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Long life

Distorting the truth — US presidential campaign-style

Plagiarism is an unpardonable offence in America; inventing a life story isn’t

14 November 2015

9:00 AM

14 November 2015

9:00 AM

It is hardly uncommon for politicians to lie, especially when their careers are threatened by a sexual transgression — John Profumo about Christine Keeler, for example, and Bill Clinton on not having had ‘sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’. But there is a particular kind of distortion of the truth that is rare over here but almost routine among American presidential candidates; and this is the way they embellish their personal histories to maximise their appeal to voters.

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