WHITE House sex scandals are nothing new - think JFK and Marilyn or Bill and Monica - but this is perhaps the most unlikely one yet: Richard Nixon allegedly had a gay affair with a Mafia figure.

Veteran Washington reporter Don Fulsom, who covered the Nixon Presidency, believes President Nixon had Mafia links going back decades, beat his wife and had a serious problem with alcohol.

But the real jaw dropper in this new book, Nixon's Darkest Secrets, is his claim that Nixon was probably gay and had an affair with a shady Cuban businessman with criminal links.

That President Nixon, who was forced from the Presidency after the Watergate scandal, was notoriously homophobic only makes the book's claims all the more startling.

In interviews with eyewitnesses, including FBI agents, and by using newly released documents Fulsom makes the case that President Nixon was involved in a homosexual love affair with Bebe Rebozo.

While President Nixon was estranged from his wife Pat for most of their 53-year marriage, he stayed close to Mr Rebozo, who even got to fly on Air Force One and had his own special outfit with the President's seal affixed.

Reporters have also revealed incidents of hand holding under tables and cuddling after drinking.

The book also details myriad links between Nixon and various Mafia figures, in particular with connections to the Miami underworld which would have involved Rebozo.