Old Leaders, Modern Standards

This basic idea actually came up in a couple of different comedy sources I saw recently -- in one, Jon Stewart is talking with Jim Lehrer about television's impact in choosing Presidents, and at 6:15, Jon says with this approach "you really do imagine, throughout history, losing great leaders".

Meanwhile, a College Humor video, animated by Dan Meth, asks "What if political figures had always been forced to resign for being sexually inappropriate in private?"

For this thread, what I'm interested in is -- what are some potential answers to these questions, or to similar experiments of holding rulers of old to modern standards? How might history have been different* had any of these examples (individually) been so judged in his (or her) time?

*and please, ignoring the question of how the standards are applied in the first place which is admittedly ASB.

Also, let's see if we can't keep this away from Chat...
 
In case the links weren't working -- Jon Stewart and Jim Lehrer talk about Lincoln, Jefferson, and Madison not surviving television; Meth's video shows Anthony Weiner, Prince Charles, Bill Clinton, JFK, FDR, Thomas Jefferson, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Mark Anthony, Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great, and an ape "troop leader", all resigning from office.
 
One only has to look at the British Royalty to see how TV could have altered history. Can you imagin an TV investigation into the Princes in the Tower, would Richard III have survived as long as he did?

Or how about the death of Edward II, how would his wife and son come out of it (in particular the poker!).

On the flip side I can see both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I being keen on TV with their self-publicity streaks I can see them throwing open their courts to TV crews.
 
Ah, but who would be owning the TV stations? If only Royal English Broadcasting Company is allowed to exist, what kind of news it'd be airing?
 
Ah, but who would be owning the TV stations? If only Royal English Broadcasting Company is allowed to exist, what kind of news it'd be airing?

This is where a good deal of handwavium comes in, and the media is assumed to be of the same quality as today -- but remember, I'm only interested in applying modern standards of "leadership" (like how they look, their chastity, etc) to them.

Tackling the question in any more detail easily makes it an ASB question...
 
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