Trump is only following in their footsteps:
In the aftermath of Richard Nixon’s resignation, Watergate continued to claim victims.
The final toll included:
§ one presidential resignation
§ one vice-presidential resignation – although Agnew’s crimes were unrelated to Watergate
§ 40 government officials indicted or jailed
§ H.R. Haldeman and John Erlichman (White House staff), resigned 30 April 1973, subsequently jailed
§ John Dean (White House legal counsel), sacked 30 April 1973, subsequently jailed
§ John Mitchell, Attorney-General and Chairman of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP), jailed
§ Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy (ex-White House staff), planned the Watergate break-in, both jailed
§ Charles Colson, special counsel to the President, jailed
§ James McCord (Security Director of CREEP), jailed
During Ronald Reagan's presidency, there were many scandals which result in a fair number of administrative staff being criminally convicted. Of course, the most famous scandal during Ronald Reagan's presidency was Iran-Contra affair. In this, weapons where sold to Iran, who was waging war with Iraq, to free some American hostages, and some of profits from this sale were then given to Nicaraguan Contras which not only a violation of US laws but also international laws.
In the Iran-Contra affair, many administrative staff were convicted for crimes ranging from lying to trying to defraud the nation. Some people convicted were National Security Advisor Robert C. McFarlane, Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's Central American Task Force Alan D. Fiers, Chief of Central Intelligence Agency's Division of Covert Operations Calir George, Richard R. Miller, National Security Advisor John Poindexter and Oliver North.
The other controversy involved Samuel Pierce, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and his associates. Wealthy contributors who contributed to the Reagan administration campaign were given funding for low income housing development without conducting any background checks, which are mandatory. In addition, lobbyists like former Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt, were given massive lobbying fees for helping the contributors get the government funding. In this, 16 people were convicted including many staff from the Reagan administration. Some of people convicted were James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of Interior; Philip Winn, Assistant HUD Secretary; Thomas Demery, Assistant HUD Secretary; Deborah Gore Dean, Executive Assistant to Samuel Pierce; Catalina Villaponda, Former US Treasurer, HUD; and Joseph A. Strauss for accepting kickbacks.
The other scandal that rocked the Reagan administration involved the Environmental Protection Agency where funds from the Superfund to clean toxic waste from different sites were given to local politicians' election campaign. These politicians were those who sided and supported with Reagan administration.
In addition, there was the lobbying scandal where Reagan's Chief of Staff Michael Deaver was convicted of lying about his lobbying activities not just to the Congressional Committee but also to the Grand Jury. Also, convicted was Lyn Nofziger, a White House Press Secretary, who was convicted for illegal lobbying after leaving the government.
Comparing scandals by administration
In comparing scandals by administration, first I had to decide what constituted a scandal. How many were genuine problems versus those artificially hyped by opposition parties. Benghazi? Whitewater? Travelgate?
Even when someone was forced to resign over a scandal, how much of that was politically motivated rather than a criminal issue, like Joycelyn Elders’ masturbation comments or Shirley Sherrod’s firing over what turned out to be a doctored video?
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 below 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.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES BY PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATION PARTY YEARS INOFFICE CRIMINALINDICTMENTS CRIMINALCONVICTIONS PRISONSENTENCES
BARACK OBAMA Democratic 8 0 0 0
GEORGE W. BUSH Republican 8 16 16 9
BILL CLINTON Democratic 8 2 1 1
GEORGE H. W. BUSH Republican 4 1 1 1
RONALD REAGAN Republican 8 26 16 8
JIMMY CARTER Democratic 4 1 0 0
GERALD FORD Republican 2.4 1 1 1
RICHARD NIXON Republican 5.6 76 55 15
Overall, Richard Nixon’s administration had the most criminal indictments and convictions. Wikipedia’s list enumerates 13 specific individuals who were convicted and imprisoned over Watergate alone, but notes that a total of 69 officials were indicted for the scandal and 48 were either convicted or pleaded guilty. (Nixon himself is not included; after his resignation, President Gerald Ford gave him a blanket pardon, sparing him from any potential indictments. However, his first vice president, Spiro Agnew, is included for indictments unrelated to Watergate.)
The Reagan Administration is next with 26 indictments and 16 convictions (including guilty pleas), followed by the George W. Bush Administration with 16 indictments, all ending in convictions or guilty pleas. The Nixon Administration had at least 15 people serve at least some time in prison for their crimes, while Bush 43’s administration had at least 9 and the Reagan Administration had at least 8. (Scooter Libby’s sentence is included here even though Bush pardoned him in 2007 before he was sent to jail, since the pardon did not expunge the crime and the pardon itself is a political act, not a judicial determination. But others whose convictions were later overturned—like Oliver North’s and John Poindexter’s—are included under indictments but not convictions since it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to second-guess the courts’ reasoning for overturning those convictions.)
All those Clinton White House “scandals”? Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on hearings on Whitewater, Travelgate, the use of the White House Christmas card list, and other oddities, almost all resulted in absolutely nothing. Clinton himself isn’t included. As with Nixon, the impeachment proceedings themselves should count as an indictment, and in the end his only citation was for contempt of court, which I didn’t interpret as the same as an indictment. (I will update this if folks show me this was incorrect.) The only indictments for his administration were of his Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy (who was acquitted of all 30 charges) and of Espy’s chief of staff Ronald Blackely, who was convicted of making a false statement and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
The George H. W. Bush Administration only had a single criminal indictment, but it’s notable for two reasons. It was the only time that a U.S. treasurer has ever gone to prison. But Catalina Vasquez Villalpando’s conviction and sentence is probably less notable than who didn’t go to jail: President Bush 41 himself escaped potentially ruinous scandal by granting clemency to six people indicted in the Reagan Administration’s Iran-Contra scandal, thereby avoiding trials that could have exposed Bush 41’s involvement.
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