The Top 12 Recent Political Sex Scandals

Newt Gingrich

Newt is the political equivalent to Elizabeth Taylor. Now on his third marriage, this former Speaker of the House and presidential contender admitted to “past indiscretions,” but it’s the bombshell from his second wife, Marianne Gingrich, who said in an interview that Newt wanted to keep her as his wife while keeping (his now wife, then mistress) Callista Bisek as his mistress that really caused an uproar. Maybe Newt thought it was a case of bipartisanship.

Anthony Weiner

Representative Anthony Weiner had to resign his congressional seat after it came to light he had lewd and inappropriate online exchanges with women, including a now famous shot of his crotch. Some things you just can’t un-see.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Movie star, titan of weight lifting, and fan of the Hummer, it seems as if everything Arnold does is over-sized, including his mistakes. The former Governor of California, the very-married-Arnold, got caught with his hand in the cookie jar after he admitted to fathering a child with his maid. Arnold’s wife, Maria Shriver, said “Hasta la vista, hubby.”

Bill Clinton

The granddaddy of all political scandals. Kenneth Star. Cigars. The blue dress. “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” A sex act for a time was renamed “getting a Lewinsky.” So many cultural references, and yet Clinton managed to survive. The woman of his affections, however, wasn’t so lucky. Monica Lewinsky’s handbag business went under. On the bright side, she is said to be shopping a tell-all book of the affair – over a decade later – for a rumored $12 million.

Mark Sanford

In 2009, the South Carolina governor threw in the towel after he admitted to an extramarital affair with Maria Belen Chapur. His excuse of “hiking on the Appalachian Trial” could become its own euphemism (he was, in actuality, traveling to Argentina to see his mistress). Since then, Mark and his wife Jenny have divorced. He and his former mistress are now engaged. Politics makes for strange bedfellows, indeed.

Mark Foley

In 2006, Congressman Mark Foley had to resign for sending explicit Internet messages to underage male teenagers working on Capitol Hill. Some nuggets of his include “did you spank it this weekend yourself” and “so you got a stiff one now.” Ironically, his voting record on LGBT-rights issues was cited in Newsweek as being “anti-gay.”

For more, check out a transcript of his chat.

James McGreevey

In 2004, the New Jersey governor resigned after he admitted he was gay and had an extramarital affair with another man. He has since attended the General Theological Seminary to obtain his Master of Divinity in order to become an Episcopal priest. He and his wife have since separated.

Jack Ryan

With a name straight out of a Tom Clancy novel, Jack Ryan had to drop out of his U.S. Senate bid due to an alleged sex scandal involving his ex-wife, "Star Trek: Voyager's" Seven of Nine, Jeri Ryan. She said Jack had asked her to perform sex acts with him in public in sex clubs in New York, New Orleans and Paris, with one in particular that was a "bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling.” While not illegal, it made him a pariah to his party.

Eliot Spitzer

In 2008, the former New York governor had to resign in disgrace after he was caught in a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced call girl, Ashley Dupre. Spitzer is now the host of “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer” on Current TV. Dupre made attempts at a music career, and most recently was on “Famous Food” for VH1.

Eric Massa

In 2010, the Congressman from New York resigned to avoid an ethics investigation into his admitted groping and tickling of male staffers. He stated on Fox News, “Not only did I grope [a staffer], I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe.” Confusing matters, he said only hours later on “Larry King Live” that it was not true that he groped anyone and only made the mistake of “getting too familiar with my staff.”