Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace
PoliticalGraveyard.com
Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace
Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace:
Abuse of Authority
Improper Use of
Power
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in chronological order
Tunis George Campbell (1812-1891) —
also known as Tunis G. Campbell —
of McIntosh
County, Ga.
Born in Middlebrook (unknown
county), N.J., April 1,
1812.
Minister;
abolitionist; delegate to
Georgia state constitutional convention, 1867; member of Georgia
state senate, 1868, 1869-72; expelled 1868; defeated, 1872; expelled
from the Georgia State Senate in 1868 based on the claim that only whites
could serve; charged
with falsely imprisoning white men as Justice of of the Peace,
and served a year of hard
labor in Georgia's brutal leased labor system.
Methodist.
African
ancestry.
Died in Boston, Suffolk
County, Mass., December
4, 1891 (age 79 years, 247
days).
Burial
location unknown.
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Herman Methfessel (c.1901-1963) —
of Staten Island, Richmond
County, N.Y.; Miami, Dade County (now Miami-Dade
County), Fla.
Born about 1901.
Democrat. Newspaper
reporter; lawyer;
member of New York
state assembly from Richmond County 2nd District, 1935-38; Richmond
County District Attorney, 1948-51.
In September 1951, the New York State Crime Commission, investigating
rackets on the Staten Island waterfront, heard testimony from Mrs.
Anna Wentworth that she had seen District Attorney Methfessel in a gambling
house, which implied that he was protecting
vice; in response, he ordered her arrest and charged her with
perjury. At the request of the Crime Commission, citing abuse of
power, Gov. Thomas
E. Dewey superseded him from all cases related to the
investigation; in the meantime, he was defeated for re-election. In
1952, he and a subordinate were charged
with official
misconduct, but found not guilty.
Injured in a one-car
accident, and died the next day, in North Shore Hospital,
Miami, Dade County (now Miami-Dade
County), Fla., July 7,
1963 (age about 62
years).
Burial
location unknown.
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Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1908-1957) —
also known as Joseph R. McCarthy; Joe McCarthy;
"Tail-Gunner Joe" —
of Appleton, Outagamie
County, Wis.
Born in Grand Chute, Outagamie
County, Wis., November
14, 1908.
Republican. Circuit judge in Wisconsin, 1940-46; served in the U.S.
Marine Corps during World War II; U.S.
Senator from Wisconsin, 1947-57; died in office 1957; delegate to
Republican National Convention from Wisconsin, 1948.
Claimed in a 1950 speech that he had a list of 205 Communists
employed in the U.S. State Department; went on to conduct hearings
and investigations into alleged subersive activities and Communist
influence on society; with his sensationalist tactics and disregard
for fairness and due process, he dominated the American political
scene for a period of time, now called the McCarthy Era; public
opinion turned against him when he tried to investigate the Army; in
December 1953, the Senate voted 67-22 to censure
him for "contemptuous
conduct" and abuse of select committee privilege.
Died of a liver
ailment at Bethesda
Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Montgomery
County, Md., May 2,
1957 (age 48 years, 169
days).
Interment at St.
Mary's Cemetery, Appleton, Wis.
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Terry Doyle Schrunk (b. 1913) —
also known as Terry D. Schrunk —
of Portland, Multnomah
County, Ore.
Born in Stayton, Marion
County, Ore., March 10,
1913.
Son of James Schrunk and Pearl Margaret (Doyle) Schrunk.
Democrat. Fire
fighter; served in the U.S. Navy during World War II; Multnomah
County Sheriff, 1949-56; delegate to Democratic National
Convention from Oregon, 1952;
mayor
of Portland, Ore., 1957-65; indicted
in March, 1957 on bribery
and perjury
charges;
tried
and found not guilty; another indictment,
for conspiracy to obtain wiretaps and other related charges,
was dismissed in September, 1957.
Presbyterian.
Member, Veterans of
Foreign Wars; American
Legion; Purple
Heart; Elks; Eagles; Freemasons.
Presumed
deceased.
Burial
location unknown.
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Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) —
also known as Richard M. Nixon; "Tricky
Dick"; "Searchlight" —
of Whittier, Los Angeles
County, Calif.
Born in Yorba Linda, Orange
County, Calif., January
9, 1913.
Son of Francis Anthony 'Frank' Nixon (1878-1956) and Hannah (Milhous)
Nixon (1885-1967).
Republican. Lawyer;
served in the U.S. Navy during World War II; U.S.
Representative from California 12th District, 1947-50; U.S.
Senator from California, 1950-53; appointed 1950; resigned 1953;
delegate to Republican National Convention from California, 1952,
1956;
Vice
President of the United States, 1953-61; President
of the United States, 1969-74; defeated, 1960; candidate for Governor of
California, 1962; candidate for Republican nomination for
President, 1964.
Quaker.
Member, American
Legion.
Discredited by the Watergate scandal,
as many of his subordinates were charged with crimes; in July 1974,
the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of
impeachment against him, over obstruction
of justice, abuse of power, and contempt
of Congress; soon after, a tape recording emerged which directly
implicated
him in the Watergate
break-in; with impeachment certain, he resigned;
pardoned
in 1974 by President Gerald
R. Ford.
Died, from a stroke, at
New
York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, Manhattan, New York
County, N.Y., April 22,
1994 (age 81 years, 103
days).
Interment at Richard
Nixon Library and Birthplace, Yorba Linda, Calif.
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Lafayette Christopher Thomas (1926-2000) —
also known as Fate C. Thomas —
of Nashville, Davidson
County, Tenn.
Born in Nashville, Davidson
County, Tenn., September
23, 1926.
Democrat. Candidate for Tennessee
state house of representatives, 1954; Davidson
County Sheriff, 1972-90.
Catholic.
Indicted
in federal court in 1990 on 54 counts of abusing his power as
sheriff; pleaded
guilty to theft and
mail fraud; sentenced
to five years in prison;
released in 1994.
Died, following heart
bypass surgery, in Nashville, Davidson
County, Tenn., July 25,
2000 (age 73 years, 306
days).
Interment at Calvary
Cemetery, Nashville, Tenn.
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James Elton West (1951-2006) —
also known as James E. West; Jim West —
of Spokane, Spokane
County, Wash.
Born in Salem, Marion
County, Ore., March 28,
1951.
Son of Jack West.
Republican. Deputy
sheriff; member of Washington
state house of representatives, 1982-86; member of Washington
state senate 6th District, 1986-2003; mayor of
Spokane, Wash., 2004-05.
Member, Rotary; Gay.
Following a scandal
involving use of his position to obtain
sex with young men, and an FBI investigation,
he was recalled
from office as mayor in 2005.
Died, from complications of colon
cancer, in the University of Washington Medical
Center, Seattle, King
County, Wash., July 22,
2006 (age 55 years, 116
days).
Burial
location unknown.
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