BILL CLINTON certainly had the best-publicized affair of any sitting president. From November 1995 to March of 1997, Clinton had a series of brief sexual encounters with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, the assignations taking place in or near the Oval Office. The affair became public in 1998 thanks to the unrelated case of Paula Jones, who was suing Clinton for sexual harrassment. During a deposition in that case Clinton denied having sexual relations with Lewinsky; his denial, among other things, led to Clinton’s impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice. (It also led to the 453-page Kenneth Starr report explicitly detailing Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky — a landmark document in the history of presidential peccadilloes.) Clinton was acquitted, but not before the scandal had dominated public discussion for more than a year. For a full history of the case, see the Washington Post’s extensive report titled Clinton Accused.

THOMAS JEFFERSON: Did Jefferson secretly father children by slave Sally Hemings? Such rumors were first published in 1802 by a political rival of Jefferson, James Callender. Jefferson was a widower and Hemings was herself the illicit daughter of a female slave and Jefferson’s own father-in-law. For the most part historians tended to dismiss the rumors as scurrilous gossip spread by Jefferson’s enemies. But in 1998, DNA testing on his descendants showed that Jefferson or one of his close male relatives was highly likely to be the father of Hemings’s last son, Eston. A later study by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation also concluded that Jefferson was likely the father of at least one of Hemings’s six children.

GROVER CLEVELAND: Ten years before Cleveland’s presidency, store clerk Maria Halpin named him as the father of her illegitimate son. Cleveland didn’t dispute the charge, and the child was quietly adopted out. During the 1884 campaign a Buffalo newspaper dug up the story, which Cleveland then — remarkably — admitted. His opponents attacked with chants of, “Ma, ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!” But the big man survived and was elected with a slim 62,000 vote margin.

WOODROW WILSON: Wilson caused a public scandal simply by getting engaged. His first wife having died in August of 1914, Wilson met widow Edith Bolling Galt the following March and proposed in May. Much nasty gossip followed about Wilson’s ‘disrespect’ for his first wife. Crazy rumors even surfaced that Wilson had murdered his wife, or had been having an affair. No matter: Wilson and Galt were married that December.

WARREN HARDING: Harding got around. One mistress, Carrie Phillips, took $20,000 in hush money from the GOP while Harding ran for president. Another, Nan Britton, bore Harding’s child in 1919 while he was a senator. After Harding became president he continued to ‘entertain’ Britton, sometimes in a small anteroom just off the Oval Office. After Harding’s death she wrote a bestseller, The President’s Daughter, telling all.

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT: FDR’s affair with Lucy Mercer was discovered by his wife Eleanor in 1918. Roosevelt agreed to end the affair, but the romance began anew sometime later and continued while he was president. Mercer was with Roosevelt when he died in Warm Springs, Georgia in 1945, but this (like the affair itself) was kept hidden until much later.

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2 FOR UNBELIEVABLE SEX SCANDALS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!

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Ronald Reagan’s Senility 

Reporters covering the Reagan White House were undoubtedly enchanted by the charismatic and garrulous chief executive. They attributed his occasional gaffes to his busy schedule and his studied persona of being a manager rather than a detail man. If they noticed the symptoms indicating the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease, they said nothing. It is probable that the correspondents in Washington D.C. realized that something was wrong, however, due to the nature of their profession.

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John F. Kennedy’s Addison’s Disease 

In addition to the World War II back injury that occasionally plagued him, President John F. Kennedy suffered from Addison’s disease which is a disorder of the adrenal system that affects digestion and causes a brownish coloration to the skin. Although it isn’t fatal, it is uncomfortable. The fact that JFK had the disease was never reported, but then again, neither were his numerous affairs.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Infantile Paralysis 

Although the public knew that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had developed polio in 1921, newspaper photo editors honored White House requests not to publish pictures of the president being carried by his aides, in his wheelchair, his leg braces or on crutches. As a matter of fact, it was a general rule that reporters covering Washington, D.C. in the 1950’s systematically refused to report which elected officials drank, philandered, or got arrested unless (as one correspondent explained) “it affected his ability to carry out his job.”

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Woodrow Wilson’s Stroke 

President Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke during his presidency in September of 1919. President Wilson was oppossed to the idea of allowing Vice President Thomas R. Marshall being sworn is as chief executive. Because he wanted to continue in office, he allowed his second wife, Edith Bolling Galt to assume many of his duties, which was in violation of the United States Constitution. The extent of her involvement was never determined. However, it is certain that she did so for the duration of his presidency which did not end until 1922. In fact, there are several references about her being the “first female president” and the “secret president”. Click here visit her biography page at the White House Government Site.