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→The Early Presidents
Andrew Johnson is known as the President who came closest to being impeached. His relationship with Congress was so fractious that he even refused to carry out laws they had passed, resulting in continuous problems between the president and Congress. He also fired officials despite having been warned he could not and repeatedly created crises with congressional leaders. In fact, his violation of the Tenure of Office Act, which gave authority to Congress for removing certain office holders, is what led to impeachment. The scandal did not reflect well on Congress either, as it was seen by the wider public as an attempt by Republicans to assert their authority on the President rather than being a legitimate reason for the impeachment.<ref>For more on Johnson's various conflicts with Congress, see: McKitrick, E. L. (1988). <i>Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction</i>. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref>
Perhaps among the biggest scandals of 19th-century American presidents involved Grover Cleveland. This scandal also demonstrates the power of the public to give a President a pass, albeit the public may have been deceived. In 1884, Cleveland ran for president as a clean, moral president and was labeled as "Grover the Good." The reality was he had fathered an illegitimate child years earlier. The woman in question was Maria Halpin, a widow. Cleveland quickly admitted to the affair once it was revealed and said he even took care of the child in question by finding a family to adopt the child, even though he stated he was not sure he was the father of the child and Halpin had been accused of being with other men. Cleveland said he was being gallant for taking responsibility for the child even if he was not sure he was the father. Halpin, on the other hand, accused him of having forced her to give up the child for adoption and Cleveland had effectively bribed his way out of the issue by making paying to have the child disappear taken by adoptive partents and away from political scrutiny. It was bad enough to force the child to be taken away from Halpin and to then try to hide the story, but Cleveland was able to push his version of events, perhaps through some clever spinning, that he was trying to do the honorable thing in a difficult situation. This scandal occurred mostly during the campaign and led to a very close election that Cleveland was able to win.<ref>For more on Cleveland and his scandals, see: Lachman, C. (2011). <i>A secret life: the sex, lies and scandals of President Grover Cleveland</i>. New York: Skyhorse Pub.</ref>
[[File:Jay's-treaty.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. The Jay Treaty was perhaps the first scandal to directly affect a sitting President. ]]
