When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation Wednesday, two days after being linked to a prostitution ring, he joined a list of high-profile politicians whose careers have been rocked -- and sometimes ended -- by sexual indiscretion.

Slideshow: Political Sex Scandals

"In the past few days I've begun to atone for my public failings," Spitzer said in a statement Wednesday in his Manhattan office. "I cannot allow for my private failings to disrupt the people's work."

"To those of whom much is given, much is expected," Spitzer said. "I have been given much ... I'm deeply sorry that I did not live up to that."

With his wife, Silda, by his side, Spitzer said that he will do what he needs to do to heal his family, including his three teenage daughters.

The case involving Spitzer started when banks noticed frequent cash transfers from several accounts and filed suspicious activity reports with the Internal Revenue Service, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The accounts were traced back to Spitzer, leading public corruption investigators to open an inquiry.

Spitzer has not been charged yet with any crime.

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho

Larry Craig continues to fight charges of lewd behavior in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in June 2007, after initially pleading guilty in August to misdemeanor charges. He has sought, unsuccessfully, to have his guilty plea thrown out and claims he broke no laws.

The officer who arrested Craig in a police undercover operation, which was aimed at cracking down on illicit restroom sex, accused the senator of lying to him during the interrogation. The senator, in turn, accused the officer of soliciting him for sex.

"I'm not gay. I don't do these kinds of things," the father of three told police Sgt. Dave Karsnia minutes after the two men met in a men's room at the airport on June 11, 2007.

Craig, with his wife, Suzanne, at his side, held numerous news conferences defending himself. He said initially that he would resign, but changed his mind.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

David Vitter in July 2007 acknowledged "a serious sin" after his Washington telephone number was found among those called years ago by an escort service. Investigators said the service was a prostitution ring. Telephone records showed that the service called Vitter's number five times from 1999 to 2001, while he was a U.S. representative.

Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt claimed credit for publicizing Vitter's phone records. "Sometimes I have to go bottom feeding" in an effort to remove "phonies" from lawmaking positions, Flynt told reporters.

Vitter, a conservative who ran for office on a platform opposing abortion and supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, weathered calls from some Democrats and members of his own party to resign, and remains in office.

"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling," he said at the time. "Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla.

In 2006, Mark Foley resigned from an 11-year career in Congress after accusations that he sent sexually explicit e-mails for former and current House pages.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," Foley said in a statement.

Foley, well known in the House as a crusader against child abuse and exploitation, admitted he was gay and later said he had been abused by a Roman Catholic priest as a child. The priest, who is retired and living overseas, admitted in news reports to being naked in saunas and possible "light touching" with Foley, but denied making sexual contact.

A month after Foley resigned, he enrolled in a 30-day alcoholism treatment center in Arizona. A criminal investigation continues in Florida over whether Foley tried to seduce underage boys.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert found himself caught up in the scandal, accused by both political allies and opponents of not acting earlier to prevent Foley from interacting with underage congressional pages.

Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, D-N.J.

Jim McGreevey was governor of New Jersey from 2002-2004. He resigned after admitting to an extramarital affair with a male employee. He had made his homosexuality public earlier that year, becoming, at the time, the only openly gay governor in United States history.

"At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is," he said in his resignation speech. "And so my truth is that I am a gay American."

"I am also here today because, shamefully, I engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony. It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable. And for this, I ask the forgiveness and the grace of my wife. She has been extraordinary throughout this ordeal, and I am blessed by virtue of her love and strength," he said.

Raised as a Roman Catholic, he favored abortion rights and also campaigned for the state's first domestic partnership law for same-sex couples. He signed the bill into law in 2004. He has been accepted to General Theological Seminary to pursue a Master of Divinity degree, the degree required to become an Episcopal priest. He married twice. He has a daughter from his first marriage, to Kari Schutz. He has another daughter from his marriage to Dina Matos McGreevey, whom he is in the process of divorcing.

Former President Bill Clinton

In 1999, Democrat Bill Clinton was impeached in his second term for perjury and obstruction of justice related to revelations that Clinton had had an inappropriate relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton refused to resign and was acquitted by the United States Senate.

"According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the president had 10 sexual encounters, eight while she worked at the White House and two thereafter," Starr's report said. "The sexual encounters generally occurred in or near the private study off the Oval Office -- most often in the windowless hallway outside the study. During many of their sexual encounters, the president stood leaning against the doorway of the bathroom across from the study, which, he told Ms. Lewinsky, eased his sore back. Ms. Lewinsky testified that her physical relationship with the President included oral sex but not sexual intercourse."

"Now that the Senate has concluded its constitutional duty," Clinton said after the Senate verdict. "I want to say again to the American people how profoundly sorry I am for what I said and did to trigger these events and the great burden they have imposed on the Congress and on the American people."

In an e-mail sent later to members of the White House staff, Clinton said, "I know that my actions and the events they triggered have made your work even harder, for that I am profoundly sorry."

Clinton, who is now campaigning for his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, as she seeks the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, has authored several books and is engaged in various philanthropy projects.

Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La.

On Feb. 19, 1999, the final day of former President Bill Clinton's impeachment debate, Bob Livingston stepped aside as incoming speaker of the House of Representatives. He was due to take over the speaker's job from Newt Gingrich, but that ended when news broke that he had been unfaithful to his wife.

When he announced he would not succeed Gingrich, Livingston also announced his Feb. 28 resignation. During the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Livingston was vocal in his demand that Clinton either resign or be impeached. He had served in Congress for 22 years.

On the day he resigned, Livingston admitted to "a few failures." He later told The New York Times, "I feel lighter. I don't have to worry about all the problems, all over the world, all the time. And I just have to worry about the next paycheck."

As he did later with David Vitter, Larry Flynt claimed that he had evidence of Livingston's inappropriate behavior.

Livingston lives in Louisiana with his wife, Bonnie.