Presidential Sex Scandals That Rocked the White House

Ex-President Donald Trump has landed in hot water, charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over an alleged $130,000 hush money payment and subsequent cover-up linked to a purported affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels. But he is hardly the only POTUS to have found his love life in the crosshairs.

Former POTUS Donald Trump and his purported relationship with adult actress Stormy Daniels way back in 2006 are dominating in the headlines right now. But Trump is hardly the first president to be hauled over the coals over allegations concerning his personal life. There have been others before him who also found themselves at the center of a public scandal.

Love & Scandals in the White House

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was at the Oval Office from 1933 right up until he passed away in 1945, had an affair with his wife's secretary, according to historical records made public decades after the New Deal reformer's death.

Roosevelt tied the knot with spouse Eleanor in 1905, but he reportedly began a fling in 1914 with a woman by the name of Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, who was employed by his wife at the time. Eleanor learned about the affair in 1918 after discovering a batch of revealing personal letters that were written by her husband. The affronted future first lady offered her husband a divorce, but his mother managed to convince her otherwise.

John F. Kennedy

America’s 35th president, who was the youngest to have ever been elected to the top office, served from 1961 until 1963. A bevy of women claimed to have had a fling with JFK.

Kennedy wed Jacqueline "Jackie" Bouvier in 1953. Throughout his life with the first lady until his assassination on November 22, 1963, JFK reportedly waded into a succession of infidelities. Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe was the most talked-about of Kennedy’s alleged love interests. For his 45th birthday, JFK was serenaded by Monroe. The affair has never been confirmed.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Multiple love affairs are attributed to Lyndon B. Johnson, the US president who succeeded Kennedy.

Reportedly an indefatigable womanizer, Johnson married Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor in 1934. However, many women were linked to his name romantically. The most famous of which was Madeleine Brown, who boasted of having had an affair with Johnson that lasted 20 years. Her son went as far as to level a paternity lawsuit against the Johnson family in 1987. The case was subsequently dismissed, however.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., who served as the 38th POTUS from 1974 to 1977, had a decades-long marriage to Betty Ford. However, he was accused of having had an affair with an East German spy named Ellen Rometsch, who was later deported. There was never any proof to substantiate the allegations.

Bill Clinton

The tangible and “graphic” details of Bill Clinton’s presidential sex row made it one of the most notorious. POTUS No. 42, Bill Clinton, in the WH from 1993 to 2001, has been married to his wife Hillary since 1975. His affair with Monica Lewinsky rocked the White House and made for gripping news perusal.

In the span of the years between 1995 and 1997, Lewinsky, 22, an unpaid WH intern fresh out of college, was romantically linked with the then-US president, 49-year-old Clinton. Moved into a Pentagon job, the young woman decided to confide in a coworker, Linda Tripp, about her relationship. Tripp recorded in private a few of her chats with Lewinsky. Thus, in 1998, the fling became public. Initially, Bill Clinton chose to deny everything, but was finally cornered into admitting “inappropriate intimate physical contact” with Lewinsky. One particularly spicy interaction with President Clinton resulted in a stain on the young woman’s blue garment, and was later used to prove the existence of a romantic relationship between the two.

Impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998 by the US House of Representatives, Bill Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. Assault and even rape accusations hounded him throughout his career, levelled by a spate of women, with Bill Clinton denying all of them.

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush, was accused in 2002 by a woman from the state of Texas, Margie Schoedinger, of allegedly kidnapping and raping her. She also reportedly filed a $50 million lawsuit against him. Attorneys for Bush filed a motion to dismiss the case, and it was dismissed shortly thereafter for want of prosecution. However, on September 22, 2003 Schoedinger died of an apparent suicide.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has been hounded by scandalous accusations of affairs, dating to before he took office after winning in the 2016 presidential election. Adult film star Stormy Daniels claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, while his wife Melania was pregnant. Trump has adamantly denied engaging in the affair or playing any role in the purported $130,000 hush money payments made to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.