I ultimately relied on Wikipedia’s list of federal political scandals in the U.S.,
but limited it to only the executive branch scandals that actually
resulted in a criminal indictment. I also decided to only go back as far
as Richard Nixon, whose participation in Watergate ultimately resulted
in him being the only sitting president to ever resign. This lets many
other scandal-ridden administrations off the hook—notably that of Warren
Harding and the Teapot Dome scandal, and of Ulysses S. Grant and the Whiskey Ring and Black Friday scandals—but so be it.
The chart only includes people who served in the
administration, and excludes others (like members of Congress and
private individuals) who may have also been swept up and indicted for
the same scandal. The “Convictions” list includes both those who went to
trial and were found guilty as well as those who plea bargained and
pleaded guilty. The “Prison Sentences” should be considered a minimum
figure, as Wikipedia's list wasn’t always clear on penalties and I wasn’t able to look all of the unclear ones up.
Full details at
The Daily Kos (where you can leave your comments).
