The Teapot Dome scandal involved national security, big oil companies, bribery and corruption at the highest level of the United States government. Before Nixon and the Watergate affair, this was the most serious scandal in our country’s history. The affair took its name from Teapot Dome, a rock formation in Wyoming that looked like a teapot and, more importantly, stood atop a large government naval oil reserve. Albert B. Fall, a rancher and New Mexico’s first U.S. Senator, served as secretary of the interior in President Warren G. Harding’s cabinet. Fall became the first person ever to be convicted of a crime while serving as a member of a presidential cabinet. President Harding served from March 1921 to August 1923 and is often described
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Teapot Dome was only the most dramatic example of corruption by Harding’s appointees. The investigation discovered that one of Sinclair’s companies had transferred $233,000 in Liberty Bonds to Fall’s son-in-law, and that Sinclair had also contributed substantially to the Republican Party. By now the members of the investigation committee believed that crimes had taken place. Fall refused to testify so the head of the Senate investigating committee, Senator Walsh, introduced a resolution stating that it appeared that the leases were made “under circumstances indicating fraud and corruption.” He called on President Coolidge to bring action to cancel the leases and “to prosecute such other proceedings, civil and criminal, as may be warranted by the facts.” The prosecutors made a strong argument that the evidence showed “the criminal intent of Fall to make money out of his position of trust and honor,” and the jury agreed. Fall was sentenced to a year in jail and to pay a fine of $100,000. His appeal was denied on June 6, 1931, and he was sent to the New Mexico State Penitentiary. Because of the extensive investigation of the Senate committee, the rich oil fields at Teapot Dome were recovered and returned to the U.S. Navy. The government collected millions of dollars from Doheny and Sinclair as well as almost $50 million for the oil drilled in its reserves. The Harding administration has remained a symbol of corruption. The Teapot Dome scandal illustrates the dangers that money and corporate power can pose to democratic
Teapot Dome was only the most dramatic example of corruption by Harding’s appointees. The investigation discovered that one of Sinclair’s companies had transferred $233,000 in Liberty Bonds to Fall’s son-in-law, and that Sinclair had also contributed substantially to the Republican Party. By now the members of the investigation committee believed that crimes had taken place. Fall refused to testify so the head of the Senate investigating committee, Senator Walsh, introduced a resolution stating that it appeared that the leases were made “under circumstances indicating fraud and corruption.” He called on President Coolidge to bring action to cancel the leases and “to prosecute such other proceedings, civil and criminal, as may be warranted by the facts.” The prosecutors made a strong argument that the evidence showed “the criminal intent of Fall to make money out of his position of trust and honor,” and the jury agreed. Fall was sentenced to a year in jail and to pay a fine of $100,000. His appeal was denied on June 6, 1931, and he was sent to the New Mexico State Penitentiary. Because of the extensive investigation of the Senate committee, the rich oil fields at Teapot Dome were recovered and returned to the U.S. Navy. The government collected millions of dollars from Doheny and Sinclair as well as almost $50 million for the oil drilled in its reserves. The Harding administration has remained a symbol of corruption. The Teapot Dome scandal illustrates the dangers that money and corporate power can pose to democratic