Do Powerful Men Need Something Else to Keep Them Motivated?

Some time ago, Dominique Strauss Kahn, the former chief of the IMF, had everything going for him: money, wealth, the most prestigious global position one could have, a great achiever for a wife, and was even a kind of leader-in-waiting for France. Yet he was caught with his pants down, and accused of rape, kicking off an embarrassing scandal, especially for one so high-powered, well established and respected, which ultimately lost him his job.

Worse still, it emerged that he had a string of liaisons, and treated women none too greatly, perhaps like his own candy shop where he could always help himself and with no questions asked. But he was not unique.

At the same time, in the United States Congress, other lawmakers were also allowing their brains too move south too, especially Anthony Weiner (who used his phone to send "crotch and bulge-revealing photos" to women, including a high school girl) ) and David Wu (who was accused of having sex with a supporter's 18 year old daughter). Far too close to home for comfort. Yet both men were apparently "happily married" with families (that word "happily" being suspect for men playing away from home, and clearly interpreted differently in their language!). 

One would have thought that their exposed position of influence would have made them more circumspect in their behaviour. Not at all. There seems to be a bit of risk taking behind the knowledge that their power makes them more attractive to women, and men, and they seem to throw caution to the wind. They are not alone either. History is littered with the falling debris of high-powered llicit affairs and sex scandals on both sides of the Atlantic.

In fact, fast forward to the latest sex scandal swirling around Jeffrey Epstein which has tons of wealthy folks involved, including Britain’s Peter Mandelson, who, it has gradually been revealed, was close to Epstein, even when he was in prison for child trafficking. The Mandelson scandal, which has now reached  boiling point, is being described as one of the most significant falls from grace in modern British political history. Known as the "Prince of Darkness" for his mastery of the political "Dark Arts”, Mandelson is now the focus of a police investigation for alleged misconduct in public office.

There seems to be three key allegations against him

1. Emails from 2009–2010 (when Mandelson was Business Secretary) appear to show him forwarding internal government documents to Epstein. These allegedly included secret plans regarding the 2008 financial crash and an early confirmation of a €500bn European bailout.
   
2. In a 2003 birthday book, Mandelson called Epstein his "best pal”. Further emails in 2009 suggest he told Epstein he was "trying hard" to lobby the government to reduce taxes on bankers' bonuses at Epstein's request.
   
3. Bank statements appear to show $75,000 transferred from Epstein-linked accounts to Mandelson or his partner. Mandelson claims he has "no recollection" of these payments.
   

Peter Mandelson

The Political Fallout

However, the scandal has moved beyond Mandelson and is now threatening the position of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who admitted in the Commons (Feb 4) that he knew about Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein before appointing him as US Ambassador in 2025.

On his part, Starmer claimed that Mandelson "lied repeatedly" to his team during the vetting process about the extent of the relationship, but opposition leaders like Kemi Badenoch are framing this as a catastrophic failure of judgment, questioning why a man twice forced to resign from Cabinet in past governments was ever given a new lead role role in the first place.

Mandelson’s career was built on the reputation of the powerful smooth, untouchable diplomat. This scandal is the ultimate collapse of that mask. By allegedly sharing the nation's state secrets with a convicted predator for personal or social gain, he has committed what the Prime Minister called a "betrayal of our country".

• So what makes powerful men prone to sex scandals when they are at the top of their tree, when they seem to have everything which other people might envy? 
• What makes them risk their achievements and family life for moments of madness? 
• What prompts them to take such heady risks in the face of all they have to lose? 

Could it be that it takes a certain kind of very focused individual to get to the top? One who is often self-centred and egocentric; one who believes that their status gives them so much power that they are the only ones who matter, and that the whole world revolves around them? 

Or could it be that the very feat of getting to the top, of besting other men in the process, carries a perception of greater sexual prowess, too, which also has to be proven and sustained to make that person feel worthy? Perhaps a smug feeling that they actually 'deserve' everything they get at that level, and it should be theirs for the taking? 

It seems that power is an intoxicating aphrodisiac to both men and women, that makes the holders appear even more attractive and desirable, especially power over women and employees. Perhaps life at the top is a different version of life for mere mortals. It carries tremendous pressures of service delivery, public expectations and professional exposure, a need to prove being the best person in that job, while being consciously aware that the eyes of the public watch keenly for the wrong step that will signal their Achilles heel and their demise.

The goldfish bowl of power is a very limiting and exposed place to be, and perhaps those rarified heights attract people who are very insecure and need constant affirmation and reinforcement of their validity. Charged with so much responsibility, they need to keep testing that power through the most satisfying way possible: impressing women and other men. They clearly need an outlet, or activity, where they can simply forget the world and please themselves. But, paradoxically, the activities they choose tend to be those which appear to carry great risks and also have the power to destroy them, in a perverse kind of death wish!

Whatever it is, these powerful men are a race apart from ordinary mortals in a competitive society. When they get to that level, the trappings of power (willing staff waiting on them constantly, money, perks, high status and great conditions of office) can sometimes go to their heads. A few begin to believe that they are actually invincible and the rules cease to apply to them. They enjoy the thrill of pushing those elastic boundaries hard, the ones they should be stabilising, and often getting away with it, until the day their luck runs out. 

Unfortunately those boundaries have a bad habit of bouncing back to massively hit their integrity and life quality, bringing their world crashing around them with a huge and reverberating bang. Peter Mandelson is experiencing that painful bang right now, one guaranteed to hurt for some time to come!