Abstract
Scandals have long influenced American politics and fascinated the public, the media, and—to some extent—academics. The study of presidential scandals offers a unique opportunity to observe aspects of power that do not obviously exist at other times. Political scandals, defined as transgressions by public officeholders against existing norms or other standards, if exposed, may result in denunciation by some and damage to the reputations of these officeholders, possibly leading to further sanctions. For the most part, presidents have responded to scandals by cooperating with investigations or by repelling such investigations through a variety of means that fall under the heading of “stonewalling.” The third type of response that is introduced in this chapter, a “backfire,” consists of creating a counter-scandal designed to misdirect attention away from the original scandal in the hopes of deflecting or erasing any damage to a president or presidency.
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Notes
- 1.
I owe this understanding of the presidency and presidential power to Bruce Miroff. It was in Professor Miroff’s graduate course on the presidency that this powerful dichotomy was first established in my mind. It has served me well as construct in both my research and in my teaching.
- 2.
Just what Americans need to know as a perquisite to a health democracy is a point of serious debate. Delli Carpini and Keeter’s work (1989) and subsequent additions to their contributions on public knowledge are important parts of this question.
- 3.
A full-blown, “Wag the Dog” version of this tactic is a possibility. Miroff (Miroff 2018, 236–238) argues that President Reagan did as much when, in 1983, he ordered the invasion of Grenada in the days following the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon.
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Barberio, R.P. (2020). The Role of Scandal in American Politics. In: Presidents and Political Scandal. The Evolving American Presidency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45504-0_1
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