Wilbur Mills Late one night in 1974, police stopped Mills, the powerful head of Ways and Means, for speeding. He was drunk, and Mills’s date, stripper Fanne Fox, got out and leaped into the Tidal Ba-sin. Mills and Fox kept up their affair, finally forcing the House to take away his chairmanship.
Wayne Hays In 1976, Elizabeth Ray–a secretary who couldn’t type–told The Washington Post she was paid $14,000 to serve as Hays’s mistress; he had to resign from Congress.
Gary Hart Running for the 1988 Democratic nomination, Hart dared reporters to follow him to check out rumors he was a womanizer. They did–and caught him with Donna Rice, most famously in photos from the boat Monkey Business. His campaign ended in less than a week.
John Tower Bush nominated Tower – a noted philander-er–as secretary of defense in 1988, but worries that the former Texas senator drank too much sank the nomination.
Mel Reynolds After Congressman Reynolds admitted to having phone sex with Beverly Heard, an underage campaign worker, a jury convicted him of sexual assault and other charges. He resigned effective Oct. 1.
title: “A Washington Rogues Gallery” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-16” author: “Amy Morrison”
In 1974 Ways and Means chairman Wilbur Mills was pulled over with stripper Fanne Fox in his car. She got out and dove into the Tidal Basin. Later, he lost the chairmanship.
In 1976 Rep. Wayne Hays’s mistress Elizabeth Ray revealed she couldn’t type but was receiving a $14,000 salary. Hays was forced to resign.
In 1985 Rep. Barney Frank hired a male escort as a housekeeper. Later, Frank fired the man after learning he was running a prostitution ring out of Frank’s apartment.
In 1988 Democratic hopeful Gary Hart was forced out of the presidential race after daring reporters to “follow” him, only to be spotted with Donna Rice.
In 1992 former television reporter and nightclub singer Gennifer Flowers used the Star to allege a 12-year affair with Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. Days after Sen. Bob Packwood won re-election in 1992, the press ran a story alleging he had sexually harassed dozens of women since the 1970s. Three years later he resigned.
In 1994 former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones filed a sexual harassment suit against the president. He is trying to postpone action on the case.
