From Kennedy to Clinton to Trump, US presidents have put sex into the headlines

As US presidential sex scandals go, this one has a way to travel. The ABC on Saturday:

Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeking to be released from a non-disclosure deal she signed before the 2016 election to keep her from talking about a 2006 sexual encounter she said she had with Donald Trump.

John F. Kennedy never had problems such as these. Nick Bryant, The Independent, May 25, 1994:

Kennedy was addicted to sex. His short spell in office, romantically dubbed “the 1000 days”, is almost as noteworthy for its 1000 nights. He suffered from an acute case of satyriasis and lacked all self-restraint. He celebrated the success of his spellbinding inaugural address by seducing a leading Hollywood actress and bedded scores of women thereafter.

The Washington press corps didn’t seem to notice. Bryant continues:

Kennedy was also fortunate that the 1960s were different times. Then, journalists acknowledged the separateness of a politician’s private and public life. Few in the Washington press corps questioned the role of Martin Luther King in spearheading the struggle for black equality, for example, yet rumours of his promiscuity were widespread long before his death in 1968.

There were sexual assault allegations against Bill Clinton, too. The Independent, November 16 last year:

President Bill Clinton’s decision to lie under oath about his consensual affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky almost forced him from the presidency. But allegations made by four other women that Clinton either sexually assaulted or harassed them have done little to discredit him among his supporters.

Clinton came second in Time magazine’s top 10 unfortunate political one-liners on the 20th anniversary of its utterance, January 25:

I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

Time passes judgment:

With those words, President Clinton didn’t just dig himself a hole, he stole a backhoe, dug a really deep hole, drove the backhoe into the hole, wired the backhoe with explosives and blew it up … Clinton was later impeached by the House of Representatives for lying under oath.

Richard M. Nixon also rated highly in Time’s top 10:

I am not a crook.

The magazine continues:

On November 17, 1973, President Richard Nixon denied any involvement in the Watergate scandal with his timeless defence. He was a crook.

Jimmy Carter could not tell a lie, nor could he hide his thoughts to Playboy magazine in 1976:

I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.

Michelle Wolf had a point when she turned her eye on the media at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last week:

You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks or vodka … but he has helped you. He’s helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you’re profiting off of him. If you’re going to profit off of Trump, you should at least give him some money because he doesn’t have any.