May was a bad month for heroes. First there was that embarrassing disclosure about William Bennett, the former education secretary and Republican moralist-in-chief, who turned out to have been hiding a massive gambling addiction. To the delight of his detractors and mortification of his admirers, Bennett turned out to be exhibit A in his own Sunday school lesson on the importance of character and self-discipline in building a virtuous citizenry. Then, days later, came the disclosure in a new biography that the late John F. Kennedy was carrying on an affair with a White House intern. Our revered, martyred ex-president, an iconic figure across the generations, turns out to have been unfit for the presidency, at least by the standards our leaders have been touting lately. It all seems terribly dispiriting.

But the problem is not our leaders. It’s in our yardsticks. We have allowed ourselves to be led around the nose for decades by charlatans who have been selling us snake oil. An entire generation of Americans has been reared on the notion that “character” — meaning personal probity, sexual or otherwise — is the essential measure of political leadership. The result — entirely intentional — has been to distract voters from the essential question of where our leaders intend to lead us.

Republicans have understood for decades that if they had to run on their policies, they would lose. Instead they ran on the Democrats’ supposed personal shortcomings. The saddest part of it all is that we bought the message, even after the messengers — Newt Gingrich, Henry Hyde, Robert Livingston and now Bill Bennett — turned out to be as flawed as the Democrats they were vilifying.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The business of politics is governing: raising and spending taxes, keeping public order, caring for the poor and defending our borders. Our greatest presidents were measured by how they conducted the public’s business, not how they conducted their private lives.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount