10 Politicians With Dark Secrets

Eric Bodenweiser

There's an old proverb that goes "you hate what's in your own house." That's probably why senatorial candidate Eric Bodenweiser boasted about being a member of notorious anti-gay group, the Delaware Family Policy Council. Bodenweiser's public homophobia masked a deep, dark secret, and in 2013 it came out. Mid-campaign, he was indicted on a staggering 113 felony charges of sex with a minor that occurred between 1987 and 1990. After the arrest, more young boys came forward to accuse Bodenweiser of interfering with them. Even his own brother spoke out against him. He's currently awaiting trial and is on house arrest.

Tom Eagleton

It's not just sex that politicians keep secret. In 1972, George McGovern was running against a resurgent Richard Nixon for president and he needed all the help he could get. He recruited Missouri Senator Tom Eagleton as his VP pick, hoping that his more conservative leanings would help him gain a foothold in middle America. Unfortunately for McGovern, Eagleton had kept a secret from the campaign - he had been hospitalized multiple times for depression in the '60s and received electroshock therapy. When the truth came out, Eagleton willingly recused himself from the ticket.

Bill Johnson

One of the most bizarre secrets ever kept by a politician has to belong to former Alabama gubernatorial candidate Bill Johnson. After an unsuccessful run at the seat in 2010, Johnson traveled to New Zealand, ostensibly to help with earthquake recovery efforts in Christchurch. But he was really there for a different reason - making babies. Johnson (who ran against gay marriage) was using himself as a sperm donor to father children with lesbian couples, unbeknownst to his wife. When he was caught meeting with one of the mothers, he explained fathering as many as 10 babies as "a need that I have." He later left his wife to move to New Zealand permanently.

Larry Craig

Idaho Senator Larry Craig was notorious for his support for "traditional values," including blocking gay rights. Unfortunately for Craig, he got busted engaging in a very traditional gay activity - soliciting sex in a public bathroom. In 2007, Craig made advances on an undercover police officer in a stall at the Minneapolis - St. Paul International Airport. After the bust, many people from Craig's past came forth with additional allegations about homosexual advances he'd made. He categorically denied any gay activities, but chose not to run for re-election at the end of his term.

Jim Russell

Some candidates become upset when the press delves into their past, and it's usually for good reason. An instructive example comes from the failed senatorial campaign of New York Republican Jim Russell. He had been pursuing a number of offices since 1996, but it wasn't until his 2010 campaign, where he secured the Republican nomination, that his constituents learned he was a bit of a racist. In 2001, Russell wrote an article for the Occidental Quarterly about "appropriate ethnic boundaries for socialization and marriage." He also decried movies that depicted interracial relationships like "Save the Last Dance" as "sociobiological warfare." The piece was so prejudiced it wound up on David Duke's website. Needless to say, he didn't win the seat.

Grover Cleveland

Even the President of the United States can harbor a dark secret or two. When Grover Cleveland was on the campaign trail in 1884, he was confronted with the fact that he'd fathered a child out of wedlock back in the 1870s. The mother was a woman named Marie Halpin, who had met Cleveland on the streets of Buffalo, New York. After Cleveland escorted her back to her boarding house, he essentially took her by force and without consent. When her son Oscar was born, Cleveland arranged to have the boy taken and placed in an orphanage. He was a total bastard, but that didn't stop him from being elected president twice.

Alan David Berlin

This next dark secret is a political aide, so he wasn't actively running for election, but the story is just too juicy not to share. Alan David Berlin was an aide to Pennsylvania State Senator Jane Orie, known for her tough stance on sex crimes. That stance didn't seem to extend to her staff, though, as Berlin kept his extremely weird secret life from her. Berlin, also known as "Alan The Panda," was a member of the "furry" subculture that got sexual jollies from dressing up in a stuffed animal suit. He also had a thing for little kids, and cops busted him for using his Senate computer to proposition teenage boys in the area. Orie later resigned amidst a forgery scandal of her own.

Shan Mohangi

Here's a particularly grisly one from overseas. In 2009, a man named Narentang Jumuna was a well-respected member of South Africa's parliament, running for re-election after changing his party allegiance. His chances looked good until a horrible secret from his past was revealed. While living in Ireland as a young man under the name of Shan Mohangi, he had strangled his 16-year-old girlfriend, hacked her body into pieces and disposed of it by cooking it in the oven of the restaurant he worked at. He served four years before being deported back to South Africa, where he changed his name and tried to hide any connection between his murderous deeds and his new life.