Analysis: What Is It With The Seeming Rash Of Philandering Politicians?
Why do men in power – the ones on pedestals – think they are above us and can get away with cheating on their spouses, particularly when media scrutiny is so intense and peccadilloes are arguably more politically damaging?
Theres a long list of those who thought they could jet off to Argentina, or cruise on the Monkey Business, or check into a hotel under an assumed name or use an escort service and never get caught, never have to come clean.
The names quickly come to mind – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., Sen. David Vitter, R-La., former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., one-time Democratic presidential hopefuls John Edwards and Gary Hart, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, current New York Gov. David Paterson.
These days, the fallout can run the gamut. It can doom a career – former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey – or unleash the fury of a special prosecutor, leading to impeachment – then-President Bill Clinton.
This wasnt always the way it was. There are politicians, presidents even, who did the dalliance dance privately and didnt pay publicly, John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt included.
No more.
Its a different world – a public that feeds on the exploits of Paris, Lindsay and Britney documented in the tabloids, glossy magazines and at-your-fingertips Internet has developed an insatiable appetite for scandal.
That makes it all the more inexplicable that these men – and they are almost universally men, as politics remains mostly a mans game – tempt fate. And, particularly, men with presidential aspirations.
One possible explanation, said Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at City University of New York: “Narcissism is an occupational hazard for political leaders. You have to have an outsized ambition and an outsized ego to run for office.”
Or, perhaps, think you can stray from your marriage without consequence.
To be sure, politicians dont necessarily have different reasons for cheating than non-politicians, and they dont necessarily cheat more often.
The difference: “They live their lives more in a fishbowl, and that has responsibilities and costs with it,” Renshon said, adding that an adulterous politician doesnt just betray his familys trust, he also betrays the publics trust.
If they can lie to their loved ones, who is to say they wont lie to everyone else? If they cant stay faithful to their marriage vows, who is to say theyll stay faithful to their oaths of office? And if they have secrets in their private lives, who is to say they dont have secrets in their public lives?
“It does matter in public perceptions,” said Stephen Wayne, a Georgetown University government professor who has studied political psychology. When it comes to the highest positions in politics, he said, “we want to figure out who acts as a model for others.”
Presidents, senators, congressmen and governors who have extramarital affairs flunk that test.
On some level, its easy to see why they cheat.
Fred Greenstein, a Princeton University professor emeritus of politics, suggested adrenaline as the common denominator, saying, “For some individuals, the excitement of illicit sexual activity might feed the same desire” as “the excitement of politics.”