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Worse Than Watergate? The Ultimate White House Scandal Matrix
Worse than Watergate. That's the refrain coming from the Obama administration's critics as it scrambles to tamp down a growing pile of scandals. "The Obama administration's cover-up of the September 11, 2012, Benghazi terrorist attack surpasses Watergate," states Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). The IRS-tea party scandal "is far worse than Watergate," according to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). And Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Paul Babeu maintains that Fast and Furious "is a much larger scandal than Watergate." And of course there is a hashtag: #WorseThanWatergate.
Comparing the scandal du jour to Watergate is an easy way to score political points. (Conservatives aren't the only guilty ones here.) But if you're interested in making a more subtle and perhaps accurate comparison, you need only refer to the United States' long history of White House scandals, starting in the first days of the republic.
To help you keep track of them, we've plotted more than 25 on this matrix, organized by their relative seriousness and their place in our current collective memory. (The current crop of Obama scandals aren't on there since it's not yet clear where they fall on the continuum between, say, Billygate and Iran-Contra. See a missing scandal? Suggest it in the comments.)
THE SCANDALS
Sandra Gligorijevic/Shutterstock
Watergate: The mother of all White House scandals. It had everything but sex: A burglary, spying on political opponents, secret tapes, an enemies list, obstruction of justice, campaign finance shenanigans, ominous-sounding acronyms (CREEP), memorable denials ("I am not a crook"), congressional investigations, crusading journalists, articles of impeachment, and the first resignation of a sitting president. Beat that, Benghazi.
Spiro Agnew: Before Richard Nixon stepped down, he was preceded by his alliteration-prone vice president, who had been charged with taking bribes and evading taxes. Agnew insisted until the very end that the "hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history" had gotten it all wrong.
Iran-Contra: High-ranking officials in the Reagan Administration made an end-run around federal law by secretly selling missiles to Iran in order to help free American hostages in Lebanon and fund the Nicaraguan contra rebels. What could go wrong?
Missing Iraqi WMD: President George W. Bush and top members of his cabinet insist that Saddam Hussein is definitely almost nearly developing and or amassing weapons of mass destruction which he might probably absolutely use against us. The United States launches a preemptive invasion of Iraq. Ten years, tens of thousands of deaths, and billions of dollars later, the search for the elusive WMD continues.
KtD/Shutterstock
Plamegate: After former ambassador Joe Wilson blew the whistle on the Bush White House's claims of Saddam's pursuit of nuclear materials, his wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA agent. The subsequent investigation leads to the conviction (and pardon) of Vice President **** Cheney's chief of staff, "Scooter" Libby.
Abu Ghraib, torture memos: Prisoner abuse at American military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan and the CIA's extradition and torture program were authorized by Bush and top administration officials. But that's all behind us now.
NSA spying on US citizens: After 9/11, Bush authorized the National Security Agency to covertly surveil Americans' email and phone calls—in violation of federal law.
Pentagon Papers: A secret Pentagon history of the Vietnam War leaked by whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg revealed that the Johnson administration had been lying about the true scope and of the war. The Nixon White House tried to prevent their publication.
mjaud/Shutterstock
Teapot Dome: Before Watergate, there was Teapot Dome, the early 1920s scandal that led to President Warren G. Harding's secretary of the interior being convicted for accepting bribes from oil companies to lease Navy petroleum reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming.
DNC campaign finance scandals: In 1996, Vice President Al Gore attended an event at a California Buddhist temple that illegally funneled $65,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Eventually, the party had to return nearly $3 million in forbidden gifts, some from foreign donors such as James Riady, an Indonesian businessman who was fined $8.6 million.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/white-house-scandal-matrix
Comparing the scandal du jour to Watergate is an easy way to score political points. (Conservatives aren't the only guilty ones here.) But if you're interested in making a more subtle and perhaps accurate comparison, you need only refer to the United States' long history of White House scandals, starting in the first days of the republic.
To help you keep track of them, we've plotted more than 25 on this matrix, organized by their relative seriousness and their place in our current collective memory. (The current crop of Obama scandals aren't on there since it's not yet clear where they fall on the continuum between, say, Billygate and Iran-Contra. See a missing scandal? Suggest it in the comments.)
THE SCANDALS
Sandra Gligorijevic/Shutterstock
Watergate: The mother of all White House scandals. It had everything but sex: A burglary, spying on political opponents, secret tapes, an enemies list, obstruction of justice, campaign finance shenanigans, ominous-sounding acronyms (CREEP), memorable denials ("I am not a crook"), congressional investigations, crusading journalists, articles of impeachment, and the first resignation of a sitting president. Beat that, Benghazi.
Spiro Agnew: Before Richard Nixon stepped down, he was preceded by his alliteration-prone vice president, who had been charged with taking bribes and evading taxes. Agnew insisted until the very end that the "hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history" had gotten it all wrong.
Iran-Contra: High-ranking officials in the Reagan Administration made an end-run around federal law by secretly selling missiles to Iran in order to help free American hostages in Lebanon and fund the Nicaraguan contra rebels. What could go wrong?
Missing Iraqi WMD: President George W. Bush and top members of his cabinet insist that Saddam Hussein is definitely almost nearly developing and or amassing weapons of mass destruction which he might probably absolutely use against us. The United States launches a preemptive invasion of Iraq. Ten years, tens of thousands of deaths, and billions of dollars later, the search for the elusive WMD continues.
KtD/Shutterstock
Plamegate: After former ambassador Joe Wilson blew the whistle on the Bush White House's claims of Saddam's pursuit of nuclear materials, his wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA agent. The subsequent investigation leads to the conviction (and pardon) of Vice President **** Cheney's chief of staff, "Scooter" Libby.
Abu Ghraib, torture memos: Prisoner abuse at American military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan and the CIA's extradition and torture program were authorized by Bush and top administration officials. But that's all behind us now.
NSA spying on US citizens: After 9/11, Bush authorized the National Security Agency to covertly surveil Americans' email and phone calls—in violation of federal law.
Pentagon Papers: A secret Pentagon history of the Vietnam War leaked by whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg revealed that the Johnson administration had been lying about the true scope and of the war. The Nixon White House tried to prevent their publication.
mjaud/Shutterstock
Teapot Dome: Before Watergate, there was Teapot Dome, the early 1920s scandal that led to President Warren G. Harding's secretary of the interior being convicted for accepting bribes from oil companies to lease Navy petroleum reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming.
DNC campaign finance scandals: In 1996, Vice President Al Gore attended an event at a California Buddhist temple that illegally funneled $65,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Eventually, the party had to return nearly $3 million in forbidden gifts, some from foreign donors such as James Riady, an Indonesian businessman who was fined $8.6 million.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/white-house-scandal-matrix
The IRS has already admitted Guilt and Issued an Apology which pretty much makes renders all defense moot. I’m sure there were some legitimate reasons for some, but nothing will justify some of the information the IRS was asking for.
Respectfully, I think the Republicans want the President on their side on this and his complete and total cooperation. If anyone has the clout to get something done with the IRS, it should be the President.
With that being said, I still have that quote from someone a couple of weeks back that said that paying taxes was "voluntary". Sheesh......
With that being said, I still have that quote from someone a couple of weeks back that said that paying taxes was "voluntary". Sheesh......
Notice the words, maybe, may have, possibly. In other words nothing to back up facts again? We need to watch for words like, here is what we know!!!
Oh dont get me wrong, I totally agree that we need to get to the bottom of whatever is going on,, no matter where that leads or how high up it goes. My point is that it seems the pubs want heads on a stick (namely obamas) before an investigation is even complete. They seem hell bent on getting him on something, anything, regardless of the failed attempts thus far imo. I also feel like there is a whole lot more to this story that is going to come out. It will be interesting to see the can of worms that has been opened up or if it boils down to the misinterpretation of the use of exclusive or primarily when approving these tax exempt status requests. I found this clip interesting as well.
"A report conducted by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General found that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly targeted conservative groups applying for 501(c)(4) status and IRS officials have publicly admitted to relying on inappropriate criteria to screen out the names of organizations that included “tea party” or “patriots” for additional scrutiny. But the New York Times reported on Sunday that some of the targeted groups may have used most of their resources to engage in political activity and backed Republican candidates for office, potentially violating the terms of the “social welfare” designation.
Under the law, 501(c)(4)s cannot be “primarily engaged” in electioneering activity. Though the guidelines for acceptable levels of political activity are unclear, organizations with such designations operate under the understanding that they are prohibited from spending more than 49 percent of their funds or time on political advocacy. Several Tea Party groups that reported unfair IRS scrutiny appear to have overstepped these bounds, the paper notes:
When CVFC, a conservative veterans’ group in California, applied for tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, its biggest expenditure that year was several thousand dollars in radio ads backing a Republican candidate for Congress.
The Wetumpka Tea Party, from Alabama, sponsored training for a get-out-the-vote initiativededicated to the “defeat of President Barack Obama” while the I.R.S. was weighing its application.
And the head of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, whose application languished with the I.R.S. for more than two years, sent out e-mails to members about Mitt Romney campaign events and organized members to distribute Mr. Romney’s presidential campaign literature.
The IRS is separately reviewing “roughly 300 tax-exempt groups that may have engaged in improper campaign activity in past years, according to agency planning documents” and lawmakers are urging the agency to reconsider the applications of much larger groups like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS. The group told the IRS that any political ads run by the group would be “limited in amount” and “would not constitute the group’s primary purpose,” but it appears to be primarily focused on campaign activity.
As Sen. **** Durbin (D-IL) explained on Fox News Sunday, while the IRS’ use of a partisan list to go after conservative groups is not justified, the law requires 501(c)(4)s to be “engaged in social welfare and not politics and campaigning.” “Crossroads was exhibit A. They were boasting about how much money they were going to raise and beat Democrats with,” Durbin said."
"A report conducted by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General found that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly targeted conservative groups applying for 501(c)(4) status and IRS officials have publicly admitted to relying on inappropriate criteria to screen out the names of organizations that included “tea party” or “patriots” for additional scrutiny. But the New York Times reported on Sunday that some of the targeted groups may have used most of their resources to engage in political activity and backed Republican candidates for office, potentially violating the terms of the “social welfare” designation.
Under the law, 501(c)(4)s cannot be “primarily engaged” in electioneering activity. Though the guidelines for acceptable levels of political activity are unclear, organizations with such designations operate under the understanding that they are prohibited from spending more than 49 percent of their funds or time on political advocacy. Several Tea Party groups that reported unfair IRS scrutiny appear to have overstepped these bounds, the paper notes:
When CVFC, a conservative veterans’ group in California, applied for tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, its biggest expenditure that year was several thousand dollars in radio ads backing a Republican candidate for Congress.
The Wetumpka Tea Party, from Alabama, sponsored training for a get-out-the-vote initiativededicated to the “defeat of President Barack Obama” while the I.R.S. was weighing its application.
And the head of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, whose application languished with the I.R.S. for more than two years, sent out e-mails to members about Mitt Romney campaign events and organized members to distribute Mr. Romney’s presidential campaign literature.
The IRS is separately reviewing “roughly 300 tax-exempt groups that may have engaged in improper campaign activity in past years, according to agency planning documents” and lawmakers are urging the agency to reconsider the applications of much larger groups like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS. The group told the IRS that any political ads run by the group would be “limited in amount” and “would not constitute the group’s primary purpose,” but it appears to be primarily focused on campaign activity.
As Sen. **** Durbin (D-IL) explained on Fox News Sunday, while the IRS’ use of a partisan list to go after conservative groups is not justified, the law requires 501(c)(4)s to be “engaged in social welfare and not politics and campaigning.” “Crossroads was exhibit A. They were boasting about how much money they were going to raise and beat Democrats with,” Durbin said."
The GOP is pushing for an Independent Investigation. That appears to be a “No Brainer” to me.
Also, to me... It doesn't matter if the President was not involved. Something happened. What happened? Why did it happen? Who's responsible? What's going to happen now?
This is the IRS. It's kind of a big deal. It's not like we are talking about a first week employee at H&R Block who may or may not have taken paperclips from the supply room.
This is the IRS. It's kind of a big deal. It's not like we are talking about a first week employee at H&R Block who may or may not have taken paperclips from the supply room.
The Senate special committee on Watergate, which convened hearings which transfixed the nation, was careful to pursue a nonpartisan search for the facts. It was a Republican member, Howard Baker, who posed the canonical question about what the president knew, and when he knew it. And it was Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee–six of them–who delivered the key votes to advance Articles of Impeachment against their own party’s president. It was a model of independent and patriotic oversight, not petty politics.
That is another reason why today’s disputes are the furthest thing from Watergate–there is no evidence of crimes emanating from the White House, and very few signs of a Republican Party capable of conducting nonpartisan oversight in the Congress.
By playing politics with this the republicans simply undermine their own credibility, thereby impeding a very important investigation by making their facts as they go along. They are overplaying their hand and this will come back to bite when facts do come out.
That is another reason why today’s disputes are the furthest thing from Watergate–there is no evidence of crimes emanating from the White House, and very few signs of a Republican Party capable of conducting nonpartisan oversight in the Congress.
By playing politics with this the republicans simply undermine their own credibility, thereby impeding a very important investigation by making their facts as they go along. They are overplaying their hand and this will come back to bite when facts do come out.
I've gotten to the point where a comparison isn't even necessary. This stuff is happening now and it doesn't need to be compared to anything. It is a different issue and it needs the attention it is getting, however I don't think we are going to get many answers. There's that DC insulation that is hard to break through, and anyone can plead the 5th.....
With this issue, it's not a witch hunt. I don't care who is President when things like this happen. Someone needs to get pinched on this, but I doubt anyone will get pinched.
With this issue, it's not a witch hunt. I don't care who is President when things like this happen. Someone needs to get pinched on this, but I doubt anyone will get pinched.
Oh Wow.
Did you notice how quick the article twisted the point.
“Worse than Watergate. That's the refrain coming from the Obama administration's critics as it scrambles to tamp down a growing pile of scandals.’ (Growing Pile of Scandals)
“Comparing the scandal du jour to Watergate is an easy way to score political points.’
In other words “Comparing the scandal of the day to Watergate.”
"The Obama administration's cover-up of the September 11, 2012, Benghazi terrorist attack surpasses Watergate," states Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). The IRS-tea party scandal "is far worse than Watergate," according to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). And Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Paul Babeu maintains that Fast and Furious "is a much larger scandal than Watergate." And of course there is a hashtag: #WorseThanWatergate.”
This is just a partial list of the scandals.
I would love to see a list of the Scandals under “The Buck Stops Here” Obama Administration vs. Nixon’s Administration.
“Worse than Watergate. That's the refrain coming from the Obama administration's critics as it scrambles to tamp down a growing pile of scandals.’ (Growing Pile of Scandals)
“Comparing the scandal du jour to Watergate is an easy way to score political points.’
In other words “Comparing the scandal of the day to Watergate.”
"The Obama administration's cover-up of the September 11, 2012, Benghazi terrorist attack surpasses Watergate," states Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). The IRS-tea party scandal "is far worse than Watergate," according to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). And Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Paul Babeu maintains that Fast and Furious "is a much larger scandal than Watergate." And of course there is a hashtag: #WorseThanWatergate.”
This is just a partial list of the scandals.
I would love to see a list of the Scandals under “The Buck Stops Here” Obama Administration vs. Nixon’s Administration.
It doesn't matter if this is "worse" than Watergate. It's the one that is happening now. We need to get to the bottom of the issue and move forward by whatever means necessary.
Wow. Thanks for this post.
Johnson impeachment: Disputes between President Andrew Johnson and Radical Republicans in Congress spun into a constitutional crisis when the House voted to impeach him in 1868. He survived in the Senate—by one vote.
Teddy Roosevelt's corporate cash: After winning election as a trust-buster in 1904, Roosevelt and the Republican Party are revealed to have quietly courted big corporate donors.
The Grant administration: President Ulysses S. Grant's terms were marred by a succession of high-level scandals, including the Whiskey Ring, Belknap affair, the Delano Affair, the salary grab, and the Cattelism scandal. The administration's endemic corruption became known as "Grantism."
Wikimedia Commons
LBJ's mystery money: In 1963, Life magazine was preparing a bombshell exposé on how Vice President Lyndon Johnson had amassed a fortune through his connections to Texas oil barons. The article, which biographer Robert Caro says would have linked LBJ to the Bobby Baker Scandal, was set to drop in late November. Kennedy's assassination killed the story and a planned Senate investigation.
XYZ Affair: A diplomatic kerfuffle led to an undeclared "Quasi War" between the United States and France in the late 1790s. Back home, it led to passage of the draconian Alien and Sedition Acts and fueled the growing split between President John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Hamilton's affair and insider trading: In 1797, former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton revealed that he had carried on an affair with a married woman—while bribing her husband to let it to continue. He also defended himself against accusations of having used his position to engage in insider trading.
US attorney firings: In 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned amid an investigation into whether the firing of nine US attorneys in 2006 was politically motivated.
Pardongate: As he left the White House in January, 2001, President Bill Clinton hastily pardoned Susan McDougal (for contempt of court during the Whitewater case), his brother Roger (for old drug charges), and Marc Rich, a fugitive tax cheat whose wife had been a major Clinton donor.
Library of Congress
Lincoln Bedroom: The Clinton White House provided perks to big donors including stays in the Lincoln Bedroom as well as coffees, golf outings, or morning jogs with the president.
Whitewater: Failed Arkansas land deals involving Bill and Hilary Clinton spawns a wide-ranging investigation into several -gates: Filegate, Travelgate, and Troopergate (and eventually Ken Starr's probe of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair).
"Ma, ma, where's my pa?": "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!" This catchy slogan followed Grover Cleveland after he won election in spite of reports that he had fathered an illegitimate child.
Clinton-Lewinksy affair and impeachment: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," the hug, the blue dress, Ken Starr, "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." Good times.
Fast and Furious: A botched ATF operation birthed a conspiracy theory that the Obama administration was coming for Americans' guns.
Jefferson-Hemings affair: Thomas Jefferson was dogged by rumors that he had fathered children with a slave who served as his "concubine." Jefferson never addressed the allegations, but it is now known that Sally Hemings had six of Jefferson's children.
SNAP/Entertainment Pictures/ZUMAPRESS.com
Petticoat Affair, a.k.a. the Eaton Affair: Ridiculous by modern standards, this scandal rocked Washington when Andrew Jackson's secretary of war married a widow too soon after the death of her husband. It led to the resignation of most of the cabinet and was immortalized in the 1936 film, The Gorgeous Hussy, starring Joan Crawford.
Skeetgate: After President Obama says that "at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time," skeptics demand proof. A photo of the president shooting is produced; the skeptics insist it's faked.
Andrew Jackson adultery scandal: Forty years after he wed his wife Rachel, presidential candidate Jackson was attacked for marrying her before her divorce from her first husband was finalized, making Old Hickory an adulterer and the first lady a bigamist. He blamed the smear campaign for causing her death shortly after he took office.
Solyndra: The federal government gave more than $500 million to a solar firm that went belly up. Even congressional inquisitor Rep. Darryl Issa (R-Calif.) eventually had to concede there was no there there.
Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS.com
Billygate: President Jimmy Carter took major heat when it was revealed that his ne'er-do-well brother Billy had received payments from the Libyan government.
Mary Todd Lincoln's price "flub-dubs": When Abraham Lincoln assumed the presidency, the first lady set about remodeling the White House, but went over budget by $7,000. As complaints of her profligacy spread, the president wrote, "It would stink in the nostrils of the American people to have it said that the President of the United States had approved a bill overrunning an appropriation of $20,000 for flub-dubs for this damned old house when the soldiers cannot have blankets."
Teddy Roosevelt's corporate cash: After winning election as a trust-buster in 1904, Roosevelt and the Republican Party are revealed to have quietly courted big corporate donors.
The Grant administration: President Ulysses S. Grant's terms were marred by a succession of high-level scandals, including the Whiskey Ring, Belknap affair, the Delano Affair, the salary grab, and the Cattelism scandal. The administration's endemic corruption became known as "Grantism."
Wikimedia Commons
LBJ's mystery money: In 1963, Life magazine was preparing a bombshell exposé on how Vice President Lyndon Johnson had amassed a fortune through his connections to Texas oil barons. The article, which biographer Robert Caro says would have linked LBJ to the Bobby Baker Scandal, was set to drop in late November. Kennedy's assassination killed the story and a planned Senate investigation.
XYZ Affair: A diplomatic kerfuffle led to an undeclared "Quasi War" between the United States and France in the late 1790s. Back home, it led to passage of the draconian Alien and Sedition Acts and fueled the growing split between President John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Hamilton's affair and insider trading: In 1797, former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton revealed that he had carried on an affair with a married woman—while bribing her husband to let it to continue. He also defended himself against accusations of having used his position to engage in insider trading.
US attorney firings: In 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned amid an investigation into whether the firing of nine US attorneys in 2006 was politically motivated.
Pardongate: As he left the White House in January, 2001, President Bill Clinton hastily pardoned Susan McDougal (for contempt of court during the Whitewater case), his brother Roger (for old drug charges), and Marc Rich, a fugitive tax cheat whose wife had been a major Clinton donor.
Library of Congress
Lincoln Bedroom: The Clinton White House provided perks to big donors including stays in the Lincoln Bedroom as well as coffees, golf outings, or morning jogs with the president.
Whitewater: Failed Arkansas land deals involving Bill and Hilary Clinton spawns a wide-ranging investigation into several -gates: Filegate, Travelgate, and Troopergate (and eventually Ken Starr's probe of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair).
"Ma, ma, where's my pa?": "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!" This catchy slogan followed Grover Cleveland after he won election in spite of reports that he had fathered an illegitimate child.
Clinton-Lewinksy affair and impeachment: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," the hug, the blue dress, Ken Starr, "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." Good times.
Fast and Furious: A botched ATF operation birthed a conspiracy theory that the Obama administration was coming for Americans' guns.
Jefferson-Hemings affair: Thomas Jefferson was dogged by rumors that he had fathered children with a slave who served as his "concubine." Jefferson never addressed the allegations, but it is now known that Sally Hemings had six of Jefferson's children.
SNAP/Entertainment Pictures/ZUMAPRESS.com
Petticoat Affair, a.k.a. the Eaton Affair: Ridiculous by modern standards, this scandal rocked Washington when Andrew Jackson's secretary of war married a widow too soon after the death of her husband. It led to the resignation of most of the cabinet and was immortalized in the 1936 film, The Gorgeous Hussy, starring Joan Crawford.
Skeetgate: After President Obama says that "at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time," skeptics demand proof. A photo of the president shooting is produced; the skeptics insist it's faked.
Andrew Jackson adultery scandal: Forty years after he wed his wife Rachel, presidential candidate Jackson was attacked for marrying her before her divorce from her first husband was finalized, making Old Hickory an adulterer and the first lady a bigamist. He blamed the smear campaign for causing her death shortly after he took office.
Solyndra: The federal government gave more than $500 million to a solar firm that went belly up. Even congressional inquisitor Rep. Darryl Issa (R-Calif.) eventually had to concede there was no there there.
Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS.com
Billygate: President Jimmy Carter took major heat when it was revealed that his ne'er-do-well brother Billy had received payments from the Libyan government.
Mary Todd Lincoln's price "flub-dubs": When Abraham Lincoln assumed the presidency, the first lady set about remodeling the White House, but went over budget by $7,000. As complaints of her profligacy spread, the president wrote, "It would stink in the nostrils of the American people to have it said that the President of the United States had approved a bill overrunning an appropriation of $20,000 for flub-dubs for this damned old house when the soldiers cannot have blankets."
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