This affair was named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War in the Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Profumo began and affair with Christine Keeler - who was also dating a Russian naval attaché and Soviet spy, Eugene Ivanov.
Profumo was questioned in the House of Commons but denied the affair. After intense media pressure, Profumo eventually confessed and resigned in disgrace.
The reputation of the Prime Minister was also damaged, and Macmillan also resigned.
8. The Wilbur Mills Scandal, 1974
On 7 October 1974, Wilbur Mills - a popular US congressman - was stopped by police. Mills was intoxicated and an Argentine stripper, Fanne Foxe, was in the back seat of the car. As the police approached, Foxe fled the car.
Mills seemingly redeemed himself by checking into rehab and was re-elected to Congress in November 1974. However, only a month later, Mills was caught again with Fanne Foxe, and drunk. He resigned as chair of the Ways and Means Committee and didn't run for re-election in 1976.
7. The Keating Five, 1989
Five United States Senators were accused of corruption in 1989. During the 1980s, the US banking industry was deregulated and savings and loan banks could invest deposits in real estate. Banks made risky investments, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board began to investigate.
However, when a savings bank collapsed, its chair - Charles H Keating Jr - accused the FHLBB of conspiracy. The former head of the FHLBB, Edwin Gray, testified that five senators asked him to back off the investigation.
Alan Cranston of California, Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, John Glenn of Ohio, Donald Riegle of Michigan and John McCain of Arizona had received $1.3million in campaign contributions from Keating. Cranston was censured, and the other four were criticised for 'questionable conduct.'
6. The Chen Shui-bian Scandals, 2006
Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian was undermined by greed - his own, and members of his family. His son-in-law was accused of insider trader, his wife charged with corruption and forgery, and Chen was found to have misused authority. However, according to Taiwan law, he couldn't be prosecuted while in office. In 2008 Chen resigned and was arrested for embezzlement and bribery.
5. Bunga Bunga, 2011
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hosted 'bunga bunga' parties in his mansion near Milan. These were said to be replays of Roman orgies. Berlusconi was accused of tax fraud and bribery and, in 2011, for paying for sex with an underage girl - Ruby Heartstealer.
4. The Moshe Katsav Rape Scandal, 2006
Former President of Isreal, Moshe Katsav, was accused of raping and sexually harassing numerous women. Katsav denied the claims but resigned in 2007. During his trial, he was convicted and the decision was upheld. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay compensation to his victims.
3. Iran-Contra Affair or Irangate, 1985
Despite saying that Iran was part of a confederation of terrorist states, American President Ronald Reagan was secretly planning to sell weapons to Iran to facilitate the release of US hostages held by terrorist groups.
Profits from these arms sales were reportedly sent to Nicaragua to aid rebel forces - contras - to overthrow the government.
2. Teapot Dome Scandal, 1922
Teapot Dome is an oil field in the US reserved for emergency use by the navy. However, in the early 1920s, oil companies and politicians said the reserves were not needed. In 1922 the Interior Secretary accepted US$404,000 in gifts and loans for the rights to Teapot Dome. Accepting the 'gifts' was not legal and the Wall Street Journal exposed the scandal.
1. Watergate, 1972
There was concern that US President Richard Nixon's bid for re-election was in jeopardy. In May 1972, former CIA agent E Howard Hunt Jr, former New York assistant district attorney G Gordon Liddy, former CIA operative James W McCord Jr, and six others broke into the democratic HQ in the Watergate office complex. Phones were wired, documents were stolen and some were photographed. There was another break-in, but a security guard called the police who arrested McCord and four others. A cover-up began and Nixon denied allegations of White House involvement.
However, one of his own tape recordings revealed Nixon had authorised money to Hunt. Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment and his successor, Gerald Ford, granted him a pardon.
