3. Grover Cleveland — “Ma, ma, Where’s My Pa”
As a true Democrat, Grover Cleveland contributed to our lore of presidential scandals by fathering a son out-of-wedlock. No financial shenanigans for him!
When he was running for office, the news broke that Cleveland had had an affair with a widow named Maria C. Halpin, who gave birth to his son, Oscar Folsom Cleveland. Cleveland was paying child support for his son, who was placed in a orphanage, after his mother could not care for him.
The chant, “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa? Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!”, was an early form of negative advertising in the presidential political campaign of 1884. But since Cleveland was honest and admitted what he had done and took responsibility for his son, the attempt to smear him backfired, and he won the election.
