Hay-Adams Hotel

The restaurant here was the site of secret meetings to solicit contributions for the Iran-Contra operation.

Nearby Attractions

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Lafayette Square
Given its proximity to the White House, the square is notable for innumerable scandals, most famously for Confederate spy “Rebel Rose.”
Farragut Square
Civil War Admiral Farragut was famed for for seizing a key Confederate seaport and declared of the mines blocking his fleet’s advance: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
National Security Council HQ
The famous site of the NSC's cover-up of the Iran-Contra paper trail.
President Andrew Jackson
An American soldier and statesman, involved in the controversial Trail of Tears, but also famous for making the White House accessible to the public and for listening to the people.
Petticoat Affair
The Petticoat affair was an 1829–1831 U.S. scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives.
Decatur House
The second-largest mansion in the Square area after the White House was the home of Commodore Stephen Decatur, a hero of the early-1800s Barbary Pirate Wars.

Related Tours

Secrets & Scandals: Washington DC Private Half-Day Walking Tour

Explore the political heart of Washington D.C with an expert private guide to regale you with the stories of corruption and scandal at the very heart of political power in the USA. From stories of presidential scandals to the Secret Service, your experienced guide will weave together intrigue, conspiracy theories, and everything you never knew about how decisions are made in America.

On your private tour, you will: 

  • See the famous buildings synonymous with American power and democracy the world over;
  • Learn about the 4 presidential assassinations from Abe Lincoln to JFK, and the many attempted assassinations – and how they were thwarted;
  • Enjoy stories of how during the Prohibition era, DC was likely, and hypocritically, the least dry place in the United States;
  • Get to know the main sites around the White House neighbourhood, where so many national & international scandals have started or taken place, including Old Ebbitt Grill and the Willard;
  • Hear tales of corruption, secrets and lies at the heart of political power in Lafayette Square, including of Kennedy's affair with suspected East German spy Inga Arvad and how his father involved the notorious FBI director, J Edgar Hoover, in ending the tryst;
  • Hear all the historical and very latest gossip about what goes on behind those secure, closed doors protecting those in power, and the various drinking holes that litter the city;
  • Your tour ends at the White House, where you'll hear about the wild parties thrown, including Andrew Jackson's inauguration party in which he slipped out of the house through a back window to escape the rabble.


Washington DC has a reputation as a wheeler-dealer city where billion-dollar contracts, cosy media deals, and political alliances are sealed in smokey bars, boardrooms, and dinners hosted by power brokers in swanky Georgetown townhouses.
On your tour down memory lane of scandals past, discover the secrets, lies and backstories behind DC’s congressmen, journalists, military men and politicos throughout history.
On this tour, your guide will spill all the details of the stories of the occupants of the White House - both those from the recent past, including Nixon, Kennedy, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Obama and Trump - and its nineteenth-century occupants.
You will trawl the haunts associated with some of Washington’s greatest rumours, indiscretions and media storms, security details, news-hounds, senators, lawmakers, cable news stars and White House officials. 

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