Top 10 Political Sex Scandals

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has gotten off easy compared to his philandering political predecessors. TIME looks back at the tawdry affairs that brought down the high and mighty

Eliot Spitzer

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
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Scandal: Patronizing a high-class prostitution ring
How Outed: The New York Times

It all began as an IRS investigation. When the New York Governor attempted to transfer upwards of $10,000 to a mysterious business known as the Emperor's Club, employees at North Fork Bank got suspicious. Their tip led federal authorities to one of the most shocking sex scandals in recent memory, and to one of the most unexpected "Johns" in political history — Client #9 a.k.a. the "Luv Guv" Eliot Spitzer. Yes, the same man who made a name for himself prosecuting prostitution rings as New York's hard-charging Attorney General. When the New York Times broke the story about Spitzer's hotel rendezvous with a $1,000-an-hour call girl named Ashley Alexandra Dupré on Mar. 10, 2008, he resigned two days later. When asked in December about his new job as a columnist for Slate magazine, Spitzer deadpanned: "It sucks. I used to be Governor."

See the top 10 scandals of 2008.

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