Republican Party Sex Scandals

In the United States, particularly since the administration of Ronald Reagan the Republican Party (GOP) has run on a platform of family values. This term broadly covers the rejection of homosexual relationships up to and including marriage, the stability of the family unit through marriage and fidelity, abstention from pre-marital sex and the avoidance of illicit, illegal drugs and alcohol. reagan was indeed largely responsibly for the closer integration of church, albeit indirectly, into the process of government.

This program in its purest sense has largely been successful in terms of representation of the values of the republican electorate and has mostly been adhered to by its legislative representitives, however there have been what could be considered an unusually high number of contraventions of these values by high profile Republican figures in both the government and the media.

These contraventions have resulted in some scandals that have led, in a number of cases, to resignations or imprisonment of these figures. Whilst a certain amount of corruption and contradiction is common across the political spectrum, it is particularly noteworthy in the case of the GOP because of their strong, high profile political platform of Christian family values.

Read further for Democratic Party Sex Scandals.

Political Figures

Mark Foley (R-Fl.) was involved in an incident involving Congressional pages, uncovered by ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross on September 28, 2006. The scandal involved sexually explicit instant messages allegedly sent by Foley to under age Congressional pages. Once the scandal broke in full, Foley had virtually no chance of staying in Congress and he later said in a statement, “I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent.”

David Vitter (R-La.) was exposed in 2007 for having his telephone number included on phone records of Pamela Martin, an employee of Deborah Jeane Palfrey (The so called D.C. Madam) dating from before he became a Senator in 2004. The Vitters were vocal opponents of the Clintons during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

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