Presidents Day: Scandals that created celebrities

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Sally HemingsValerie PlameNan BrittonMaria HalpinMonica Lewinsky

In honor of Presidents Day, we take a look at a few folks who've achieved fame -- or at least notoriety -- by having their names linked to the leader of the free world.<br>
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Sally Hemings was a slave and half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha. And that's all the Jefferson household was willing to divulge, despite rumors and newspaper rumblings that alleged there was an intimate relationship and subsequent offspring between the mixed-race woman from Virginia and our nation's third president. DNA testing in the late 20th century proved these stories positive. Hemings' legacy has been told through various media, including a book, a miniseries starring Carmen Ejogo and Sam Neill and a movie (pictured) starring Thandie Newton and Nick Nolte.

Sally Hemings

( A. Borrel )

In honor of Presidents Day, we take a look at a few folks who've achieved fame -- or at least notoriety -- by having their names linked to the leader of the free world.

Sally Hemings was a slave and half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha. And that's all the Jefferson household was willing to divulge, despite rumors and newspaper rumblings that alleged there was an intimate relationship and subsequent offspring between the mixed-race woman from Virginia and our nation's third president. DNA testing in the late 20th century proved these stories positive. Hemings' legacy has been told through various media, including a book, a miniseries starring Carmen Ejogo and Sam Neill and a movie (pictured) starring Thandie Newton and Nick Nolte.

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