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John-F-Kennedy
[Photo: Getty Images]Ted-Kennedy
[Photo: Getty Images]Marion-Barry
[Photo: Getty Images]Bill-Clinton
[Photo: Getty Images]Eliot-spitzer
[Photo: Getty Images]john-edwards
[Photo: Splash News Online]mark-foley
[Photo: Getty Images]Anthony-Weiner
[Photo: Getty Images]silvio-berlusconi
[Photo: Getty Images]Rob-Ford
[Photo: Getty Images]“I’m not perfect,” Toronto Mayor Rob Ford told Matt Lauer on the Today show, with regard to his admission that he has smoked crack when in a “drunken stupor.” Perfection, maybe, is not a thing we look for in our leaders. But we do kinda like for them to stay away from illegal drugs, prostitutes, extramarital affairs and naughty sexts with underage employees. As we watch how our neighbors to the north handle this interesting development, we can’t help but be reminded of other powerful men (and yeah, it almost always is the men) in public office who were caught in similar nonpolitical quagmires. From JFK to Marion Barry, Bill Clinton to Anthony Weiner, there are a whole lot of them.
As we were compiling this list of 10 (any more and we would just feel too depressed), we began to wonder: What determines whether we let these scandals slide or banish their perpetrators from politics for good? Barry was re-elected after he got out of prison for his crack incident. Clinton is now one of the most beloved former presidents. But Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer both attempted comebacks this year and failed. John Edwards is forever on our s— list, but it was totally cool that Kennedy was probably banging Marilyn Monroe? Well, we’ll leave you to ponder these double standards yourself as we await the next chapter of this amusing story.