| Part of the presidency of Warren G. Harding and the Ohio Gang | |
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| Date | 6 March 1923 – 14 October 1929 |
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| Participants | Harding administration, particularly Albert B. Fall, and oil executive Harry Ford Sinclair |
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Political rise
29th President of the United States
Presidential campaigns
Controversies
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The Teapot Dome scandal was a political corruption scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Warren G. Harding. It centered around Interior Secretary Albert Bacon Fall, who had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming, as well as two locations in California, to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding.[1] The leases were the subject of an investigation by Senator Thomas J. Walsh. Convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies, Fall became the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison, but no one was convicted of paying the bribes.
Before the Watergate scandal, Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics".[2] It permanently damaged the reputation of the Harding administration, already hurt by its handling of the Great Railroad Strike of 1922 and Harding's 1922 veto of the Bonus Bill.[3]
Congress subsequently passed permanent legislation granting itself subpoena power over tax records of any U.S. citizen, regardless of position.[4] These laws are also considered to have empowered Congress generally.[5]
- ^ "Teapot Dome Scandal". HISTORY. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ Cherny, Robert W. "Graft and Oil: How Teapot Dome Became the Greatest Political Scandal of its Time". History Now. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ^ "Warren G Harding: Domestic & foreign affairs", Grant-Eisenhower, President profiles.
- ^ Paletta, Damian (9 April 2019). "Mnuchin reveals White House lawyers consulted Treasury on Trump tax returns, despite law meant to limit political involvement". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- ^ Jurecic, Quinta (11 May 2020). "The Supreme Court Case That Could Destroy the Balance of Powers". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 May 2020.