William J. Bennett

Release of his book, "A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears". [March 2010]

A crusader for "moral family values" (he was one of former President Bill Clinton's harshest attackers during Clinton's impeachment) and a return to "old-style virtues," Bennett was forced to admit in May 2003 that he had lost about $8 million gambling in casinos during the preceding decade. A review of one 18-month gambling stretch showed that Bennett would often visit casinos for two or three days at a stretch. One casino source said, "He'll usually call a host and let us know when he's coming. We can limo him in. He prefers the high-limit room, where he's less likely to be seen and where he can play the $500-a-pull slots. He usually plays very late at night or early in the morning--usually between midnight and 6 a.m." Documents showed that in one two-month period, Bennett wired more than $1.4 million to casinos to cover his gambling losses. When exposed by the Washington Monthly and Newsweek magazine, Bennett claimed that he planned to quit gambling.

He wrote a book, "The Book of Virtues", in 1995, extolling the virtues of personal responsibility and moral behavior. After the book was published it was discovered that over the previous several years he had lost more than $1,000,000 at the gambling tables and slot machines in Las Vegas. He said that there was no conflict between his behavior in those circumstances and the behavior that he advocated in the book--which included being careful with your money--because it was his own money that he lost gambling.

Appointed by President George Bush to be the first director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or "drug czar," 1989-1991, he coordinated the "war against drugs," but resigned in frustration.

A former Democrat, Bennett joined the Republican Party in 1986.

As US Secretary of Education during the Ronald Reagan presidency, 1985-1988, Bennett promoted a very conservative agenda, slashing federal aid to students and exhorting schools to become a force for "moral education."