American political Lovers

Dictionary defines scandal as "loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety." Scandal is not the same as controversy, which implies two differing points of view, or unpopularity.

An action that is, or appears to be, illegal very often results in scandal. Conviction for breaking a law is, by definition, a scandal. The finding of a court with jurisdiction is the sole method used to determine a violation of law. Misunderstandings, breaches of ethics, unproven crimes or cover-ups may or may not result in scandals depending on who is bringing the charges, the amount of publicity garnered, and the seriousness of the crime, if any.

Sex between two consenting adults may or may not be illegal, depending on the jurisdiction and circumstances. Sex outside of a monogamous marriage, or with a person of the same sex, may or may not be illegal, but these often fit the definition of scandal.

American political Lovers:2010–2011

Chris Lee, Representative (R-NY): Resigned hours after a news report that the married Congressman, who strongly promotes family values, had sent a shirtless picture of himself flexing his muscles to a woman via Craigslist, along with flirtatious emails. He did not use a pseudonym or a false email address, but relied on his congressional email for all communication.

Mark Souder, Representative (R-IN): Resigned to avoid an ethics investigation into his admitted extramarital affair with a female staffer. Famously, he and the staffer had made a public video in which they both extolled the virtues of abstinence. (2010)

Eric Massa, Representative (D-NY): Resigned to avoid an ethics investigation into his alleged groping and tickling of a young male staffer. (2010)

American political Lovers:2000–2009

Chip Pickering (R-MS) On July 16, 2009 it was announced that his wife Leisha had filed an alienation of affection lawsuit against Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd, a woman with whom Chip allegedly had an affair. The lawsuit claimed that the adulterous relationship ruined the Pickerings' marriage and his political career. (2009) 

Samuel B. Kent, Federal District Judge in Texas: Appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1990. Accused of sexually harassing two female employees. He was impeached for abusing his authority and imprisoned for 33 months for obstruction of justice.(2009)

John Ensign, Senator (R-NV): Resigned his position as Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee on June 16, 2009, after admitting he had an affair with Cynthia Hampton, the wife of a close friend, both of whom were working on his campaign. Under investigation, he resigned his seat in Congress 20 months early. (2011) [ In 1998, Senator Ensign had called for President Bill Clinton (D) to resign after admitting to sexual acts with Monica Lewinsky. (2009) 

John Edwards, Senator (D-NC): As a 2008 presidential primary contender, Edwards positioned himself as an honest, family values candidate. His position was seriously undercut when he admitted to an extramarital affair with actress and film producer Rielle Hunter, which produced a child.*Vito Fossella, Representative (R-NY): Arrested for drunk driving. Under questioning, he admitted to an affair with Laura Fay that produced a daughter. He was married to Mary Pat Rowan, with whom he has three children. (2008)

Tim Mahoney, Representative (D-FL): He was elected to the seat of Mark Foley, who resigned following sexual harassment charges from his male congressional interns. Mahoney ran on a campaign promise to make "a world that is safer, more moral." In October 2008, he admitted he placed his mistress, Patricia Allen, on his staff and then fired her, saying, "You work at my pleasure." He then admitted to multiple affairs.

Randall L. Tobias, Deputy Secretary of State (R) and former "AIDS Czar" appointed by George W. Bush: Stated that U.S. funds should be denied to countries that permitted prostitution.  He resigned on April 27, 2007, after confirming that he had been a customer of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the DC Madam.

Larry Craig, Senator (R-ID): Pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct following his arrest in a Minneapolis airport men's room in June 2007, on a charge of homosexual lewd conduct. Senator Craig had previously stated that "people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy — a naughty boy.

Mark Foley, Representative (R-FL): Resigned when accused of sending sexually explicit emails to underage male congressional pages. He was replaced by Tim Mahoney. (2006)

Jeff Gannon (R) a.k.a. James Dale Guckert, a.k.a. "Bulldog": Admitted to White House press conferences as a journalist without proper vetting, and was allowed to ask such sympathetic questions that The Daily Show referred to him as "Chip Rightwingenstein of the Bush Agenda Gazette." Records show he was admitted to the White House numerous times even when there were no press conferences. He later admitted to being a $200/day gay prostitute. (2005)

Brian J. Doyle, (R) Deputy Press Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security was indicted for seducing what he thought was a 14-year-old girl on the Internet; she was actually a sheriff's deputy. On November 17, 2006, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison, 10 years of probation, and was registered as a sex offender.

Jack Ryan, Senate candidate (R-IL): During divorce proceedings in 2004, his wife Jeri Ryan accused him of forcing her to go to public sex clubs and described one as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling. Ms. Ryan is better known as Seven of Nine from the TV show Star Trek: Voyager.

David Dreier, Representative (R-CA): Voted against a number of gay rights proposals, but was outed concerning his relationship with his chief of staff. (2004) He is featured in the 2009 documentary film Outrage.

Ed Schrock, Representative (R-VA): Aggressively fought against gay rights programs, but dropped out of his third term race after he was discovered soliciting sex from a male prostitute and finally admitted that he himself was gay. (2004)

Don Sherwood, Representative (R-PA): Failed to win re-election following revelations of a five-year extramarital affair with Cynthia Ore, who accused him of physically abusing her. (2004)

Steven C. LaTourette, Representative (R-OH): Elected in 1994 and had voted to impeach Bill Clinton for the Lewinsky scandal. He himself had a long-term affair with his chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook, while he was married. He married Laptook after his divorce. (2003)

David Vitter, Senator (R-LA): Took over former Senator Robert Livingston's House seat in 1999, who resigned following revelations of an extrmarital affair. At the time, Vitter stated: "I think Livingston's stepping down makes a very powerful argument that (Bill) Clinton should resign as well ..." Vitters' name was then discovered in the address book of the DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey. He admitted his adultery and withdrew from the 2003 gubernatorial race for governor. (2007)

Richard Gardner (R): While he was running as an Assembly candidate in Las Vegas, NV, in 2002, it was revealed that Gardner pleaded guilty in 1988 to three counts of molesting his two daughters. He had also run for office in California.

Gary Condit, Representative (D-CA): His affair with 23-year-old intern Chandra Levy was exposed after Levy disappeared. Her body was found a year later and, in 2008, an ex-felon with no relation to Condit was charged with her murder. (2001)[30] Condit had often demanded that Bill Clinton "come clean" about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

American political Lovers:1990–1999

Bill Clinton, President (D-AR): Revelations that White House intern Monica Lewinsky had oral sex with Clinton in the Oval Office leading him to famously declare on TV on January 26, 1998 that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." The scandal led to impeachment by the House for perjury, for lying about the affair under oath. He was acquitted in the Senate by 10 votes. (1998)

Newt Gingrich, Representative (R-GA) and leader of the Republican Revolution of 1994: Admitted in 1998 to having had an affair with his intern Callista Bisek, while he was married to his second wife, and at the same time he was leading the impeachment of Bill Clinton for perjury regarding an affair with his intern Monica Lewinsky. (1998)

Henry Hyde, Representative (R-IL): Was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and one of the House managers who directed the inmpeachment case against Bill Clinton. In 1998, it emerged that he himself had an affair some years earlier, which he dismissed as a "youthful indiscretion" despite being 41 years old at the time of the affair.

Bob Barr, Representative (R-GA): Called for the impeachment of Bill Clinton But his own sexual hypocrisy was later alleged by Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, who claimed that Barr's second wife said he was cheating on her with Barr's soon-to-be third wife.

Robert Livingston, Representative (R-LA): Famously called for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, but resigned after his own extramarital affair was revealed. (1998)

Dan Burton, Representative (R-IN): Speaking of the affairs of Republican Robert Packwood and the unfolding affair of Democrat Bill Clinton, Burton stated: "No one, regardless of what party they serve, no one, regardless of what branch of government they serve, should be allowed to get away with these alleged sexual improprieties . In 1998, Burton was forced to admit that he himself had an affair in 1983 that produced a child.

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, Representative (R-ID): While aggressively calling for the resignation of Bill Clinton,she admitted to her own six-year affair with a married rancher during the 1980s. She explained the difference by saying it was all right since she was single and a private citizen at the time.

Robert Packwood, Senator (R-OR): Was forced to resign his office after 29 women came forward with claims of sexual harassment, abuse, and assaults. His vehement denials of any wrongdoing were eventually contradicted by his own lurid diaries boasting of his sexual conquests. (1995)

Mel Reynolds, Representative (D-IL): Indicted for sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse for a relationship with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer in 1994. He was convicted of 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography in 1995

Ken Calvert, Representative (R-CA): Arrested for soliciting a prostitute for oral sex in his car. The champion of the Christian Coalition once said "We can't forgive what occurred between the President and Lewinsky."(1993)

Chuck Robb, Senator (D-VA): Accused of an affair with Miss Virginia USA Tai Collins, which he denied. (1991)

Clarence Thomas, Judge (R): Supreme Court nominee accused by Anita Hill and others of sexual harassment

Arlan Stangeland, Representative (R-MN): Was found to have made hundreds of phone calls to a female lobbyist. Though he denied any romantic involvement, he lost his re-election bid. (1990)

Donald "Buz" Lukens, Representative (R-OH): Resigned before facing an investigation that he fondled a Washington elevator operator. (1990)

American political Lovers:1980–1989

Gus Savage (D-IL): Was accused of trying to force himself on a female Peace Corps worker while in Zaire. No action was taken by the House Ethics Committee after he apologized to her. (1989) 

Barney Frank (D-MA): Reprimanded by the House for fixing 33 parking tickets for Steve Gobie, a male escort who lived with Frank and claimed to have conducted an escort service from Frank's apartment when he was not at home. (1989)

Brock Adams (D-WA): Eight women accused Adams of committing various acts of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment to rape. (1988)

Paul Ingram, Republican Party Chairman of Thurston County, WA, and Chief Civil Deputy of the Sheriff's department: In 1988, he was accused by his daughters of sexual abuse, and by at least one daughter of satanic ritual abuse. In 1996, his son also accused him of abuse from the ages of 4 to 12. He originally pleaded guilty but has since maintained his innocence. After pleading guilty, he attempted to withdraw his plea and requested a trial or clemency but his requests were refused. Ingram was released in 2003 after serving his sentence. The Thurston county ritual abuse case became the basis of the book Remembering Satan by Lawrence Wright, and for the TV-movie Forgotten Sins

Jim Bates (D-CA): Made sexual advances toward female staffers. (1988)

Gary Hart, Senator (D-CO): While seeking the Democratic nomination for president, Hart was photographed with model Donna Rice on a boat named 'Monkey Business' during a trip to the Bahamas. His popularity plummeted and he soon dropped out. (1987)

Gerry Studds (D-MA): Censured on July 20, 1983, in Congressional Page sex scandal for having sex with underage congressional pages. (1983)

Dan Crane (R-IL) censured July 20, 1983 in the Congressional Page sex scandal for having sex with under age congressional pages. (1983)

Jon Hinson (R-MS) US Congressman charged with oral sodomy of a male Library of Congress employee. (1981) 

Robert Bauman (R-MD): U.S. Congressman charged with attempting to solicit sex from a 16-year-old male prostitute. (1980)

Thomas Evans (R-DE): U.S. Congressman went golfing in Florida with nude model and lobbyist Paula Parkinson, who suggested her techniques were "tactile." Lost his 1982 re-election bid. (1980)

American political Lovers:1970-1979

Harold Carswell (R): Was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court (1970) by Richard Nixon, but was not confirmed after publication of a 20-year-old speech: "I yield to no man ... in the firm, vigorous belief in the principles of white supremacy." He was also alleged to be hostile to women's rights, and was later arrested for making homosexual advances in a men's washroom. (1976)

Robert L. Leggett, Congressman (D-CA): Acknowledged that he fathered two illegitimate children by a Congressional secretary, whom he supported financially. He then had an affair with another woman, who was an aide to Speaker Carl Albert.

Fred Richmond (D-NY): Charges that he solicited sex from a 16-year-old boy were dropped after he submitted to counseling. (1978)

Wayne Hays (D-OH): The Elizabeth Ray sex scandal ended his career in 1976. The Washington Post reported that Ray had been on the payroll of a committee run by Hays for two years as a clerk-secretary. During that time, she admitted, her actual job duties were providing Congressman Hays sexual favors: "I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone." (1976)

John Young, (D-TX): A former female staffer said she received a pay raise after giving in to Young's sexual advances. (1976)

Allan Howe (D-UT): Arrested for soliciting two police officers posing as prostitutes. (1976)

Wilbur Mills (D-AR): Found intoxicated with stripper Fanne Foxe. He was re-elected anyway, but resigned after giving an intoxicated press conference from Foxe's burlesque house dressing room. (1974)

John Schmitz (R-CA) an outspoken Christian and John Bircher, Schmitz admitted to having a second family, but refused to accept or support the two children he produced. He lost the next election. (1970) 

American political Lovers:1900–1969

Strom Thurmond, Senator (R-SC): The noted segregationist and onetime Ku Klux Klan member fathered a child, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, with 15-year-old African American who was employed by the Thurmond family

Walter Jenkins (D): A longtime aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, Jenkins was arrested for homosexual sex in a YMCA bathroom. (1964)

David I. Walsh, Senator (D-MA): Accused of visiting a male brothel frequented by Nazi spies in Brooklyn in 1942.

Warren Harding, President (R): While married to his wife Florence, he supposedly had affairs with Carrie Phillips, Francis Russell and Nan Britton. (1921–1923)

Newport sex scandal: Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated an investigation into allegations of "immoral conduct" (homosexuality) at the Naval base in Newport, Rhode Island. (1919)

American political Lovers:1776–1899

Grover Cleveland, President (D): During the 1884 election, Cleveland, a bachelor, paid child support to Maria Crofts Halpin, even though he may not have been the father of her son. Halpin was known to have had sexual relationships with a number of men, including Cleveland's close friend and future father-in-law, Oscar Folsom, for whom the child was named. The controversy prompted Cleveland's opponents to adopt the chant, "Ma, ma, where's my pa?" After Cleveland won the election, the chant was answered by, "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!" (1884)

President James Buchanan (D) and future Vice President William Rufus King (D-NC): They were the subject of scandalous gossip alleging a homosexual affair in Washington, D.C. for many years. Andrew Jackson referred to them as Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy. (1850s)

Petticoat Affair, or Eaton Affair: The husband of Margaret "Peggy" O'Neale, later Margaret O'Neill Eaton, was alleged to have been driven to suicide because of her affair with Andrew Jackson's Secretary of War, John Henry Eaton. (1831)

President Thomas Jefferson: Was accused of fathering the children of his slave Sally Hemmings by the published articles of James Callender. (1802)

Alexander Hamilton-Maria Reynolds Affair: Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton had an affair with Maria Reynolds while both were married to other people. Reynolds' husband blackmailed Hamilton, forcing him to confess and further damaging his already controversial career. (1796)

Love end of Maria Schwarzenegger

Maria Shriver broke her silence Tuesday on her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger's admission that he fathered a child with a longtime household employee 10 years ago.

"This is a painful and heartbreaking time," said Shriver. "As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."

They have four children together: Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher, who range in age from 14 to 21.

Schwarzenegger released a statement Monday: "After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago. I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family."

"There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry," continued the former governor of California.

As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."

Arnold released his own shockwave-sending statement earlier today, admitting that he cheated on his wife with a longtime member of their household staff. He said that he waited until he left the office of the governor in January of this year before telling his wife.

"I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family," he said. "There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused to Maria, my children and my family.

"I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time. While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not.

Lover boy Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn ,dɔminik stʁos kan, born 25 April 1949), often referred to in the popular press as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, and politician, and a member of the Socialist Party of France (PS). He became the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 28 September 2007, with the backing of his country's president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

He is full professor of economics at the Paris Institute for Political Studies ("Sciences Po").

Strauss-Kahn was Minister of Economy and Finance from 1997 to 1999 as part of Lionel Jospin's "Plural Left" government. He belongs to the right wing of the PS (which is on the center-left of French politics) and sought the nomination in the primaries to the Socialist presidential candidacy for the 2007 election, but he was defeated by Ségolène Royal in November 2006.

Political career

Strauss-Kahn was first an activist member of the Union of Communist Students, before joining in the 1970s the Centre d'études, de recherches et d'éducation socialiste (Center on Socialist Education Studies and Research, CERES) led by Jean-Pierre Chevènement, future presidential candidate for the 2002 election. There, he befriended the future Prime Minister of France Lionel Jospin (PS).

After the election of President François Mitterrand (PS) in 1981, he decided to stay out of government. He got involved in the Socialist Party (PS), which was led by Lionel Jospin, and founded Socialisme et judaïsme ("Socialism and Judaism"). The next year, he was appointed to the Commissariat au plan (Planning Commission) as commissaire-adjoint.

In 1986 he was elected deputy for the first time in the Haute-Savoie department, and in 1988 in the Val-d'Oise department. He became chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Finances, famously exchanging heated words with the Finance Minister Pierre Bérégovoy (PS).

Sex scandals

In 2007, Tristane Banon, a French journalist and writer, accused Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her in 2002, but she did not press charges. In 2008, an independent investigator was appointed following allegations of an affair with a subordinate, whom he later made redundant and assisted in getting a new job. Three charges were proven over an affair with economist Piroska Nagy, who was married at the time to Mario Blejer. As a result of the affair, Strauss-Kahn was forced to issue a public apology, while Le Journal du Dimanche dubbed him "le grand séducteur" (the Great Seducer).

On 14 May 2011, police officers removed Strauss-Kahn from an Air France plane at New York's JFK airport moments before takeoff to Paris, and arrested him for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel maid in his suite at the midtown Sofitel New York Hotel shortly before leaving for the airport. He was held at a police precinct overnight and charged with "a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, and unlawful imprisonment". Strauss-Kahn denied all the charges against him, pleaded not guilty, and willingly agreed to a scientific and forensic examination.

The IMF announced on 15 May 2011 that John Lipsky would act as First Managing Director while Strauss-Kahn was in custody.

Personal life

Strauss-Kahn has four daughters and has been married to his third wife, the American-born French journalist Anne Sinclair, since 1991. The couple have a holiday home in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Political career timeline

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, since 2007.

Governmental functions

Minister of Industry and Foreign trade, 1991–1993.

Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, 1997–1999 (resignation).

Electoral mandates

Member of the National Assembly of France for Val d'Oise, 1986–1991 (becoming minister in 1991). Reelected in 1997, was minister 2001–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007). Elected in 1986, reelected in 1988, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2007.

Regional Council

Regional councillor of Ile-de-France, 1998–2001 (resignation).

Municipal Council

Mayor of Sarcelles, 1995–1997 (resignation).

Deputy-mayor of Sarcelles, 1997–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007). Reelected in 2001.

Municipal councillor of Sarcelles, 1989–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007). Reelected in 1995, 2001.

Agglomeration community Council

President of the Agglomeration community of Val de France, 2002–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007).

Member of the Agglomeration community of Val de France, 2002–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007).

Lovely wife stands by her man

PARIS — As Dominique Strauss-Kahn was left to spend another day behind bars in New York, a pack of would-be successors wasted little time Tuesday maneuvering for his job as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, one of the most powerful positions in global finance.

While Mr. Strauss-Kahn has not yet resigned from his position after being sent on Monday to New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail on accusations of attempted rape, European officials intensified their lobbying for another European to head the fund, citing deepening uncertainties over the continent’s debt crisis.

Since it was formed after World War II, the I.M.F. has traditionally been run by a European, while the World Bank has long been headed by an American. But for the first time, there is a genuine possibility that the I.M.F. position could go to an official from a faster-growing non-Western country, reflecting the shifting global economy.

The prize-winning, blue-eyed television interviewer first met Strauss-Kahn in 1989 at the apex of her career as a political talk-show host on French channel TFI. For years her celebrity largely eclipsed his.

She became his third wife in 1996. He is her second husband.

People who know them say they are an affectionate couple who have an easy relationship and like to vacation together with friends in their holiday home in the Moroccan town of Marrakesh.

Sinclair sacrificed her career to his, giving up her popular prime-time Sunday show -- which featured guests from President Bill Clinton to Madonna and every major French political leader -- when her husband was appointed finance minister in 1997.

Many on the center-left saw her as an ideal "first lady" if, as expected, Strauss-Kahn sought the Socialist nomination for the 2012 presidential election.

Such dreams were dashed when the managing-director of the International Monetary Fund was arrested Saturday on an Air France plane after a maid in a luxury New York hotel accused him of sexual assault. He has denied the charges.

She (Sinclair) seems to live in denial," said one long-time Strauss-Kahn acquaintance, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Born in New York in 1948, Sinclair is the grand-daughter of Paul Rosenberg, one of the most prominent art merchants of the 20th century, and daughter of Robert Schwartz, a Jewish resistance fighter during World War II.

The newspaper Liberation quoted Strauss-Kahn as saying that her fortune "has ensured I will never have to want for the rest of my life.

Love Comparison

Whitewater Development Corp is dissolved, leaving Bill and Hillary Clinton with a loss of more than $40,000.

January 1994

Attorney General Janet Reno appoints Robert Fiske Jr. as the independent counsel in charge of investigating financial irregularities in the dealings of the Whitewater property company. The Clintons, and their business partners, James and Susan McDougal, are implicated.

August

Fiske is replaced by the more conservative Kenneth Starr as the independent counsel investigating the Whitewater scandal.

July 1995

Monica Lewinsky graduates from Lewis and Clark College, and joins the White House staff as an unpaid intern.

November

Ms Lewinsky accepts a paid job at the White House office of legislative affairs and, two days later, sexual contact between Ms Lewinsky and President Clinton begins. The affair continues, sporadically, for the next 18 months.

April

Ms Lewinsky leaves the White House for public affairs post at the Pentagon.

May

The first Whitewater trial ends with the conviction of the McDougals for fraud. A Senate hearing ends inconclusively a month later.

February 1996

Kenneth Starr, the Independent Counsel investigating the Whitewater scandal, announces he will step down from the investigation. He then changes his mind and continues his investigations.

May

According to the Starr report released in September 1998, President Clinton tells Ms Lewinsky the affair is at an end. Just days later the Supreme Court reject Mr Clinton's claim that as President he should have immunity from civil cases. This ruling allows the Paula Jones harassment case to proceed against him.

August

Linda Tripp is reported in Newsweek magazine as having seen White House staffer Kathleen Willey emerging from the Oval Office looking dishevelled but happy, and with her lipstick smeared. Mr Clinton's attorney, Robert Bennett, claims Ms Tripp is "not to be believed."

September

Ms Tripp begins to tape her telephone conversations with Ms Lewinsky, who remains in touch with the President.

December 17,

Ms Lewinsky is subpoenaed by lawyers for Paula Jones.

December 26,

Ms Lewinsky leaves the Pentagon.

January 5, 1998

President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky have what proves to be their last telephone conversation. January 7, 1998

In a sworn affidavit, Monica Lewinsky denies having an affair with Mr Clinton, in an attempt to avoid testifying in the sexual harassment case brought by Paula Jones against President Clinton.

January 12,

Tripp dismisses her lawyers, allegedly because they were "too close to the White House." She then contacts Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office, offering him 20 hours of taped conversations between herself and Lewinsky.

January 13,

Ms Tripp is kitted-out with a hidden microphone by FBI agents for further conversations with Ms Lewinsky.

January 16,

Janet Reno, the US Attorney General, approves the Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr's request for an expansion of the inquiry to include the Clinton-Lewinsky affair.

January 17,

President Clinton, testifying under oath to lawyers in the Jones harassment case, denies having had an affair with Ms Lewinsky. He reportedly acknowledges having had an affair with Gennifer Flowers, a charge he previously denied.

January 19,

Monica Lewinsky's name and the rumours linking her with Clinton are published on the Drudge report internet site. Drudge reveals that Newsweek obtained tapes of the Lewinsky-Tripp conversations but pulled their publication after pressure from Starr, who insisted his investigation would be jeopardised.

January 21,

The Washington Post reports Lewinsky's allegations. President Clinton denies the charges in vague terms. There is no improper relationship," he tells a TV interviewer.

January 26,

"I want you to listen to me. I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky. I never told a single person to lie, not a single time, never," an angry President Clinton declares to an invited media audience at the White House.

January 29,

President Clinton posts his highest ever opinion poll rating. Gallup for CNN find 67 per cent of Americans approve of the President (up five per cent from his previous best); just 28 per cent disapprove. Ms Lewinsky is only believed by 13 per cent of Americans.

March 13,

Paula Jones' lawyers in the sexual harassment suit against Clinton publish much of their evidence, one of the many breaches of the judicial gagging order on this case.

March 15,

Kathleen Willey, a former White House volunteer and key witness in the Jones harassment case, makes her first public comments about an alleged incident in 1991 when Mr Clinton is said to have fondled her against her will.

April 1,

The Paula Jones harassment case against the President is dismissed by the judge before it goes to trial.

June 2,

The possibility of a new immunity deal being struck between Ms Lewinsky and Prosecutor Starr is raised as Lewinsky's main lawyer, William Ginsburg is replaced by two well-known Washington criminal defence lawyers, Jacob Stein and Plato Cacheris. Both cleared former White House employees of corruption in the 1980s.

June 30,

Ms Tripp begins giving evidence to the Washington grand jury investigating President Clinton's alleged cover-up of the affair. Polls show that only one in 10 Americans view her sympathetically.

July 28,

Ms Lewinsky's lawyers announce that an immunity deal has been struck with independent counsel Starr. For Ms Lewinsky's "full and truthful testimony", she will receive transactional immunity – a legal blanket which means nothing she says can be used against her. She is questioned by the grand jury over the next 15 days.

July 29,

President Clinton decides to testify voluntarily before the prosecutor over the allegations that he committed perjury in covering up a sexual affair with Ms Lewinsky.

August 3,

Clinton is asked for a blood sample for DNA testing.

August 17,

Bill Clinton testifies in the grand jury, acknowledging "inappropriate intimate contact" with Ms Lewinsky. But he insists the evidence he gave to the Jones case in January suit had been accurate.

September 8,

Attorney-general Janet Reno announces a 90-day inquiry into whether Bill Clinton helped to plan a $44 million Democratic Party "issue ad" that breached election campaign spending laws.

Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr releases his report to Congress. It has 11 possible grounds for impeachment. The House votes to make the 445-page report public.

September 11,

Congress makes the report public.

September 18,

Republicans vote to release the videotape of Mr Clinton's grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

September 21,

The tape is released and broadcast on American cable channels across the country.

October 2,

More evidence from Mr Starr's investigation is released, including the transcript of taped telephone conversations between Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp that triggered the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in January.

October 5,

The House Judiciary Committee votes to launch a congressional impeachment inquiry against President Clinton.

October 6,

Erskine Bowles, the White House chief of staff, confirms he will leave his post at the end of the week. With senior policy advisor Rahm Emmanuel and press secretary Mike McCurry are also leaving. All three insist they have not resigned for political reasons.

October 8,

The House of Representatives vote for impeachment proceedings to begin against Clinton. The House judiciary committee will be given wide powers to draw up detailed charges against Mr Clinton, based on 11 allegations by the independent counsel Kenneth Starr in his report on the Monica Lewinsky affair.

October 14,

The House judiciary committee chairman Henry Hyde announces the impeachment inquiry will concentrate its focus on two core charges: that Mr Clinton lied under oath and attempted to obstruct justice.

October 17,

Lawyers for Paula Jones make their final demand – $1 million as part of a $2 million settlement – in the sexual harassment case against President Clinton. Mr Clinton's lawyers have refused to pay more than $700,000.

November 13,

Paula Jones drops her sexual harassment appeal against President Clinton in return for $850,000. The President makes no apology or admission of guilt.

November 19,

Prosecutor Kenneth Starr offers his testimony to the House of Representatives judiciary committee. In a 132-minute address, Mr Starr alleges that President Clinton engaged in "an unlawful effort to thwart the judicial process". Meanwhile, on a trip to Tokyo, Mr Clinton is harangued on Japanese television for his infidelity by a Japanese housewife.

November 31,

Tom Hanks, one of Hollywood's biggest - and wholesome - stars, publicly speaks of his regret at giving financial support to President Clinton's legal defence fund.

December 1,

The House of Representatives judiciary committee widens the scope of its inquiry to include the election campaign fundraising issue. The Republicans use their majority on the committee to subpoena senior law enforcement officers, including the FBI director Louis Freeh, to broadening the impeachment inquiry into a dispute over President Clinton's campaign fundraising.

December 11,

The House Judiciary Committee approves three articles of impeachment on a 21-16 party line vote, passing them to the full House of Representatives. The three articles accuse Clinton of lying to a grand jury, committing perjury by denying he had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, and obstructing justice. Clinton declares himself "profoundly sorry" and willing to accept censure.

December 12,

The committee approves a fourth article of impeachment on a party-line vote, accusing Clinton of abusing power in a direct parallel to Watergate-era language.

December 17,

A last-minute stay of execution is offered to President Clinton as the Congress vote is postponed until the latest Gulf crisis is resolved and US military action against Iraq ends.

December 19,

President Clinton is impeached as the Republican controlled House approves two of the four proposed articles of impeachment by narrow partisan majorities: 228-206 and 221-212. Mr Clinton is sent for trial in the Senate.

Mr Clinton resists calls to resign, pledging to fight to remain in the White House until "the last hour of the last day of my term".

Newly-appointed House of Representatives leader Bob Livingston announces he will step down because of Hustler magazine's revelations that he had had extramarital affairs. He also pledges to resign his legislative seat entirely in six months.

December 20,

President Clinton's advisers begin secret consultations with Senate Republicans on possible compromise deals, in which the president would be censured and perhaps fined, thus avoiding a trial which some experts say could last for up to six months.

December 21,

In the wake of his impeachment, President Clinton's approval level with the voters leaps 10 points to a personal all-time high of 73 per cent in a Gallup poll. Sixty-eight per cent believe the Senate should not convict Mr Clinton in the pending impeachment trial, while support for resignation falls to 30 per cent. Other polls confirm the trend.

December 29,

With continuing uncertainty over the length and form of the Senate trial against President Clinton, Republican senators offer Mr Clinton the possibility of a fast-track hearing lasting only a few days if Mr Clinton accepts the evidence against him.

January 6, 1999

In an indication of how divided the Senate remains over the trial of President Clinton, Conservative Republican senators attempt to derail the bipartisan deal to bring a swift end to Mr Clinton's impeachment trial.

January 7,

The Senate formally begins the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton on two charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

There remains complete disagreement on the procedure that will follow. A private senators meeting to debate the unresolved argument about whether witnesses - and if so who and how many - should be called is cancelled.

January 8,

Republican and Democratic senators agree to postpone the issue of whether to call witnesses until later in the month, enabling the Senate trial of President Clinton to commence.

The opening arguments of the prosecution and defence will now take place before any decision about the witness question is taken.

1967: married Hélène Dumas

1984: married Brigitte Guillemette

1991: married Anne Sinclair, star political interviewer of Sept Sur Sept, a programme on top French TV channel TF1. She gave up her post when he became finance minister in 1997.

2007: After he became IMF managing director in 2007, Jean Quatremer, a journalist at Libération, wrote: "The only real problem for Strauss-Kahn, is his relation to women. Too forward, he often brushes with harassment. It is a problem known to the media but that nobody talks about (we are in France)." Frederic Lefebvre, an adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy, claimed shortly afterwards in a biography that Mr Strauss-Kahn "wouldn't last a week" if he entered a presidential election, due to the weight of damaging allegations that would emerge.

Mr Lefebvre claimed to have seen photographs showing Mr Strauss-Kahn leaving La Chandelle, a popular Parisian wife-swapping club, and said they would be circulated if Mr Strauss-Kahn entered an election.

Tristane Banon, a writer, claims she had to fend Mr Strauss-Kahn off with kicks and punches when he invited her to a meeting in a room furnished with a double bed and a television. He said he went at her "like a chimpanzee on heat" during the alleged incident in 2002.

Her husband, a Socialist politician, said she spoke to Mr Strauss-Kahn about it and he said: "I don't know what came over me, I lost the plot."

2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn is forced to apologise publicly to IMF employees and his wife for the trouble caused by his affair with Mrs Piroska Nagy, a Hungarian subordinate in the international organisation.

The IMF board called it "a serious error of judgment," but ruled he had not abused his position. Mrs Piroska Nagy later declared: "I believe that man has a problem." Aurélie Filipetti, a Socialist MP, told Le Temps that she had once been the object of a "very heavy-handed flirt" by Mr Strauss-Kahn. "I made sure I was not alone with him in a closed room," she said.

Danielle Evenou, a French actress and wife of a former Socialist minister, said on French radio: "Who hasn't been cornered by Dominique Strauss-Kahn?"

2010: Release of The Secret of a Presidential Contender, written by a woman hidden under the pseudonym Cassandre, who was said to be one of his female aides. It cites "rumours of multiple extramarital liaisons beyond the one he confessed to with an IMF employee in 2008." In her book, the author writes: "Like all great political animals, he has trouble controlling himself." The French press quote President Nicolas Sarkozy as warning Mr Strauss-Kahn before his Washington appointment, saying: "You know, over there they don't joke about this sort of thing. Your life will be passed under a magnifying glass. Avoid taking the lift alone with interns. France cannot permit a scandal."

May 2011: Mr Strauss-Kahn is arrested and charged with sexual assault on a New York hotel maid.