes take extraordinary risks, sullying their good names, humiliating their families, placing themselves in legal jeopardy, and potentially destroying their political careers as they seek to gratify their sexual desires. In Scoundrels, Martinez examines thirteen of the most famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous political scandals of other sorts in American history, including the Teapot Dome case from the 1920s, the Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s, the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s, and Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Combining riveting storytelling with insights into 200 years of American political corruption, Martinez has once again written a book that will enlighten all readers interested in human nature and political history.
Contents
Introduction and Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: "The Day Will Come When Another and More Pure & Virtuous
Legislature, Will Make Null & Void This Sale of Birthright":The Yazoo
Land Fraud
Chapter 2: "If I Were to Name This, I Would Call It the Will o' Wisp Treason":
The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
Chapter 3: "Mr. Sumner, I Have Read Your Speech Twice Over Carefully. It Is a
Libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, Who is a Relative of Mine": The
Caning of Charles Sumner
Chapter 4: "Have Those Men Dismissed by 3 O'clock This Afternoon or Shut
Down the Bureau": Grant Administration Scandals of the 1870s
Chapter 5: "Do You Believe This Man is Crook? If He is a Crook, Convict
Him": The Teapot Dome Scandal
Chapter 6: "I Am the Only Candidate Inspected by the United States Government
and Found to be 100 Percent Pure.": William "Wild Bill" Langer
Chapter 7: "Nobody Sat Down in Front of Me with a Suitcase of Money":
Spiro Agnew
Chapter 8: "I Am Not a Crook": The Watergate Scandal
Chapter 9: "Money Talks in This Business, and Bullshit Walks": The
Abscam Scandal
Chapter 10: "I Have Been in Government Long Enough to Know That You
Don't Have to Ask the Question Explicitly to Know What the Message
Is": The Savings & Loan Scandal
Chapter 11: "I Told the American People I Did Not Trade Arms for Hostages.
My Heart and My Best Intentions Still Tell Me That's True, but the Facts and
the Evidence Tell Me It Is Not": The Iran-Contra Affair
Chapter 12: "All He Was Worried About was Jack. Jack Has to Get His Next BigCheck": Jack Abramoff and Influence Peddling
Chapter 13: "Everybody's Trying to Get Me. It's Unfair. Now Everybody's Saying I'mGoing to be Impeached": 2016 Russian Election Interference
Afterword
References
About the Author
