Is marital unfaithfulness a valid disqualifier for political office?

A person in that position hiding something and putting himself in a vulnerable position isn't good. I don't care who's cheating who out there. But some positions are supposed to be the best among us, and that most certainly includes character if not carefulness.

When you are the head of the FBI and the CIA, then it can become a national security issue. They have access to a lot of secrets. Mistresses can learn things they aren't suppost to know. Who could then leak the secrets or sell them. Or the person can be blackmailed into giving up secrets to keep the affair quiet. It puts the person and the nation at risk.

In the big picture, I don't think he necessarily should have resigned because of it, unless of course it was to focus on his marriage instead of his job. On the other hand, the fact that it came to light is a sign of poor job performance. While it may hold some validity, I don't think blackmail is really an issue here. First off cat's out of the bag anyways. Secondly, real blackmail is a lot harder than if you don't go along with me I'll tell mom you broke some house rule. Blackmailing the head of the CIA... that's more like a Tom Clancy novel than actual reality. Not saying it can't happen, but it would be well beyond the means of most people. I think we also have unrealistic expectations of people who do certain jobs. Especially jobs like director of the CIA or the President. We expect them to keep up with Jone's and have a typical happy American family with 2.5 kids, a dog, and a house with a white picket fence. Then we expect him to do all these other things that we think people do. We fail to realize that they also work very demanding jobs, they can't come home and talk about their day at work, they often don't even have time to come home and see their families. I'm not saying it justifies cheating, but by the nature of the job, they are more so married to their work than their actual spouse.

If you noticed...everyone was outraged and cried for his head (President Clinton) when his affair came out...BUT...when it was discovered Hilary was standing by her man and she didn't feel the need to divorce him, he actually became a hero. He did. He's every man's man, just getting a little H*** at work. And women view him as a somewhat handsome older rich man, who better to have an affair with. If Bill Clinton was running in the primary against President Obama back in 2008, President Obama would have never won. Of course adultery is wrong, and of course when you hold a public office you come under public scrutiny. So I think its alright to express hot displeasure over an affair but (to me)there are more values and qualifiers as to if he can do his job besides his bedroom antic. Just saying.

In my country, if you are caught in the act, you're spouse can legally kill you and won't get imprisoned at all.

Yes, he is a high ranking individual. He is fully aware that he needs to abide by the rules of the UCMJ(Uniformed Code Of Military Justice). Also as a member of the military (especially a general) his conduct should be good on and off duty since he represents the United States Armed Forces. Whether affairs are popular in America or not a person in his position is and should be held to a higher standard. His behavior is an embarrassment.

I do not condone cheating in a marriage, but that is a personal issue for the family to resolve. I see no reason why it should bear any relevance as afr as his job is concerned. If a waitress in a café or a bus driver were dismissed on those grounds then it would be viewed as totally inappropriate by the majority of society. Therefore it should be allowed to affect the employment of anyone ireespective of the office that they hold.

If a man would lie to the mother of his children, his mate, who else would he lie to? You willing to trust him? NOT me. As for Petreaus, he put himself in a position to be blackmailed. As a four star general and then as head of our intel community, that would mean he put his nation at risk. And then also, once you have proven yourself untrustworthy, you cannot ask the nation to trust you. YOU should be interested.

People in a position of power are expected to have a higher standard than normal people like us. When such people have an affair, it places them in a position to be blackmailed because they don't want their wives to know about their indiscretion. And being blackmailed to do something that may be illegal won't be good for the country. A person in power must be held at a higher standard and must not have any skeletons in the closet that will put him in a position that he will not be able to accomplish his duties effectively; be it having an affair or any other nasty things that he may have done in the past.

It seems that extra marital affairs have been more readily accepted by people recently. I think it is a sign of the moral decay in our society and just because more people can tolerate or overlook it doesn't make it acceptable behavior, especially in our leaders. I always thought that people in positions of leadership should be held to a high standard. They should be people of honor and good character. They should lead by example and should be a role model for others to follow. By committing the act that he did, he demonstrated that he is deceitful and that he can easily betray the trust that others put in him. What he did was neither of good character or honorable. I agree with his decision to resign.

You do have a point. That's their personal life and it really isn't any of our business as long as it doesn't get in the way of him performing his job correctly. What I heard on tv somewhere was that he resigned from his position because of the affair. If that's true, I just don't get why he would quit just because of what he did. I guess for a politician, if he or she has an affair it could kind of affect their job as a politician. If they can't even be faithful to their spouse how are they supposed to effectively run our government and be truthful and honest with us

Your right there... as all these guys are human. And can all make muistakes like you and I.

I think it is more of a problem that he may have been kissing and telling. According to reports in the media, the mistress appeared to be in possession of information that was not general knowledge. He may have been compromising his job by inappropriately revealing information to someone without a 'need to know'. When, or if, that is the case, then he/she should be immediately removed from office because those type disclosures may jeopardize lives or national security. I think that as a rule we have held those in public office to a much higher standard than we hold ourselves and other J.Q. citizens. Perhaps we should when some of the political offices have so much riding on their proper administration. I think it was beneath the dignity of the office of the President for media to stoop to reporting on his affairs. It seems that many past presidents had indiscretions but it was at a time when media would have never dreamed of reporting those facts in a public forum. I think I prefer not to know about their indiscretions.

I am sorry but I think it is a "must" for a person running an office to be honest at all times. He is running an office and it is no joke. Specifically in his case since he runs CIA, needs, integrity and honesty. Furthermore, if the divorce is legal in America, why not do it first, since it is legal anyway. True that it is not our business or your business, but he is paid by your tax. If he is unfaithful to his wife, who has been there for him for days, hours and he promised to be faithful in the bond of marriage all the more how sure are you that "he is faitful to Americans", whose giving him a living thru taxes.

I believe that he did it on his own by quitting the job. I do not know if there was anyone from the government who fired that person then I think that is wrong if that was done like that. But I think his resignation was a personal decision on his part and was not because he violated anything in his current position.

As far as I'm concerned, what goes on between any number of people in thei bedroom is nobody's business but their own, and has absolutely no relevance to the public service of any of them unless what they are doing is illegal or harmful to anyone involved. Lash

Yup! That is a valid reason because as a public servant. They must have good reputation to the public to be respected. The law and provision settings as the integrity of public officials. They must be of good character to serve the people well...

A candidate's credibility is at stake here. People would think that, if he was capable of lying to his wife for having an affair, how much more lying can he do when he is already in office? People would like to look up to a leader who values his family.

habibti320 I think we have to have standards and fidelity is one of them. Some claim..if you can't trust a person to be faithful in marriage does that mean he/she can't be trusted in other ways?? I say yes...Especially when you get to the level of President or head of CIA you really should be stronger than to give in to the weakness of an affair..I am really disappointed in Patreaus...yes he's human, but I thought he had more character... I feel sorry for his wife..it's a shame he put her through all this just for his own selfish reasons. You can't build a happiness on another's pain..imo