As the Harkin campaign trumpeted, Mr. Jepsen once claimed he had been a paratrooper in World War II, but when challenged had acknowledged that he had not entered the Army until 1946, a year after the war ended.
In a more damaging revelation, two Iowa radio stations reported that Mr. Jepsen in 1977, a year before he ran for the Senate, had joined Leisure Spa, a Des Moines brothel that offered nude modeling, nude encounters and nude rap sessions to our members. The establishment was closed three months later in a prostitution raid, and its owner pleaded guilty to keeping a house of ill-fame.
Mr. Jepsen initially called the reports a deliberate attempt at character assassination. He did not dispute his membership there were copies of his signed application but said he had thought that the spa was a health club, had visited it only once and had left immediately. He later admitted visiting the brothel out of curiosity and weakness and said he had been humbled before an entire nation before making his commitment to Christ in late 1977.
But the scandal did not fade from the 1984 race. Campaign buttons declared, Roger Jepsen Porn Again. The Des Moines Register ran a cartoon depicting the senator at the spa, asking, Could someone tell me where the exercise machines are? The newspapers chief political reporter, David Yepsen, said, People are laughing at him, and that can be fatal, at least in this state.
It was. Despite an overwhelming re-election showing by President Reagan, who carried other Republicans to victories on his coattails, Mr. Jepsens political career was ended with a decisive loss to Mr. Harkin.
Roger William Jepsen was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Dec. 23, 1928, the eldest of three children of Ernest and Esther (Sorensen) Jepsen. Roger and his siblings, Myron and Carol, grew up on the family farm and attended local public schools. Roger graduated from high school in 1945 and attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) for a year.read more
Roger Jepsen, Senator From Iowa and Reagan Ally, Dies at 91
