If so, then it was probably his old campaign manager / now some kind of chief political advisor. (If they haven't changed the cast of characters too much from the first season, which I think is all I've seen.)

The scandal was probably that he has some serious potentially debilitating disease (MS or something -- yes, those are indeed the initials of a disease...) and didn't tell the public about it in his campaign. IIRC, he had his wife, Mrs Dr Bartlett, medicate him in secret.

Can't remember about the father (he was a teacher, or the headmaster, at the school Bartlett went to as a kid, IIRC).