“Scandal,” defined as an action or event causing public outrage
and regarded as morally or legally reprehensible by the standards
and mores of the time, has been a part of the US political
landscape since the founding of the republic. Americans prefer to
think that their public officials’ misbehavior as the exception
rather than the rule, but the record of political corruption and
coverups, spanning the entire history of the United States, is too
lengthy to suggest that these actions are uncommon occurrences,
merely freakish outliers to be discounted as “black swan”
events. Strongly associated with the concept of scandal is a
“scoundrel,” defined as a dishonest or disreputable person.
According to this definition, a scoundrel is someone who engages in
dishonest behavior, eventually leading to the loss of a good
reputation. Scoundrels: Political Scandals in American History is
about scoundrels who were caught in scandals, specifically
political scandals. Often the original behavior was outrageous, but
the subsequent cover-up is worse. The 1972 Watergate break-in, for
example, may have been a “third-rate burglary”—although that
point is debatable—but the Nixon administration’s attempted
coverup led to impeachment proceedings and the president’s
resignation. Political corruption almost always stems from
calculations of self-interest before, during, and after the fact.
The calculations may be legally and ethically misguided, factually
inaccurate, and/or blind to political realities, but nonetheless
they are almost always deliberate and premeditated. Political
corruption can involve lone individuals acting on their own accord
or they can implicate systemic corruption with a large group,
sometimes within a presidential administration. Scoundrels:
Political Scandals in American History examines 13 of the most
famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous scandals in American
history, including the Teapot Dome case from the 1920s, the
Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s, the Iran-Contra
affair of the 1980s, and Russian interference in the 2016
elections.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
