The U.S. magazine Foreign Policy has chronicled French political leaders’ sex scandals after Dominique Strauss-Kahn‘s arrest. Following are excerpts from the report.

Felix Faure

Felix Faure who was president of France from 1895 to 1899 died mysteriously on Feb. 16, 1899. He was alone in a drawing room in the Elysee Palace with his mistress, Marguerite Steinheil, when he suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage.

Steinheil, who described herself as the president’s “psychological advisor” was a frequent visitor to the palace.

According to one historian‘s account, the two were found half-naked with Faure’s hand clenched in Steinheil‘s hair.

Francois Mitterand

In 1994 it was revealed President Francois Mitterand had, since 1981, kept a second family hidden from public view.

For most of his presidency, he had spent most of his nights at the apartment of Anne Pingeot, an art historian. It was revealed that a Gendarmerie colonel had been employed almost entirely to shield Pingeot and her daughter, Mazarine, from press scrutiny.

Mazarine remembers Mitterrand as a kind and attentive father. Pingeot and Mazarine publicly attended Mitterrand’s funeral in 1996. 

Jacques Chirac

In her memoirs, Jacques Chirac’s wife Bernadette wrote of the difficulties of living with a “handsome” man who has “enormous success” with women,

He didn‘t confirm or deny the widespread reports that he had maintained a long-term affair with a journalist while he was prime minister in the 1970s, but said that in any case, “it is not something that had a big effect on me.” 

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas “President Bling-Bling” Sarkozy divorced his wife of 11 years, Cécilia, shortly after taking office in 2007 -- both had allegedly had affairs during their on-again-off-again relationship.

He began dating actress/model Carla Bruni within months and their very public relationship led to an erosion of Sarkozy’s support among older French voters.
The relationship became even more of a distraction when he threatened to sue a tabloid that alleged he had sent text messages to Cecilia offering to take her back, just a week before his marriage to Bruni.

France‘s first couple have themselves been dogged by rumors of infidelity. Sarkozy reportedly revoked the security privileges of his high-profile former justice minister, Rachida Dati, over reports that she had spread rumors that Bruni was having an affair with another pop singer.

Frederic Mitterrand

In a 2005 memoir, television presenter and writer Frederic Mitterrand, nephew of the former president, wrote candidly of his experiences paying for sex with “boys” in Thailand. The admission didn’t prevent Mitterrand from being named France‘s minister of culture four years later.

Despite criticism from the opposition, Sarkozy backed his culture minister; Mitterrand still has the job today.

(From news reports)