Political Scandals and Comebacks in Black and White

Politicians' routes down the road of redemption.

Roads to Redemption - Some might say these politicians are either lucky or have a whole lot of chutzpah and in at least a few cases a bit of both. After reaching various levels of political power, these elected officials seemingly threw it all away because they couldn’t control their sexual urges or keep their hands out of the cookie jar. Here's a review of their scandals and comebacks and one former lawmaker's failure to relaunch. —Joyce Jones(Photos from left: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas, Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

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Roads to Redemption - Some might say these politicians are either lucky or have a whole lot of chutzpah and in at least a few cases a bit of both. After reaching various levels of political power, these elected officials seemingly threw it all away because they couldn’t control their sexual urges or keep their hands out of the cookie jar. Here's a review of their scandals and comebacks and one former lawmaker's failure to relaunch. —Joyce Jones(Photos from left: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas, Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Anthony Weiner - Anthony Weiner was a rising Democratic star representing a New York City district. His political star began to fall after images of his private parts were leaked on the Internet. First blaming a hacker for breaking into his Twitter account, the sheer strangeness of the story was too much to overcome. Weiner resigned and kept a low profile. That is until he announced Monday that he recieved a political columnist position at Business Insider. Now who's going to be exploiting who?(Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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Anthony Weiner - Just a few short years ago, then New York Congressman Anthony Weiner was making national headlines for tweeting and sexting lewd pictures of himself. Now, he's running for New York City mayor and giving the other candidates a run for their money — for now. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Eliot Spitzer - Eliot Spitzer stepped down in 2008 as governor of New York after the humiliating disclosure of his penchant for the services of high-priced prostitutes. He has since worked as a host on CNN and Current TV, and written some columns for Slate. Seeing how relatively well things are going for Weiner's mayoral bid, Spitzer is also seeking a political comeback as the state's comptroller.  (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

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Eliot Spitzer - Eliot Spitzer stepped down in 2008 as governor of New York after the humiliating disclosure of his penchant for the services of high-priced prostitutes. He has since worked as a host on CNN and Current TV, and written some columns for Slate. Seeing how relatively well things are going for Weiner's mayoral bid, Spitzer is also seeking a political comeback as the state's comptroller.  (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Mark Sanford - Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is the current poster boy for political redemption. He famously abandoned his duties for five days to tryst with his mistress-now-wife in her native Argentina. After the resulting fall from grace, Sanford successfully ran for Congress and now fills the seat vacated by Sen. Tim Scott. (Photo: AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

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Mark Sanford - Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is the current poster boy for political redemption. He famously abandoned his duties for five days to tryst with his mistress-now-wife in her native Argentina. After the resulting fall from grace, Sanford successfully ran for Congress and now fills the seat vacated by Sen. Tim Scott. (Photo: AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Marion Barry - Four years prior to being sworn in for the second time as the mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry was forced from the mayor's office and later imprisoned for being caught on videotape smoking crack. The politician made the ultimate comeback, now acting as the councilman for Washington, D.C. Can't keep a good man down, can you?(Photo: Andrew Harnik/ The Washington Times /Landov)

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Marion Barry - The colorful former Washington, D.C., mayor is among the most infamous politicians who've been tainted by scandal and lived to give another re-election victory speech. After being busted for smoking crack cocaine and serving a short prison term, Barry was elected to the D.C. city council in 1992 and re-elected mayor in 1994. He currently serves as a D.C. council member. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times /Landov)

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Jesse Jackson Jr. - Former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. could have had it all, according to most political observers. Despite allegations, ultimately proven to be true, that he misused $750,000 in campaign funds and had an affair with a Washington restaurant hostess, Jackson sailed to re-election in 2012. He resigned office as part of a plea deal with federal officials related to the misuse of campaign donations. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Mel Reynolds - This former Democrat member of the House of Representatives did the unthinkable when he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer. Talk about scandalous! (Photo: Fred Jewell/AP Photo)

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Mel Reynolds - Mel Reynolds resigned from Congress in 1995 after being convicted of statutory rape. Ironically, the scandal created an opening for Jackson to fill his seat. Reynolds tried to return the favor after Jackson's forced resignation, but voters weren't interested. (Photo: AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

Willie W. Herenton - While serving as superintendent of Memphis public schools, Herenton faced two "sex for jobs" scandals and one subsequent lawsuit. He was married during the first incident and divorced by the second, but neither prevented him from being elected the city's first African-American mayor. (Photo: Commercial Appeal /Landov)

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Willie W. Herenton - While serving as superintendent of Memphis public schools, Herenton faced two "sex for jobs" scandals and one subsequent lawsuit. He was married during the first incident and divorced by the second, but neither prevented him from being elected the city's first African-American mayor. (Photo: Commercial Appeal /Landov)

Double Standard - When House Speaker John Boehner was the chamber's minority leader, he had plenty to say about Rep. Charles Rangel's alleged ethics violations, and even sponsored a resolution to censure him. But Speaker Boehner's taking the opposite tactic with Republican Rep. Trey Radel, who plead guilty on Nov. 20 to cocaine possession. "If the leadership can find any way to explain this besides politics, I certainly would like to hear it," Rep. Rangel told The Hill. (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

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Charles Rangel - In November 2010, New York Rep. Charles Rangel was found guilty by a House ethics panel of failure to pay some taxes, improper solicitation of charitable donations and failure to accurately report his personal income. The raspy-voiced lawmaker also was censured by the House — and handily re-elected in 2012. (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)