Presidents' Children Who Made Big Mistakes

If you're a true political pundit, you may or may not know that there's been a long-time theory that the children of American presidents are somehow destined to either screw up big time or die before their time. One only needs to look at the tragedy surrounding the Kennedy family to find the evidence that likely first sparked this theory. Doug Wead, who worked alongside President George Bush Sr. when he campaigned for the White House, took it upon himself to do some research about former presidents' children and how they turned out after walking the halls of the White House for a couple of years, and the results of his research unsettled him; it turned out that most presidential children ended up living lives riddled with tragedy.

Wead eventually published his research in a book titled, "All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families." The tome details how presidential children bear a heavy burden they can't outrun, no matter how long ago their parents called the White House their home. Wead's research suggests the Grim Reaper appears to have a vested interest in presidential children — early death, accidents, suicide, and alcohol and drug abuse are patterns that keep repeating themselves. And indeed, when you start to dig deeper, you realize few presidential children haven't made some big mistakes that were broadcast to the entire world. Here's a look at some of the scandals ingrained in our history.

Former president Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy Carter, was only 10 years old when her family moved into the White House. She and her three older brothers seemed to handle the media pressure fairly well for the most part, but then Amy became interested in political activism, and sometimes, the causes she fought for got her into boatloads of trouble.

In 1985, 17-year-old Amy got arrested after participating in a protest against apartheid at the South African Embassy. She got into a scuffle with authorities after trying to enter the embassy with her fellow protestors and refusing to stand down after warnings from the police. This resulted in her arrest, which she didn't seem too upset about. Moments before, she told reporters, "When I decided to do it this morning, I called home and they said it was O.K." (via The New York Times). After getting arrested, she said, "I'm proud to be my father's daughter." Even though the protest was for a good cause, the former president's daughter's arrest making headlines wasn't exactly a good look. This wouldn't be Amy's last arrest — in 1986 she made waves once again when she got arrested for participating in an anti-CIA protest. This is likely what led to her dismissal from Brown University at the end of the academic year in July 1987.

A source told The Washington Post that Brown dropped Amy because she spent more time on political activism than her actual course work. The university never confirmed nor denied this rumor, but one of Amy's friends and classmates said she didn't believe the story that Amy was a bad student and rather blamed her dismissal on the university's contempt for her politics.

Of former president Ronald Reagan's five children, his daughter, Patti Davis, became the most well known, and not necessarily for good reasons. Patti didn't share her father's political views, and while he was championing conservative causes, Patti was out in the world living her best liberal life. She rebelled against her parents and all they stood for, dropped out of university, posed nude for Playboy magazine, and wrote a tell-all book that put her mother and father in a very bad light, accusing them of being "abusive" and "distant." This was in 1992, three years after Reagan left office, but it didn't make the media pay any less attention.

In 1989, The Washington Post referred to Patti as "the Reagan family's number one outcast." When she granted the outlet an interview, she didn't mince her words when it came to her family, saying, "It bothers me terribly that we lost eight years under his [my father's] administration." Oof! She also criticized her mother's efforts to establish an effective anti-drug campaign, calling it "a little simple" before saying Barbara Bush would make a much better president than her father. Patti became a writer, churning out political fiction that more often than not hinted at how she viewed her father and his presidency.

It was only when Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease that Patti finally started making amends with her family. During this time, her mother discovered a heartfelt letter Reagan wrote to his daughter right before her tell-all memoir came out. In it, he asked her to reconsider publishing the book. Patti told NBC News that she felt "terrible" after reading it and regretted her past criticisms of her family.

Neil Bush, President George H.W. Bush's son, found himself in some hot water in the '80s after it came to light that he was aware of but did not do anything about Silverado Banking's clandestine financial activities, which involved improper and at times, illegal loans. When the organization imploded in 1988, Neil became American tax payers' least favorite person when it was revealed they were footing the $1 billion bill in the aftermath of the company's collapse.

Neil attempted an apology in 2003 via an email he sent to The Washington Post. "I happened to be one of hundreds of other American businessmen and women who served as an outside director on the board of a savings and loan institution that failed during the 1980s," he wrote. "I regret that the institution's failure cost taxpayers so much money."

Neil's involvement with Silverado Banking wasn't the only time he weathered a public scandal. When he divorced his wife, Sharon Bush, it came to light in depositions that he'd cheated on her multiple times during their 23-year marriage. Neil allegedly engaged in sex acts with various women while in Hong Kong and Thailand for so-called business trips.

Barbara and Jenna Bush's dad, former president George W. Bush hadn't even celebrated the first anniversary of his presidency before his twin daughters' arrest for underage drinking made headlines. Barbara and Jenna got caught ordering alcohol at a restaurant in Austin, Texas, and the restaurant's management called the police. Jenna had already been the center of negative media attention prior to this incident. Her boyfriend got arrested for public intoxication, and Jenna faced charges for being in possession of alcohol while under the age of 21 barely a month before she and Barbara got caught for underage drinking.

Things went sideways for the twins when Jenna tried to order a drink using a friend's ID. Her server wasn't fooled, however. Barbara, somehow, had already managed to order a drink before Jenna got caught, but didn't appear to have presented a fake ID and was only charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol. Jenna's charges were much more serious, however, and there was a chance she could spend 180 days in jail for the misdemeanor. The twins' arrest was a little ironic, given that it was their father who instated the alcohol policies in Texas that prevented them from ordering drinks that night.

Speaking on the "Today" show in 2017 (via Yahoo!), Jenna admitted that she'd been very naive that fateful night, given that her father was the president and nearly every American knew her face and age. "I tried. I tried and failed. A girl that was in my school was like, 'We look a lot alike; I'll give you my ID.' That was dumb," she admitted.

Donald Trump Jr. has managed to become as much of a controversial figure as his father, Donald Trump. Donald Jr.'s public escapades made headlines long before his father took office. In 2001, Donald Jr. was arrested for public intoxication and spent the night in the Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans. Years later, he found himself smack in the middle of another scandal when word got out that Donald Jr. cheated on his wife, Vanessa Trump, with "The Apprentice" star, Aubrey O'Day.

Aside from his personal fiascos, Donald Jr. has also come under fire for his questionable love of big game hunting, especially when the media discovered that he killed an endangered argali sheep during a trip to Mongolia in 2019. He somehow managed to obtain a permit to shoot and kill the rare animal from the Mongolian government after he already left the country, something experts on the matter said is highly unusual. Donald Jr. also paid the Mongolian president a personal visit — make of that what you will.

The trip — and Donald Jr.'s hunting choices — made headlines, and it didn't exactly reflect well on sitting president Donald Trump, who has previously said he doesn't share his sons' love of big game hunting. Donald Jr. made headlines in 2012 when pictures of him and his brother, Eric Trump, posing with various slain wild animals, went viral. Donald Jr. posing with the severed tail of an elephant especially riled people up. "I am not a believer in hunting and I'm surprised they like it," their father Donald Trump told TMZ at the time.

President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, made history in 2024 — and not the good kind. He's been embroiled in an ongoing federal gun trial which finally came to an end in June 2024. Hunter stood accused of illegally owning a gun and omitting his drug use on federal forms and background checks when he purchased it. The trial ended with a guilty verdict, and Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president in history to see one of his children become a convicted felon. To add insult to injury, Hunter also ended up pleading guilty to nine federal tax charges in August 2024. These convictions can add up to around 17 years in prison, and Hunter will learn his fate on December 16, 2024. In a statement emailed to The Guardian after his guilty plea, Hunter said, "I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty."

The statement hinted at Hunter's years-long drug abuse, which was discussed extensively during his federal gun trial. Hunter Biden's ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, provided a detailed overview of his drug use to the court, as did Hallie Biden, Hunter's ex-girlfriend and the widow of his older brother, Beau Biden. Their testimony further chipped away at Hunter's public image, which has been in tatters for years. In 2020, former president Donald Trump even used Hunter's past mistakes to personally attack Joe Biden during the September 2020 presidential debate.

Drama follows the Trump family wherever they go, and it continued when Eric Trump's cancer charity found itself embroiled in controversy. In 2017, Forbes published an article calling out Eric for allegedly using his cancer charity for kids to benefit the Trump empire. The Eric Trump Foundation donated millions to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, but behind the scenes, some of the generous patrons' money was being funneled back into the Trump Organization. Speaking to Forbes, Eric boasted how nearly every cent of funds raised went to the hospital, thanks to the Trump family's generosity when it came to using the golf course for events. "We get to use our assets 100% free of charge," he claimed. But financial statements showed otherwise.

It turned out that, as Eric's charity grew, it started paying the Trump Organization a ludicrous amount of money to host its fundraising events, which added up to an eventual $1.2 million. Experts on the matter said the accrued charges were nowhere near reasonable for a single golf tournament. To make matters worse, Eric's foundation reportedly "donated" to other Trump-affiliated charities, which, interestingly, would then pay the Trump Organization to host events on its golf courses not long after. Something was indeed rotten in the state of Denmark, but amid the scandal, Eric denied any wrongdoing.