Scandal tour a hit for D.C. company

WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- A Washington tour operator said the American Scandal tour has been his company's most successful service since it started early in the summer.

Sean Williams, founder of DC Walkabout, said the scandal tour became a quick crowd favorite after he began taking tourists to sites associated with some of the capital's most famous scandals and the involved parties, including Marion Barry, Richard Nixon, Monica Lewinsky and Eliot Spitzer, Politico reported Tuesday.

"We really want to kind of humanize some of the figures of the past and bring more awareness as it truly was as opposed to the way it is idealized in the present," Williams said.

"I think maybe it's human nature to get the more sensational aspects of people's lives. It's pretty apparent with the semi-tabloid culture that we have. I think people are just drawn to it because it's a little more exciting than the regular history overview that you normally get," he said.

The company's Web site says the tour is "recommended for adults" and "rated R (for ridiculous)."

Williams said he had so many scandals to choose from that it was difficult to pick the destinations for the tour.

"Easily 90 of the highlights of American history scandals didn't even make it to the tour," he said.