William Cabell Preston Breckinridge Quotes
I was entangled by weakness, by passion, by sin, in coils which it was almost impossible to break.
He was not re-elected to a fifth term after the scandal.
William [Willie] Cabell Preston Breckinridge, 1837-1904, U. S. Congressman (Democrat, KY), Testimony on his adultery and paternity trial, 1893
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This quotation gives us an insight into the sexual mores and its contrast with the teachings of Christianity ito the upper middle class n the American Colonial era. Guid was strong, but not strong enough to suppress the “evil” sexual activity.
The Senator had been illegally frequenting prostitutes and was a regular customer of an infamous DC Madam. The reason this quotation is noteworthy is that it is a stunning example of moral hypocrisy in politics. Vitter ran as a very conservative politician who placed traditional Christian and family values at the forefront of his political philosophy. When his behavior was made public there were calls for his resignation. He refused and instead gave this statement. However, he had been elected to replace Robert Livingston who had been the Speaker of the House but had resigned when he was caught frequenting prostitutes. Vitter’s hypocrisy was all the more hypocritical as he had demanded the resignation of President William Clinton who had engaged in adulterous sex while in office. When he was running for office and his opponent complained that Vitter had been frequenting prostitutes, Vitter said that the accusation was absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics”. This reinforced the hypocrisy in that Vitter claimed that one of Clinton’s failings was that he lied about his adulterous affair, while Vitter not only lied, but did so the public for purposes of getting elected. And just a few months before this statement, Vitter proclaimed the importance of abstinence for teenagers and faithfulness for adults. See {625896}.
