During 250 years of America’s existence, whenever a scandal involving a U.S. president occurred, the public was shocked and dismayed. When presidential scandals erupt, faith and trust in America — by its citizens as well as allies throughout the world — is lost and takes decades to redeem.

Below are several of the more prominent presidential scandals, followed by a suggestion as to how “We the People” can make America truly America again, like our founding fathers so eloquently established in the Constitution.

Warren G. Harding’s oil and infidelity scandals

In 1922, President Warren G. Harding (Republican) had a mess on his hands when Albert Fall, secretary of the interior, took bribes, gifts and no-interest loans for oil reserve rights located on federal land in Wyoming. The Teapot Dome oil fields scandal, as well as an extramarital affair Harding had with Nan Britton, caused many to rate his presidency as one of the worst.

Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal

Just before Richard Nixon (Republican) was re-elected president in 1972, a break-in by five of his campaign workers occurred at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, located in Washington, D.C.’s Watergate Hotel. Due to the ensuing cover-up, Mr. Nixon’s most loyal Republican leaders urged him to resign or face certain impeachment and conviction by Congress. Nixon resigned from office on Aug. 8, 1974.

Ronald Reagan’s Iran-Contra affair

During Ronald Reagan’s (Republican) presidential reign, he made a secret deal to sell weapons to Iran when the U.S. had an arms embargo against Iran and seven Americans were held hostage (1985-1987). Reagan claimed the weapons sale had nothing to do with the eventual prisoner exchange.

Bill Clinton’s affair

During Bill Clinton’s (Democrat) presidency, he alleged he “did not have sexual relations with that woman” (Monica Lewinsky). When the DNA-laden blue dress evidence became public, Clinton was charged with impeachment. The Senate acquitted Clinton in 1998.

Donald Trump’s first impeachment

In 2019, Donald Trump (Republican) called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and requested that Zelenskyy investigate Trump’s election rival, President Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. A formal House inquiry found Trump solicited foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and the first impeachment ensued. The Senate acquitted Trump of the charges.

Donald Trump’s second impeachment

The FBI estimated 2,000-2,500 people unlawfully trespassed into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. On Jan. 13, 2021, Congress charged Donald Trump with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the chaos and engaging in “conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election. The Senate acquitted Trump, making him the first president to be impeached twice.

Donald Trump’s criminal conviction

On May 29, 2024, Donald Trump became the first president in United States history to be convicted of a crime, where he was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 34 counts of fraud related to hush money given to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Jeffrey Epstein cover-up

When Mr. Trump was seeking the office of president in 2024, he promised to release all files related to the sex-trafficking of 1,200 alleged victims by Jeffrey Epstein. For the first 10 months of Trump’s 2.0 presidency, he refused to honor his pledge. Democrats and Republicans pressured Mr. Trump to cave in and he signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on Nov. 19.

The law required the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all files by Dec. 19. However, the DOJ released less than 1% of the 5.2 million pages contained in the files (Time, Jan. 6). Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said the DOJ’s partial release “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law” and vowed legal challenges (USA Today, Dec. 20).

Breaking the law has become another scandal with clear footprints of our 47th president, Kash Patel and approximately 1,000 of his FBI personnel, and Pam Bondi and 200 DOJ attorneys in their respective review and failure to release Epstein-related records.

Lessons to be learned

Bribes, break-ins, lies, sexual behavior, soliciting foreign interference, incitement of insurrection, fraud and breaking the law are among America’s 250 years of presidential scandals.

With misdeeds popping up virtually every week, our first duty, as Abraham Lincoln advised, is to “disenthrall ourselves” and remodel our politics. “We the People” must rebuild institutions, hold proper and complete investigations and institute laws that will make it very hard for the next Harding, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Trump-era scandals to flourish in the first place.

“We the People” are long overdue for: 1) an honorable, law-abiding and trustworthy president, 2) properly vetted and competent cabinet members and 3) capable congressional delegates who demonstrate 100% allegiance to the Constitution and follow the “people before party” mantra in their deliberations.

The onus is on us to fix this mess.

Citations

Ma, J. (2025, December 20). House Oversight lawmaker estimates only a small fraction of the Epstein files are out and many were already public. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2025/12/20/epstein-files-house-oversight-committee-small-fraction-documents-public-record/

Popli, N. (2025, July 18). FBI was told to flag mentions of Trump in Epstein files, Durbin alleges. Time. https://time.com/7303673/donald-trump-epstein-files-fbi-durbin/

Samuels, B. (2025, December 19.) 5 initial takeaways from DOJ’s release of Epstein documents, The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5657940-epstein-justice-department-document-dump/

Meyer, J. (2025, December 20) Epstein files raise questions about evidence and possible accomplices. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/20/new-epstein-files-raise-questions-accomplices/87862323007/

Stephens, B. (2025, December 17.) Our petty, hollow, squalid ogre in chief. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/opinion/trump-reiner-death-post-truth-social.html

Bennet, M. (2019). The land of flickering lights: Restoring America in an age of broken politics. Atlantic Monthly Press.

Linskey, A. (2025, December 22) For Trump, Epstein files won’t go away. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/for-trump-the-epstein-files-wont-go-away-cd3e0167?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqe-bm_aEljKZZZNkwg8WP6l1ZVjpkmeE8eCncKs-qhdf0orG3APdknxoqBhLeg%3D&gaa_ts=6972e632&gaa_sig=tK3HPg5BNgAaFrVKqpjbbfidvWYyGPLH8LhwTnFkna8E_eBpJTRADz41HUtg3UFzSCLWpEPR2thZwHfMf7vGsA%3D%3D 

Greene, C. (2026, January 6) Less than 1% of the Epstein files have been released, DOJ says. Time. https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/

Jalonick, M. (2022, December 22)  Jan. 6 panel releases final report, alleges Trump engaged in ‘conspiracy’ to overturn election. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/jan-6-panel-releases-final-report-alleges-trump-engaged-in-conspiracy-to-overturn-election

Disclosures:

Steve is a non-paid freelance opinion editor and guest columnist contributor (circa 2013-present) to 158 newspapers and 47 social media platforms in 44 states who receives no remuneration, funding or endorsement from any for-profit business, not-for-profit organization, political action committee or political party
Steve is Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls (1975-2013); Marketing Department Head (17 years); State of Iowa Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service (2003)
Steve graduated from Nevada H.S. (Nevada, IA) in 1966; University of Northern Iowa (1970 bachelor’s degree); Colorado State University (1972 master’s degree); Virginia Tech (1975 doctoral degree)
Steve was elected to public office three times and served on the Denver Community School District Board of Education (Denver, IA) for 11 years,  serves on the Advisory Board of Discerning Wealth Ameriprise Financial Services (Cedar Falls, IA) and is a member of the Cedar Falls Lions Club, Lions Clubs of Iowa and Lions Clubs International
Steve is married to Doris J. Kelley (Iowa House of Representatives, 2007-2011; Chair/Vice-Chair – Iowa Board of Parole, 2011-2014; Chair, Iowa’s 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration, 2017-2021)
Steve has three sons, three daughters-in-laws and three grandchildren
“My attempt at writing op-eds since 2013 has been to try my best at shifting from today’s journalism style of “my truth” to old-school journalism focused on “research-based truth” and as close to scholarly research as possible to restore journalism credibility and provide a value-added op-ed to the reader.” – SBC