Back before his untimely death, Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan (D) was displayed in a 1960 photo in a group of four wearing blackface at a Kiwanis Club fundraiser. John Ashcroft dug up the photo in 1999 when Carnahan charged Ashcroft with racism for voting down a black judge to an appellate bench.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/keyraces2000/stories/carnahan102599.htm
Carnahan tried to run for the U.S. Senate when his small plane crashed in a thunderstorm on his way to a campaign stop. It was too late to get his name pulled from the ballot so the Dem party declared that a vote for Mel would be a vote for his wife who had never held elective office. Thus begat the whole circus about the “Widder Carnahan” who won on a sympathy vote.
“Back before his untimely death, “
It was “untimely” because it didn’t happen earlier.