Political Suicide

by Erin McHugh

Overview

Political Suicide is a history of the best and most interesting missteps, peccadilloes, bad calls, back room hijinks, sordid pasts, rotten breaks, and just plain dumb mistakes in the annals of American politics. They have tweeted their private parts to women they're trying to impress. They have gotten caught on tape doing and saying things they really shouldn't have. They have denied knowing about the underhanded doings of underlings — only to have a paper trail lead straight back to them. Nowadays, it seems like half of what we hear about politicians isn't about laws or governing, but is instead coverage focused on shenanigans, questionable morals, and scandals too numerous to count. And while we shake our heads in disbelief, we still can't resist poring over the details of these notorious incidents. In Political Suicide, the foibles of our politicians are brought from the tabloid pages to this entertaining — and cautionary — tale of American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681771175
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	04/15/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	911 KB

About the Author

Erin McHugh is a former publishing executive and the award-winning author of more than twenty books of popular nonfiction, trivia, and history. She has written for Bloomberg News, TimeOut New York, and GreenSource, and is a contributing writer at Better Homes&Gardens. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

The Many Faces of Death 1

Aaron Burr (1756-1836) 3

Jonathan Cilley (1802-1838) 6

Daniel Sickles (1819-1914) 9

Philemon T. Herbert (1825-1864) 13

Arthur Brown (1843-1906) 17

Henry Denhardt (1876-1937) 22

Marion Zioncheck (1901-1936) 25

Douglas R. Stringfellow (1922-1966) 29

R. Budd Dwyer (1939-1987) 32

Dan White (1946-1985) 36

Money & Finances 41

Caleb Lyon (1822-1875) 43

James William Tate (1831-?) 47

Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011) 51

Rita Crundwell (1953-) 53

Slavery, Bigotry & Racism 57

Richard M. Johnson (1780-1850) 59

James Henry Hammond (1807-1864) 62

James Thomas Heflin (1869-1951) 65

Theodore G. Bilbo (1877-1947) 69

Earl Butz (1909-2008) 73

Cornelia Genevieve Gjesdahl (1912-1996) 76

John V. Briggs (1930-) 80

David Ernest Duke (1950-) 83

Conspiracy, Bribery & Fraud 87

Eugene Edward Schmitz (1864-1928) 89

Ma and Pa Ferguson

James Edward Ferguson (1871-1944)

Miriam A. Ferguson (1875-1961) 93

James Michael Curley (1874-1958) 97

Jimmy Walker (1881-1946) 101

William Longer (1886-1959) 106

J. Parnell Thomas (1895-1970) 109

Llewelyn Sherman Adams (1899-1986) 113

The Mitchells

John N. Mitchell (1913-1988)

Martha Mitchell (1918-1976) 117

Spiro T. Agnew (1918-1996) 120

Bess Myerson (1924-2014) 123

Daniel Rostenkowski (1928-2010) 127

Mel Reynolds (1952-) 132

Rod Blagojevich (1956-) 136

Michael Grimm (1970-) 140

No Guts, No Glory 143

William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) 145

James Buchanan (1791-1868) 148

Edward Muskie (1914-1996) 152

Crazy in the Capitol 155

Samuel J. Tilden (1814-1886) 157

Preston Brooks (1819-1857) 160

Thomas Lindsay Blanton (1872-1957) 163

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1908-1972) 166

Indicted, Censured & Impeached 171

Matthew Lyon (1749-1822) 173

Robert Potter (1800-1842) 176

The Phone-Jamming Scandal (2002) 179

Judges & Fixers 183

John Pickering (1737-1805) 185

Martin Thomas Manton (1880-1946) 187

Abe Fortas (1910-1982) 190

G. Harrold Carswell (1919-1992) 195

Lee Atwater (1951-1991) 199

Sex & Other Vices 203

Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) 205

David Ignatius Walsh (1872-1947) 209

Wilbur Mills (1909-1992) 212

Betty Ford (1918-2011) 216

John G. Schmitz (1930-2001) 218

Bob Packwood (1932- ) 222

Marion Barry (1936-2014) 225

Government Hijinx 229

James Wolfe Ripley (1794-1870) 231

The Petticoot Affair (1830-1831) 233

The Whiskey Ring (1875) 238

The Teapot Dome Scandal (1921-1924) 241

Abscom (1978-1980) 244

…And Plain Old Random Nuttiness 249

Murray Hail (c. 1840-1901) 251

Yetta Bronstein (?-?) 254

Acknowledgments 257

Editorial Reviews

An important, sad, and very funny book. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will understand American history in a new way.

Susan Cheever

Compulsively readable, at times hilarious, at times cringe-worthy. From prostitute dalliances to pistol duels, American politics has, as McHugh reports it, quite a colorful and bewildering history.

South Coast Today

If you need a little light relief from the current political campaign, consider this book by Erin McHugh, whose background in history and trivia serves her well here.

Washington Life

Erin McHugh takes us on a fun, fascinating tour of the political graveyard, with a look at the most horrifying and hilarious gaffes, bad ideas, and gotcha moments of the last 200 years.

Kerwin Swint

A thoroughly captivating take on America's rich parade of rogues, scoundrels, and buffoons. Never before has a chronicle of corruption high and low caused me to laugh out loud. History and hijinks might be ‘political suicide,’ but Erin McHugh knows that this combo also makes for a rip-roaring read.

Janine R. Wedel

Dynamite. I highly recommend it for the history lover in your life.

John Fugelsang

Just when we thought the world of politics couldn't go more off the rails, along comes Political Suicide, a brilliant time capsule of solid proof that America has had a long history of elected officials who have been expert at sinking their own careers—in every possible way.

A rollicking, jaw-dropping antidote for these 'oh no s/he didn't!' times.

Jonathan Capehart

04/15/2016
Prolific author McHugh (Like My Teacher Always Said…) serves up a hodgepodge of tales of less-than-bright-and-shining moments in American history. Included here are two- to four-page retellings on topics such as those sleazy political bedfellows sex and corruption, slavery advocates, and money scandals and the scoundrels who made them happen, as well as those people who played fast and loose with both real and contrived laws. Some stories are familiar: Aaron Burr vs. Alexander Hamilton (1804), the Teapot Dome Scandal (1921), the Whiskey Ring (1875), and the adventures of modern-day politicos, such as Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry, Oregon Sen. Robert Packwood, and Richard Nixon's secretary of agriculture Earl Butz. However, most of these adventures concern lesser-known individuals and unhappy yarns describe the fate of innocent victims, such as 1972 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Edward Muskie, and the ruined reputations of those whose punishments did not fit the crimes, notably Bess Myerson, the former Miss America who served in New York City mayor Edward Koch's cabinet. VERDICT McHugh's breezy style will appeal to readers who enjoyed Paul F. Boller Jr.'s Presidential Anecdotes. A caveat: as of this review, the volume does not include source notes or a bibliography.—Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Library Journal