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Schrage

Hidden History of Kentucky Political Scandals

Appearance Date: 10/29/2022

At various points in history, Kentucky’s politics and government have been rocked by scandal, and each episode defined the era in which it happened. In 1826, Governor Desha pardoned his own son for murder. In a horrific crime, Governor Goebel was assassinated in 1900. James Wilkinson was branded a traitor against Kentucky and the nation. “Honest Dick Tate” ran away with massive amounts of money from the state treasury. In modern times, Operation BOPTROT resulted in perhaps the biggest scandal in the state. Authors Robert Schrage and John Schaaf offer a fascinating account of Kentucky’s history and its many unique and scandalous characters.

Meet the Author

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Robert Schrage & John Schaaf

Robert Schrage is very active in local history circles and has served on the boards of the Rabbit Hash Historical Society, Boone County Historic Preservation Board and the Behringer Crawford Board. In 2015, Schrage received the William Conrad Preservation Excellence Award for Lifetime Achievement in preservation of local history. Previous works include Lost Northern Kentucky (The History Press); Legendary Locals of Covington (Arcadia); Eyewitness to History: A Personal Journal (winner of honorable mentions at the New York, Amsterdam and Florida Book Festivals, Merlot Group); Carl Kiger: The Man Beyond the Murder (Merlot Group); The Ohio River from Cincinnati to Louisville (Arcadia); Boone County: Then and Now (Arcadia); and Burlington (Arcadia). John Schaaf retired as executive director of the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission, where he worked for fifteen years, and served on the steering committee of the international Council on Governmental Ethics Laws. Prior to that, he was the general counsel for the Legislative Research Commission, as well as an attorney with a Louisville law firm and a brief stint as editor of a weekly newspaper. Mr. Schaaf received a degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky and his JD from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. This is his first effort at writing a book.

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