On this day, Oct. 7, in 1974, U.S. Park Police pulled over Rep. Wilbur Mills, D-Ark., and exotic dancer Fanne Foxe, who leapt from the car and jumped into the Tidal Basin in D.C.
The spectacle led to the downfall of Mills, one of the most powerful men in Congress and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
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Mills’ face was cut from a scufße with Foxe, whose real name was Annabella Battistella. She was also known as the “Argentine Firecracker.”
Despite the scandal, Mills won re-election. On Nov. 30, 1974, Mills held a news conference in Foxe’s dressing room at a burlesque house in Boston to dispel rumors that they were having an affair.
It had the opposite effect. Mills did not seek another term.
He died in 1992 at age 82.
– Scott McCabe
