A Brief Summary of the Teapot Dome Scandal

The Teapot Dome Scandal is an event in history that lost its shine over time. While catastrophes such as World War II leave enough impact to remain with us for decades, the Teapot Dome Scandal was one of those occurrences that gets pushed back more and more, until it is remembered in a solitary paragraph here or there in random history books.

The scandal itself had a huge impact at the time. The large amount of media attention that it generated "made it the first true symbol of government corruption in America." (Wiki)

The "Teapot Dome" referred to an area in Wyoming where oil fields were located. Oil fields in Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills, in California, were also involved in the scandal. These oil fields were designated as reserves for the U.S. Navy, and were stored on public land. There had been turmoil regarding the oil in the first place, as many politicians and oil corporations "opposed the restrictions placed on the oil fields, claiming that the reserves were unnecessary and that American oil companies could provide for the Navy." (Wiki)

A particularly prominent opponent of the reserves was Senator Albert B. Fall. A Republican from New Mexico, he and his allies convinced President Harding to appoint him as Secretary of the Interior in 1921. It was then that the Teapot Dome Scandal started.

The oil reserves had been under the care of Edwin C. Denby, who was the Secretary of the Navy at the time. Once Senator Fall was named Secretary of the Interior, he persuaded Denby to hand the reserves over to his department. At that point, Fall leased the rights to the reserves to Harry Sinclair, the owner of Mammoth Oil. He did this completely legally, due to the General Leasing Act passed in 1920. He also leased the Elk Hills reserves to Edward L. Doheny, from Pan American Petroleum. He did this "in exchange for personal loans at no interest." (Wiki)

In addition to the interest-free loans from Doheny, Senator Fall received gifts totaling nearly $404,000 from both men. This was where it got illegal; up until now, it had been completely legitimate. It is possible that he would have been able to get away with it, but his sudden improvement in ways of life set off alarms. Where had he acquired this sudden, large amount of wealth?

In April of 1922, the Wall Street Journal exposed him. The next day, April 15^th, Senator John Kendrick, a Democrat from Wyoming, "introduced a resolution that set in motion one of the most significant investigations in Senate history." (U.S. Senate, 1) Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin directed the Senate Committee on Public Lands to lead the investigation.

La Follette chose Democrat Thomas J. Walsh, the panel's "most junior minority member" (Wiki), to lead the investigation. The Republicans approved of this choice, because they knew that the investigation would be a long string of unanswered questions and dead-ends. Meanwhile, the scandal was fading from the media. This would all change in two years.

Walsh moved the investigation forward, while "Fall stepped backward, covering his tracks as he went." (Wiki) Walsh uncovered the dealings that Fall had made with Denby, Doheny and Sinclair-but realized that they were legal. Fall destroyed all of the incriminating records, and it seemed like he would get away free. Everything was accounted for, though there was a giant problem: Where did Fall get his fortune? It was here that Walsh discovered Fall's shady dealings; specifically, the $100,000 interest-free loan from Doheny.

A series of lawsuits were brought against Fall and other defendants that had been implicated in the scandal. The Supreme Court, in 1927, ruled that the oil fields had been leased illegally. The reserves were then handed back over to the Navy.

Senator Fall was found guilty of bribery and sentenced $100,000, along with having to serve a one-year prison sentence, in 1929. He was the "first Presidential cabinet member to go to prison for his actions in office." (Wiki) Harry Sinclair refused to cooperate with federal officials, and was fined $100,000 when he was charged with contempt. He also served a prison sentence. Edward Doheny was acquitted.

The effect on the population of the country was tremendous. Big-business Republicans were voted out of office during the Depression-era elections, though, both sides of the political spectrum were affected by the scandal; citizens' trust in politics was starting to waver. Amazingly, President Coolidge (President Harding had died, so Coolidge had taken over at this point) received little damage to his reputation as a result of the scandal. He was able to minimize attachment to it, and handle it discreetly.

This was the start of a new era of politics-an era of "dirty" politics in which there were more corrupt men in office than honest. It is no wonder that around this time, people started becoming more apathetic towards politics, and we are still feeling the apathy today.