Hairgate
Correction Appended: April 2, 2010
For about an hour in May 1993, two of LAX's four runways were shut down. Then President Bill Clinton never heard the end of it. The reason for the closure was the presence of Air Force One, inside of which the President was in the throes of a $200 trim from a glamorati stylist named, fabulously, Christophe.
The media widely reported that scheduled flights had been forced to circle, that runways were jammed and that people were made hours late, though a Newsday report later that year showed that there were no significant delays. By then, however, "Hairgate" had already become a public-relations nightmare and solidified an opinion in some quarters of Clinton's out-of-touch excesses. What made it doubly awkward was that it occurred while the President was struggling to get Congress to pass a deficit-reduction bill.
An earlier version of this item incorrectly stated that flights and passengers had been delayed several hours by the President's haircut.