Beyond Weiner: Eight Other Naughty Politicians Who Didn’t Resign

The Resignation

Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned Thursday, announcing that it was impossible for him to continue to serve his district because of “the distraction that I have created.” In the grand scheme of political distractions, however, how do Weiner’s rank? Here are some other politicians who were arguably naughtier than Weiner but managed to avoid resignation.

Photograph by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
1. Sen. David Vitter’s “Serious Sin”

Early in his political career, Vitter came out strongly against cheaters. When he took over the seat vacated by the adulterous Louisiana Rep. Bob Livingston in 1999, he declared, “I think Livingston’s stepping down makes a very powerful argument that [then-President Bill] Clinton should resign as well and move beyond this mess.” But eight years later, Vitter was a senator and his thinking had apparently changed. When his number popped up in the “D.C. Madam’s” phone book, he acknowledged, with his wife by his side, that he’d been involved in “serious sin” with a prostitute. Yet he did not resign, and Louisiana voters re-elected him in 2010.
Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
2. Gov. Mark Sanford’s “Hike” With His “Soul Mate”

The Republican governor of South Carolina created a new euphemism when his spokesmen told reporters he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was actually visiting his girlfriend in Buenos Aires. Upon his return, he confessed to his extramarital affair and acknowledged he had sinned with his Argentinean “soul mate.” Despite threats of impeachment, he refused to resign and finished his term in the governor’s mansion in 2010.
Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images.
3. Rep. Barney Frank’s Pimp Driver

Would Frank’s fate as a young politician have been different in the age of Twitter and digital cameras? Perhaps. In the mid-1980s, he got involved with Steve Gobie, a male prostitute and pimp. Frank hired Gobie on as his housekeeper and driver. Gobie repaid the favor by turning Frank’s house into a prostitution parlor—without Frank’s knowledge, according to an investigation—and trying to sell the story to local media. Although some—including former Sen. Larry Craig of “bathroom footsie” fame—tried to expel Frank, he was merely reprimanded and remains in office.
Photograph by Luke Frazza/AFP/Getty Images.
4. Rep. Gerry Studds’ Page Affair

Studds got himself into some trouble in 1983 when it was revealed that he’d been involved with a 17-year-old male page a decade earlier. Some called for Studds to resign, but he said the relationship was consensual. Not only was Studds re-elected, but he received two standing ovations from supporters in his Massachusetts district after being censured for the affair. He retired from Congress in 1997.

Photograph by Getty Images.
5. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Indulgences

Berlusconi’s alleged dalliances with underage prostitutes have spurred thousands of women to take to the streets; his ex-wife has published a letter condemning his wandering eye. Others want him out for an array of other corruption charges. And yet he carries on, the second-longest-serving prime minister of Italy, although not continuously as his party has been in and out of power. How? In Corriere della Sera, a prominent Italian columnist summed it up: “Because he embodies the Italian dream of being everything, of pleasing everyone (and indulging himself in everything), without giving up anything.”
Photograph by Vincento Pinto/AFP/Getty Images.
6. President Grover Cleveland’s Other Child

Many a historian claims that the 22^nd president of the United States fathered an out-of-wedlock child in 1873. ( A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland by Charles Lachman goes so far as to suggest that Cleveland raped the woman, a less-circulated theory.) The woman, a widow, named the child after him. Cleveland never publicly admitted to being the child’s father, though he did assume financial responsibility. Not only was he elected president following the scandal, but he remains the only man to serve as president for two nonconsecutive terms.

Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers via Getty Images.
7. Sen. Ted Kennedy’s Auto Accident

In July, 1969 Kennedy was driving the young Mary Jo Kopechne home on Martha’s Vineyard when his car went off a bridge and sunk underwater, drowning Kopechne. Kennedy fled the scene only to confess the next day. In his public apology, he asked the citizens of Massachusetts whether he should stay in office. They re-elected him in 1970 and every six years thereafter until his death in 2009. (Here he arrives in Brussels in October 1969 with his wife, Joan.)
Photograph by AFP/Getty Images.
8. President Bill Clinton’s Intern Affair

Details of Clinton’s relations with Monica Lewinsky, the infamous intern-turned-reality-show-star-and-handbag-designer, have been officially reported in X- (or at least R-) rated detail. The affair led to Clinton’s 1998 impeachment by the House of Representatives, but he was acquitted by the Senate, and Clinton remained in office for three more years.
Photograph courtesy Getty Images.