This lecture is part of a series on American Political Scandals from the time of the Founding to today. Political scandals have occurred throughout American history. But has our view of corruption changed? And have modern ways of dealing with corruption worked? Fergus M. Bordewich is a journalist and author of seven non-fiction books, including The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government. Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from civil and religious liberty and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” It pursues the stated object of the founders: “to furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary, scientific, [and] theological education” outstanding among American colleges “and to combine with this such moral and
