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There Are No Heroes: Political Scandal in the White House

The first criminal indictments mark a new phase of the Russia investigation. It's not the first time a presidential administration has been touched by criminal activity or indictment.

During this hour of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with Cary Covington, associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa, and Tim Walch, former director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum and Library about other scandals throughout history. 

Walch says that Watergate was the turning point when the American public started to distrust politicians. 

"We hunger for heroes, but then we are perpetually disappointed with the people we elect to office," Walch says. "There's an old saying that the American people have ample evidence they are being lied to, and that's just the way they like it." 

During this hour, Kieffer, Walch and Covington talk about the current investigation, Watergate, Iran Contro, Whitewater, and a few scandals from the early 20th century. 

Lindsey Moon served as IPR's Senior Digital Producer - Music and the Executive Producer of IPR Studio One's All Access program. Moon started as a talk show producer with Iowa Public Radio in May of 2014. She came to IPR by way of Illinois Public Media, an NPR/PBS dual licensee in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and Wisconsin Public Radio, where she worked as a producer and a general assignment reporter.
Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River