March/April 2019 Issue

From Hamilton to Beto, Politicians Who Shared a Little More Than We Wanted to Know

A brief (and boxers) history of political oversharing.

U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson displays the incision from his gall bladder surgery and kidney stone removal at a news conference at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington Oct. 20, 1965.

President Lyndon Johnson displays the incision from his gallbladder surgery in October 1965.AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Before Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and her Instant Pot became social media sensations, a few American politicians had dared to share personal tidbits they hoped might endear them to the public. An incomplete history of political oversharing:

1797: Responding to rumors of corruption, ex-Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton publishes a tell-all pamphlet detailing his “amorous connection” with another man’s wife.

An artist’s interpretation of Alexander Hamilton getting ready to dish

Buyenlarge/Getty Images

1906: Secretary of War William Taft announces that he wants to get his weight down to 250 pounds. After three months of dieting, he reports losing 20 pounds, thanks to low-fat fare and “some exercises that make me look ridiculous.”

1942: While running for governor of California, Earl Warren grudgingly agrees to try to soften his image by publishing a photo of his family. He wins but fires his political consultants.

1952: In response to allegations of political payoffs, VP candidate Richard Nixon gives a lengthy speech about his finances and campaign gifts he’s received—including his family’s dog, Checkers.

Richard Nixon with his cocker spaniel, Checkers, in 1952.

Bettmann/Getty Images

1965: Following gallbladder surgery, President Lyndon Johnson lifts his shirt to show off his 12-inch-long scar.

1976: Presidential hopeful Jimmy Carter confesses to Playboy, “I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.”

1994: Asked about his underwear preference by a 17-year-old girl at an MTV forum, President Bill Clinton replies, “Usually briefs.”

2000: Onstage at the Democratic National Convention, Al and Tipper Gore break with tradition by displaying unbridled marital affection with, as the New York Times put it, “a full-mouthed kiss that lasted a [sic] exceptionally long time”—three seconds.

Al and Tipper Gore kiss at the the Democratic National Convention in August 2000.

Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

2016: During a Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump re­assures America that his penis is not unusually small: “I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”

2017: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill, a candidate for governor, makes an unprompted disclosure on Facebook: “In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females.”

2018: Responding to Trump’s claim that she lied about her ancestry, Sen. Elizabeth Warren reveals the results of a DNA test, which suggests she had a Native American ancestor at least six generations ago.

2019: While interviewing his dental hygienist on Instagram, Beto O’Rourke shares his teeth cleaning with the world.

Donald Trump in 2016: “He referred to my hands—if they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there’s no problem.”

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate