Political Scandal

Forty years ago, on August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned as the President of the United States following the Watergate scandal, a story so big that it spawned the '-gate' suffix which is now synonymous with political scandals around the world. But what happened with Watergate and how does it rank among other political scandals?

In 1972 the headquarters of the Democratic party's headquarters at the Watergate office complex were broken into. Subsequent investigations revealed a culture of dirty tricks, intimidation and harassment by Nixon and his aides. After it was revealed that Nixon had indeed tried to cover up details of the break-in to his rival party's headquarters, he resigned his presidency, becoming the first and only US president to do so. A month later he was pardoned by his successor, President Ford, avoiding prosecution.

Italy's longest-serving Prime Minister since WWII, Berlusconi's career was dogged by trials and scandals. Most notorious were accusations of soliciting minors for sex, but he has also faced charges of corruption, illegal financing, false accounting, tax fraud, embezzlement and abuse of power. So far, only one from 32 trials has resulted in a definitive sentence.

Former US president Bill Clinton became involved in a scandal after denying having 'sexual relations' with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Later, when she was given immunity, Lewinsky said there was a relationship and Clinton was forced to backtrack. He was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, but was eventually acquitted on all charges.

In 1961 the UK's Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, had a brief relationship with a 19-year-old model, Christine Keeler (pictured). At the same time Keeler was also reported to have had a relationship with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché. Profumo was forced to resign, with his Prime Minister Harold Macmillan doing the same just six months later.

Former president and prime minister of France Jacques Chirac was linked to alleged corruption during his time as mayor of Paris, from 1977 to 1995. Immune from proscution while president, after leaving office he was found guilt of diverting public funds and abusing public confidence, and given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

A prominent politician in China, Bo Xilai was found guilty of corruption in 2013, stripped of all his assets and sentenced to life imprisonment. He had already been implicated in the murder of business partner Neil Heywood when a local police chief accused Bo of corruption and being 'the biggest gangster in China'.

President of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008, Chen Shui-bian was arrested immediately after leaving office, charged with embezzlement, bribery and money laundering for which he received a life sentence, later reduced to 20 years. His supporters claim the charges were politically motivated.

In 1962 Germany's defence minister Franz Josef Strauss reacted to a damning article in magazine Die Spiegel by having its offices raided and its editors arrested. Strauss initially denied any involvement but was later found to have acted illegally by urging arrests and was sacked from his position.

In 2010 Liliane Bettencourt, the second wealthiest woman in the world, became involved in a political scandal over alleged payments to French politicians and evading tax. Initially former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was among those charged over the affair, but prosecutors have now dropped him from the case.

Elected president of Germany in 2010, the next year Christian Wulff was accused of deceiving parliament, accepting a loan, trying to influence the media, favouritism and unethical behaviour. After the district attorney's office requested that his presidential immunity be lifted Wulff resigned. He was later acquitted of all corruption charges.

Also known as Irangate, the scandal saw senior US government officials of the second Reagan administration secretly facilitate the illegal sale of arms to Iran to help free US hostages and help fund anti-government Contra fighters in Nicaragua. In the end, 14 officials from Reagan's administration were indicted, with 11 convicted.