Gary Hart's "Monkey Business" in 1987

On this date in 1987, Colorado Senator Gary Hart, once the clear frontrunner for the democractic presidential nomination, withdrew from the race amid revelations about his extramarital affairs. He had officially declared his candidacy only a month earlier, on April 13, 1987, but his campaign was dogged by rumors of his infidelities from the outset. In a New York Times interview published on May 3, 1987, Hart responded by daring the press corps, "Follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored."  




That same day the Miami Herald published a report that two of their reporters, who had already been staking out his house, had seen a young woman entering and leaving.  She turned out to be a 29 year-old pharmaceutical rep from Florida named Donna Rice.  A few days later, the National Enquirer published this photo of the two of them together, and Hart immediately withdrew from the race.


Both are still alive today.  Donna rice is now 52 and has been married since 1994. Gary Hart is now 73. He is an author and a blogger for the Huffington Post, and holds an endowed professorship at the University of Colorado.