Remember this guy?
Here’s a hint, he could have become President of the United States.
** Yep, that’s our good buddy Gary Hart. He’s shown here with his girlfriend, model Donna Rice. The only problem was, Hart was married at the time. Oops. Oh, and the t-shirt he was wearing when he took a photo with his secret girlfriend says, “Monkey Business.” Quite unfortunate.
Hart was a lawyer, author, college professor, United States Senator, and a married man. Incidentally, he has been married to the same woman, Lee, since 1958.
** How ’80s is this? Before you correct me, yes, I know this was from his 1984 campaign.
Senator Hart ran for President again in 1988. He was the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination that year. Reporters suspected that Hart was up to no good, but the cunning Senator thought he could outsmart the press. He should have known better.
He must have thought that he could count on absolute discretion from Rice and everyone else who knew about the relationship. That turned out to be a big mistake.
Rumors began surfacing that he was cheating on his wife. Hart adamantly denied the rumors and dared the media to follow him around. His actual quote to the press was, “You’ll be bored.”
This served to provoke the media.
Guess what happened? That’s right; the press immediately started following Hart around wherever he went. So did a private investigator or two.
The same day that Hart made his “bored” comment, Rice was spotted leaving Hart’s house. The very same day! I’m not sure if that gets more points for arrogance or idiocy.
Reporters were all over the story and began questioning Rice’s friends. It turns out Rice wasn’t very discreet about the affair because her friends knew all about it and were more than willing to talk.
With his philandering out in the open, Gary Hart withdrew from the race in May of 1988.