10 Biggest Scandals In American Politics

Politics is like celebrity gossip that's been shredded by sharks. The details are shocking, but often hidden under a blanket of bloody water.

When it comes to issues on how society should be governed, asking someone where they line up on the political compass is nearly taboo. Although you might feel comfortable asking a friend for their opinion on voting, asking a stranger is a terrifying proposition that could end in violence. If you don't believe us, try strolling through Central London sometime wearing a t-shirt that says, "I voted Leave" (please don't actually do this).

You get the point.

Unfortunately, the political climate has become so polarized in recent years it makes constructive discourse very difficult to achieve and a huge part of what divides us are scandals.

Occasionally career ruining evidence of corruption, scandals are typically committed by politicians who thought they could get away with something deceptively unethical, and lately it seems the American government is never in short of them. The details of these wrongdoings are then filtered by a biased media to the public, who end up arguing over the real facts later on Twitter.

It's a messy business that has a nasty habit of widening the gap between people who would otherwise be friends. What follows here is a list of the 10 most memorable and polarizing scandals to ever shape American politics. Some of these incidents will never be resolved entirely; a few of them may have greatly affected the outcome of America's presidential election this year.

With president J.F.K and Robert both assassinated in the 60s, many looked to the youngest Kennedy brother, Ted, as a likely candidate for the 1972 presidential election. However, that drastically changed with the Chappaquiddick Incident.

In 1969, Ted Kennedy was driving home late from a party when his car careened off a bridge into a pond. A female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned when she was not able to get out of the submerged car in time.

Everyone agreed that the crash was a terrible accident, but what turned it into scandal was Ted didn't report the incident to law enforcement for nine hours under account of experiencing a deep state of shock.

To this day, it has never been confirmed if he was driving under the influence or if his relationship with Kopechne was entirely plutonic, but most are convinced that the Chappaquiddick crash is why Ted never ran for president.