It seems that the older presidents (the first 20) seem so dignified.
Weren’t there any scandals back then?
Did it affect the way the people voted, or were they less accepting than nowadays?
Up until recently, the press showed respect for the President and did not report on personal scandalous behavior. As recently as the Kennedy administration, the press was aware of the President’s misbehavior but did not report on it.
I recall reading about a president from way back who was accused of fathering a child out of wedlock.
He apparently fessed up to it and it didn’t hurt him. I forget who though.
There were plenty of scandals among the early presidents. Andrew Jackson, for instance, was accused of living in sin with a bigamist (a charge that had some truth to it – when Rachel Jackson married Andrew, she thought she had divorced her first husband, but it turned out she had only been granted the right to sue for divorce).
There is a new reference book out called “Presidential Scandals”. It’s written by Jeffrey D. Schultz.
All 40 men who have been president have entries of some kind.
Grover Cleveland was accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. He was the 22nd (and 24th) president, so I didn’t count him. 
Actually, he wasn’t the first. It was a standard election mudslinging tactic to accuse the other party’s candidate of fathering a child out of wedlock. Same with alleging he had negro blood.
Cleveland, when confronted, said “Tell the truth.” The truth may have been that he wasn’t the father, but by admitting it, the scandal died out.
The president you are thinking of is Grover Cleveland.
He had a child out of wedlock. During his run for the presidency the scandal broke. His opponents came up with the chant:
“Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?
Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”
Cleveland (unlike another president I know who’s last name begins with Cl) fessed up and won election.
Zev Steinhardt
I don’t suppose theres any president past or future, who hasn’t done SOMEthing that could be “scandalized”.
ANyone who has lived that perfect of a life wouldn’t Want to be president anyway!
Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with Sallie Hemmings was reported while Jefferson was still in office, so that would certainly count. Rachel Jackson’s being accussed of bigamy was widely reported and, according to Jackson, made her so distraught that it contributed to her death. Franklin Pierce was widely known to be an alcoholic, but I don’t know how much play that got in the papers. Cleveland’s paternity question has already been noted. Warren G. Harding’s use of the Oval Office coat closet was also pretty widely known, but not much reported. Same with FDR and Lucy Mercer and Eisenhower and whatever his paramour’s name was.
In general, there seems to have been more respect paid to the office. To my way of thinking, Clinton should have taken the same tack as Chester Arthur when he was questioned about his personal life. Said Chet, “I may be President of the United States, but my personal life is nobody’s damn business.” Hear, hear to that.