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Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace

Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace: Obscenity and Swearing
Profane language; indecent publications

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in chronological order

  William Stanbery (1788-1873) — of Newark, Licking County, Ohio. Born in Essex County, N.J., August 10, 1788. Lawyer; member of Ohio state senate, 1824-25; U.S. Representative from Ohio 8th District, 1827-33; censured by the Congress for use of unparliamentary language, July 11, 1832. Died in Newark, Licking County, Ohio, January 23, 1873 (age 84 years, 166 days). Interment at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Newark, Ohio.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page
  Robert Wilson (1793-1856) — also known as "Honest Bob" — of Texas. Born in Easton, Talbot County, Md., December 7, 1793. Served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812; delegate to Texas Convention of 1832 from District of San Jacinto, 1832; served in the Texas Army during the Texas War of Independence; member of Texas Republic Senate from District of Harrisburg and Liberty, 1836-38, 1839; candidate for President of the Texas Republic, 1838, 1843; delegate to Texas state constitutional convention, 1845. Member, Freemasons. Expelled from Texas Republic Senate, December 26, 1838, for using profanity and disclosing secrecy; subsequently returned to office. Died May 25, 1856 (age 62 years, 170 days). Original interment in private or family graveyard; reinterment at Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Tex.
  Joseph Barker (c.1806-1862) — of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa. Born in Allegheny County, Pa., about 1806. Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pa., 1850-51; defeated, 1851, 1852. In 1849, after an anti-Catholic speech, he was arrested, charged with using obscene language, obstructing the streets, and causing a riot, convicted, and sentenced to a year in prison; elected mayor in 1850 while still incarcerated. While mayor, he was twice arrested on charges of assault and battery. In 1851, he was convicted of riot. Struck and killed by a railroad train, in Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pa., August 2, 1862 (age about 56 years). Interment at Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.
  John Ward Hunter (1807-1900) — also known as John W. Hunter — of Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y. Born in Bedford (now part of Brooklyn), Kings County, N.Y., October 15, 1807. Democrat. U.S. Representative from New York 3rd District, 1866-67; mayor of Brooklyn, N.Y., 1874-75. Censured by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1867 for the use of unparliamentary language. Died in Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y., April 16, 1900 (age 92 years, 183 days). Interment at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Fernando Wood (1812-1881) — of New York, New York County, N.Y. Born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pa., June 14, 1812. Democrat. U.S. Representative from New York, 1841-43, 1863-65, 1867-81 (3rd District 1841-43, 5th District 1863-65, 9th District 1867-73, 10th District 1873-75, 9th District 1875-81); died in office 1881; mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1855-58, 1860-62; censured by the House of Representatives in 1868 for using unparliamentary language. Died in Hot Springs, Garland County, Ark., February 14, 1881 (age 68 years, 245 days). Interment at Trinity Cemetery, Manhattan, N.Y.
  Relatives: Brother of Benjamin Wood.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Books about Fernando Wood: Jerome Mushkat, Fernando Wood : A Political Biography
  Edward Dexter Holbrook (1836-1870) — also known as Edward D. Holbrook — of Idaho City, Boise County, Idaho. Born in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, May 6, 1836. Lawyer; Delegate to U.S. Congress from Idaho Territory, 1865-69. Censured by the House of Representatives in 1869 for use of unparliamentary language. Shot and mortally wounded by Charles H. Douglas, and died the next day, in Idaho City, Boise County, Idaho, June 18, 1870 (age 34 years, 43 days). Interment at Masonic Burial Ground, Idaho City, Idaho.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
Thomas E. Watson Thomas Edward Watson (1856-1922) — also known as Thomas E. Watson — of Thomson, McDuffie County, Ga. Born in Columbia County, Ga., September 5, 1856. Lawyer; member of Georgia state house of representatives, 1882-83; candidate for Presidential Elector for Georgia; U.S. Representative from Georgia 10th District, 1891-93; Populist candidate for Vice President of the United States, 1896; Populist candidate for President of the United States, 1904, 1908; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Georgia, 1912; controversial for his writings attacking the Catholic Church; arrested in 1912 on obscenity charges over three chapters in his book The Catholic Hierarchy; tried and acquitted in 1916; U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1921-22; died in office 1922. Died September 26, 1922 (age 66 years, 21 days). Interment at Thomson Cemetery, Thomson, Ga.
  Relatives: Son of John S. Watson and Ann Eliza (Maddox) Watson.
  Cross-reference: John I. Kelley
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — OurCampaigns candidate detail
  Image source: American Monthly Review of Reviews, September 1908
  Thomas Lindsay Blanton (1872-1957) — also known as Thomas L. Blanton — of Abilene, Taylor County, Tex. Born in Houston, Harris County, Tex., October 25, 1872. Democrat. Lawyer; district judge in Texas 42nd District, 1908-16; U.S. Representative from Texas, 1917-29, 1930-37 (16th District 1917-19, 17th District 1919-29, 1930-37). Presbyterian. Member, Knights of Pythias; Freemasons; Knights Templar; Shriners; Odd Fellows; Woodmen. Censured in 1921 for inserting a letter into the Congressional Record which contained words said to be "unspeakable, vile, foul, filthy, profane, blasphemous and obscene." A motion to expel him from the House of Representatives failed by eight votes. Indicted in 1923 for criminal libel over his claim that former U.S. Rep. Oscar Callaway had urged his frends not to buy Liberty bonds during World War I. Died in Albany, Shackelford County, Tex., August 11, 1957 (age 84 years, 290 days). Interment at Albany Cemetery, Albany, Tex.
  Relatives: Son of Thomas Lindsay Blanton ; brother of Annie Webb Blanton; married to May Louise Matthews.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article
  Larry Claxton Flynt (1942-2021) — also known as Larry Flynt; "The King of Smut" — of Ohio; California. Born in Lakeville, Magoffin County, Ky., November 1, 1942. Democrat. Owner of night clubs; publisher of Hustler, a pornographic magazine; convicted in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1977 on obscenity and organized crime charges, and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but the verdict was overturned on appeal; shot by a sniper in Lawrenceville, Georgia, 1978, and paralyzed from the waist down; candidate for Governor of California, 2003. Atheist. Died in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Calif., February 10, 2021 (age 78 years, 101 days). Interment a private or family graveyard, Magoffin County, Ky.
  Relatives: Son of Larry Claxton Flynt (1919-2005) and Edith (Arnett) Flynt; married 1961 to Mary Flynt; married 1966 to Peggy Mathis; married 1970 to Kathleen Marie 'Kathy' Barr; married, August 21, 1976, to Althea Leasure; married 1998 to Elizabeth Berrios.
  Campaign slogan (2003): "Vote For a Smut-Peddler Who Cares."
  See also Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier — Internet Movie Database profile — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Jello Biafra (b. 1958) — also known as Eric Reed Boucher; "Occupant"; "Count Ringworm" — of San Francisco, Calif. Born in Boulder, Boulder County, Colo., June 17, 1958. Co-founder, lead singer, and songwriter for the punk rock band Dead Kennedys (1978-86); founder of the Alternative Tentacles record label; candidate for mayor of San Francisco, Calif., 1979; charged, in Los Angeles in 1986, with distributing obscene "harmful matter" in the form of a sexually explicit print distributed with a Dead Kennedys record album; following a trial, the jury deadlocked, a mistrial was declared, and charges were dismissed; Biafra went on to become a spoken word performer; on May 7, 1994, he was assaulted and injured at a music club in Berkeley, Calif., by five or six attackers who called him a "sellout". Atheist. Still living as of 2014.
  Relatives: Son of Stanley Boucher and Virginia Boucher; married, October 31, 1981, to Therese Soder.
  Campaign slogan: "There's always room for Jello."
  Personal motto: "Don't hate the media, become the media."
  See also Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier — Internet Movie Database profile — OurCampaigns candidate detail
  Mary Carey (b. 1981) — also known as Mary Ellen Cook — of California. Born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, June 15, 1981. Actress in pornographic movies; Independent candidate for Governor of California, 2003; arrested in April 2005 during a raid on a strip club in Lakewood, Wash.; charged with touching herself while dancing; pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence. Female. Still living as of 2013.
  See also Wikipedia article — Internet Movie Database profile
  Mark E. Musselwhite (b. 1966) — of Gainesville, Hall County, Ga. Born March 13, 1966. Republican. Mayor of Gainesville, Ga., 2006; arrested for public indecency in June 2009, when he was found nude and intoxicated at a public camp site in Rabun County, Ga. Still living as of 2009.
  Anthony David Weiner (b. 1964) — also known as Anthony D. Weiner; "Carlos Danger" — of Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y.; Forest Hills, Queens, Queens County, N.Y.; Kew Gardens, Queens, Queens County, N.Y. Born in Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y., September 4, 1964. Democrat. Staff for U.S. Rep. Charles E. Schumer, 1985-91; member, New York city council, 1992-98 (at age 27, the youngest member ever elected); U.S. Representative from New York 9th District, 1999-2011; resigned 2011; delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 2000, 2004, 2008; candidate for mayor of New York City, N.Y., 2005, 2013; in 2011, a scandal developed over his Internet communications with much younger women, including sexually suggestive and sexually explicit photos and texts; after initially denying responsibility, he admitted that the photos were of him, and that he had sent them; resigned from Congress in June 2011; in July 2013, more pictures and sexting, sent under the name "Carlos Danger", were revealed, which discredited his mayoral candidacy; in September 2017, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of transferring obscene material to a minor; sentenced to 21 months in prison. Jewish. Still living as of 2018.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier
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