Adultery

Last week was a historic one for women. Eighteen women won or reclaimed Senate seats, bringing the number of women in that body to 20. Nearly 80 women now occupy the House. New Hampshire became the first state to elect a female governor and an all-women...

Five years ago, when I covered David Petraeus' triumphant visit to Capitol Hill after he salvaged the war effort in Iraq, I likened the reception he received to that of conquering generals of Rome, who were feted with laurels, purple robes, trumpets and...

Gen. David H. Petraeus, long the most famous overachiever in the U.S. Army, is already on his way to a new career distinction: breaking the land speed record for rehabilitation from a scandal. It was only two weeks ago that Petraeus resigned from his...

In William Shakespeare's "Othello," an important general finds himself the victim of a little scheme, concocted by a disgruntled subordinate, to bring him down by making him jealous. It's a tawdry, less-than-credible bit of business involving a...

It seemed at first like a welcome break from political overload. There's nothing like a juicy sex scandal to relieve election fatigue. But this one, it turns out, brims with suggestions of military misconduct and questions of national security that have...

The Oxford English Dictionary unveiled its word of the year last week, helpfully providing a succinct description of the scandal that has claimed Gen. David Petraeus' glittering career and appears to have only begun its cull. Omnishambles: "a situation...

When David Petraeus' admirers refer to him as one of the nation's most distinguished and venerable military leaders, why do I get the sense that what they really mean is that he'd never be dishonorable enough to lie to a man? Because it's clear that...

Like a set of Russian dolls, in which each doll contains a slightly smaller version of itself hidden inside, the sex scandal that forced CIA Director David Petraeus from office last week seems full of secret compartments that have yet to be revealed....

If Paula Broadwell is David H. Petraeus' mistress, what is he to her? Biography subject, sure. Boyfriend, maybe. But what's the male equivalent of "mistress"? The growing cast of extremely prolific characters (30,000 pages of email!) in the Petraeus...

Past CIA officers have been known to withhold information about questionable activities so presidents could have "plausible deniability." In the matter of retired Gen. David Petraeus' career-killing extramarital affair, President Barack Obama is stuck...

Penn State York communications professor Joe Downing says the scandal over former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus is holding public and media fascination in part because of the man's silence about what happened. "I think by not publicly commenting, that...

Unlike many stories about powerful Washington figures having secret affairs, the downfall of spy chief David Petraeus goes beyond sex. The scandal surrounding the decorated four-star Army general who once ran the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan involves...