Five years ago, when I covered David Petraeus’ triumphant visit to Capitol Hill after he salvaged the war effort in Iraq, I likened the reception he received to that of conquering generals of Rome, who were feted with laurels, purple robes, trumpets and animal sacrifice.
If anything, Petraeus’ reception may have been superior to the ancients’, I wrote, because he “didn’t even have to endure, as Roman generals did, the slave holding the crown over his head and whispering in his ear: Sic transit gloria mundi. All glory is fleeting.”
In retrospect, that might have been good preparation for Petraeus, who has now seen both irrational extremes in the Washington continuum — hero and goat. Just as he was worshipped blindly then, he has fallen from grace because of an equally disproportionate reaction to a personal failing.
Petraeus resigned as CIA director because an FBI probe uncovered an extramarital affair with his biographer. Lawmakers are demanding to know why the FBI didn’t tell them sooner.
Yet the investigation has found no smoking gun — just a few steamy emails. President Obama said he sees “no evidence” that national security was compromised, and there’s no serious allegation that the affair harmed Petraeus’ spy work, so it’s baffling that the director of national intelligence suggested, and the president accepted, Petraeus’ resignation.
In truth, Petraeus’ behavior doesn’t even merit the label “scandal.” L’affaire Petraeus lacks every element of the definition.
For those too easily scandalized, let’s review what makes a Washington sex scandal:
It’s illegal, or of dubious legality. Eliot Spitzer, aka Client 9, had to resign as governor of New York because he and the woman he met at the Mayflower Hotel got swept up in a prostitution sting. Idaho Republican Larry Craig had to resign from the Senate because the man he interacted with in the neighboring restroom stall was a police officer. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., probably would have resigned if the evidence tying him to the D.C. Madam had been more specific than the presence of his phone number in her little black book.
Petraeus? Nothing illegal.
It’s non-consensual, or underage. Florida congressman Mark Foley resigned from the House after it was learned that he was engaging in Internet sex with congressional pages. Gary Condit and Bill Clinton rated higher on the scandal meter because the women involved were interns. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa., lost his re-election bid because of allegations (later settled) that he had assaulted his mistress.
Petraeus? Consenting adults.
Fetishes or photos. Dick Morris’ tryst at the Jefferson Hotel was made memorable because it brought “toe-sucking” into the political discourse. Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., was doomed by his description of “tickle fights” with staffers. Rep. Chris Lee, R-N.Y., resigned only hours after he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman on Craigslist. It took Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., somewhat longer to realize he had to resign after sending out photos of other parts of his anatomy.
Petraeus? He’s wearing fatigues or a chest full of ribbons in photos with his mistress.
Caught in flagrante delicto. Gary Hart’s presidential prospects were undone after he was photographed aboard the Monkey Business with Donna Rice in his lap. Arkansas Democrat Wilbur Mills’ reign as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee ended after his car was pulled over and stripper Fanne Foxe got out and jumped into the Tidal Basin.
Petraeus? He was so discreet he and his paramour communicated via a Gmail draft folder.
Hypocrisy or lies. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., was doomed when it emerged that the family-values politician filmed an abstinence-only video with his lover, who had worked for him. Bill Clinton’s lies made Ken Starr possible — and then-House Speaker-elect Bob Livingston resigned during the impeachment proceedings against the president because Hustler magazine was about to expose his own infidelities.
Petraeus? None alleged.
Money. Nevada Sen. John Ensign might have survived revelations of his affair had it not become known that his parents gave $96,000 to the family of the staffer who was his mistress. And former presidential candidate John Edwards might not be quite so reviled if not for the hush money collected from wealthy donors to keep his affair quiet.
Petraeus? His birthday present was to have been a bike ride with Lance Armstrong.
If Petraeus is guilty of anything, it’s the hubristic belief, endemic in this town, that he was too powerful to get caught. But in this case, what he got “caught” doing is his business and his wife’s — not the nation’s.
Dana Milbank is a columnist for The Washington Post. His e-mail address is danamilbank@washpost.com
Thanks for the reminders. We tend to forget about this stuff. Well written column.
Sometimes it’s amazing how much people (like the writer of the column, or this escapee) miss the really simple points. Petraeus had a very important post as head of the CIA. ANY of his subordinates would have been fired for doing the things he did and being found out. The standards that apply to the underlings must be applied to guy in charge.
“No smoking gun”??? When the head guy does something that would have REQUIRED the firing of any of his people, I think the gun is smoking.
Methinks that your reply to me is an overreaction to what I said and assuming that I’m not aware of what you posted is a bit insulting.
I simply said that we tend to forget about the dozens of others guilty of the same. This was not shocking; unlike all the others, at least he ‘fessed up right away.
Hey Billy did it in the Oval Office and lied and became a hero. Petraeus was considered a hero and got caught and will be considered a rotten guy. The real scandal lost in all this is that 4 Americans died and our president and his cronies lied to the people of the United States. The libbers are now screaming racism concerning Rice. The poor “woman” is being crucified because she is female. Obama hasn’t told excactly where he was, what he was doing and what orders he gave or didn’t give. But that is okay with the flock because it isn’t Bush. Imagine if it was Bush? Chrissy Mathews would be screaming for his resignation and the sheep in the media would have this front page news for days on end. But all is well, the community organizer has our men and women’s best interest at heart. Yeah..right!
The republicans need to keep investigating this since all of their previous attempts to create a scandal have failed. They need to continue making fools of themselves by making false accusations, like McCain has done. This way it will become obvious to more of the voters just how out of touch and desperate they are, and how bankrupt their policies have become.
McCain is still very bitter and angry about his loss to Obama. And now Obama was re-elected when McCain probably expected Mitt to win. You can see it in McCain’s body language and what a lot of this is about.
If nothing else, I suppose the Benghazi thing has given neo-cons a place to focus their time and energy after suffering defeat on election day. Sooner or later though, you’re going to have to pull yourselves together and get back to reality.
I think if it were Bush that bombs and bullets would have rained on Bengazi,
Billy is no hero to me. if any working stiff (pardon the pun) had done on the job what Clinton did they would be fired. Bill is the reason I was a Republican. Romney is my reason for moving to Independent.
The fact that Bill Clinton was unfaithful to his wife, predatory toward a number of women, and repeatedly lied about it, is not what makes him a hero to some. He remains popular despite his obnoxious sexual behavior, not because of it.
His continuing popularity stems from the fact that he was actually a pretty good president — and because he was followed by George W. Bush, which made Clinton look better by comparison.
Fox News pushed the fantasy that the Petraeus affair was concocted by the White House to keep Petraeus from testifying about Benghazi. The problem with the Fox spin is that: 1) it was a real affair, not concocted. 2) Gen. Petraeus testified anyway. Congress can ask anyone to testify — he doesn’t have to be in office. And 3) Petraeus confirmed what the White House had been saying about Benghazi.
What happened in Benghazi was a tragedy, but Fox has a partisan agenda and so they tried to manufacture a scandal that did not exist in the real world.
It seems that Dana doesn’t understand “top secret clearance” and the “UCMJ”.
EXACTLY…
Is Petraeus still subject to UCMJ as he was the CIA director?
It’s been a long time since I had a TSC but the restrictions apply for quite some time. I believe it does apply to him although I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.
The man knew that, as the top spy spook in the country, he had to live an exemplary life so that blackmail could never be an option. He had to set an example for all those under him. He failed. He should go. No one person is indispensable even those who think they are the epitome of the modern major general who is no longer wearing his ribbons in his new job.
That being said, I do wish Americans could get over their public fear and loathing of sex all the while making porn the biggest industry next to the military. But very high level people who could possibly cause America harm by their sexual peccadillos? No.
The really bigger scandal is the money making machine in Tampa that hangs around CENTCOM trying to make money for doing nothing – which is what Jill Kelley was doing and Petraeus played right along. That’s a big problem.
a bs story played up to hide the real story of Benghazi
There is no Benghazi connection, except in the fantasy land of Fox News. The neo-cons were saying that the Petraeus affair was concocted to keep him from testifying — but Congress can call anyone they want to testify, so Petraeus testified (despite the hand-wringing on Fox Fantasy News) and he confirmed what the White House had been saying about the Benghazi intelligence.
Our diplomats in Benghazi should have been better protected, that’s certain. Susan Rice went on TV and reported the information she had been given in intelligence reports. Petraeus had an affair. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
…and sometimes it is a phalic symbol.
Got to do those complete quotes.. people on here are not to bright.
Perhaps the reason the diplomats were not better protected has to do with the republicans in Congress cutting funding 3 years in a row for our diplomats’ security. Maybe the republicans should investigate that.
The real story of Benghazi is that, after 3 years of reduced funding for security, complements of the republicans, a Consulate was overrun. Consulates seldom have the security protection of embassies, so it is no surprise that the low security was the case here. What is surprising is that Fox news ignores the fact that a CIA station was nearby, with sufficient defense capabilities. It is also no surprise that Fox and other right wing pundits never mention that the Libyan Benghazi citizens were so incensed by the murders that they drove the militias out, and marched in support of Obama and the US.
One could tell years back that Petraeus was more politician than general. That he was corrupt like his fellow politicians comes as no surprise.
I don’t know if I would ever call Iraq “salvaged” either, though I suppose that’s another discussion.
How about this as a moral?
From John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton:
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”
The real shame here is that as head of the CIA Petraeus did do a good job. As a general, he was highly overrated. His surges did not really work in Iraq and certainly did not work in Afghanistan, no matter the spin. He actively held press conferences where he dissed President’s Obama’s initiatives and touted his own ideas.
And by the way, he only resigned when he knew this would all become public. It had nothing to do with holding himself to higher standards.
The silly story about Petraeus resigning over a sex scandal is a cover story for THE REAL REASON HE AND ABOUT 100 OTHER ACTIVE DUTY OFFICERS IN THE MILITARY HAVE BEEN “ASKED” TO STEP DOWN in recent months. The Obama admin is solidifying its grip the military and getting rid of anyone the presents a danger. Benghazi was likely a NEOCON op using CIA assets to make Obama look bad and Romney look good. It failed. Petraeus was right in the middle of it.
So that is how you get rid of conspirators without making big headlines about a military coup of a “hidden shadow government” that operates behind the scenes and out of the reach of our nutless congress. Broadwell appears to have been set up to compromise Petreaus whether she actually knew what she was doing is another story. She was the classic “honey trap” in CIA parlance.