Watergate was only one of several scandalous aspects of former President Richard Nixon's life, according to a new book by a former White House correspondent.
Nixon's Darkest Secrets: The Inside Story of America's Most Troubled President by Don Fulsom (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.99), former correspondent for United Press International, makes several eye-catching accusations, including that the former president had a gay affair with Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a Key Biscayne, Fla. banker apparently with ties to the mob.
The allegation is especially noteworthy because, as gay news website Queerty reports, Nixon was known to have made homophobic remarks.
When a close aide to President Johnson was caught having sex with a former sailor in a YMCA bathroom, Nixon called the man "ill," and added that such people "cannot be in places of high trust."
The new book also alleges that Nixon beat his wife and that his aides referred to him as "our drunk."
The Daily Mail reports that Nixon's alleged secret lover also had a shady history of his own.
According to the Mail, the FBI claims Rebozo had ties to mob bosses Santo Trafficante and Alfred 'Big Al' Polizzi. He also ran a bank that, a former mobster claims, was used to launder money.
The book's press release says that Fulsom used interviews with former White House staffers and ex-members of Congress, as well as government documents, to support his claims.
The Nixon Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The book's author Fulsom covered the presidencies of Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton during his career as a journalist.
The book goes on sale at the end of January.