Sexual fidelity has had a dark side for the Democratic presidents of the last century because marital loyalty is strongly correlated with serving just one term as president.   Franklin D. Roosevelt continued his affair with Lucy Mercer during his presidency and was re-elected three times.  Harry S. Truman was a faithful husband but was only elected once.  John F. Kennedy had many affairs during his presidency and would surely have had an excellent chance to be re-elected to a second term had he lived.  Jimmy Carter was faithful but was only elected to one term.  Bill Clinton was elected to two terms and was sexually involved with Monica Lewinsky during his presidency.  Essentially, in the last century or so, those Democratic presidents who do not experience extramarital sex while in office are elected to only one term, whereas those who have such an experience serve multiple terms. What could account for this pattern?  One hypothesis is that a...(Read Full Post)