The Teapot Dome Scandal by Laton McCartney
How Big Oil Bought the Warren Harding Administration
Nov 9, 2009
When one reads McCartney's The Teapot Dome Scandal, you see a battle of good versus evil play out in front of you. McCartney shows the evil, represented by Big Oil and the "Ohio Gang" of Harding, as very blatant in its pursuit of more money and favorable court verdicts. McCartney also shows the determination of investigators to bring the evildoers to justice, despite fewer funds and trial tampering by the defense.
Albert Fall
McCartney paints a disturbing picture of Big Oil. The "Oil King of Oklahoma" Jake Hamon concocted the scheme to buy Harding the presidency and in return become Secretary of the Interior and hand over the rights to huge naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and in California to the oil industry. That industry was led by Harry Sinclair, Edward Doheny, and Robert Stewart, all swimming with money, bought influence, and possessing a cocky court demeanor.
Hamon died before Harding took office, so Harding nominated his Senate buddy Albert Fall as his Secretary of the Interior. A friend of Big Oil, Fall also happened to be broke and needing improvements on his big New Mexico ranch. Fall quietly transferred the oil reserves from the Navy to the Department of the Interior. He received a $100,000 "loan" from Doheny for the California reserves and $269,000 from Sinclair for Teapot Dome in cash and in crooked Continental Liberty bonds.
Also making the oil reserve transfer possible was Harding's campaign manager and Attorney General Harry Daugherty. Daugherty led the "Ohio Gang," Harding's Buckeye State supporters who were involved in other graft projects. McCartney spotlights the gangs operation at their H Street address near the White House. Parties with drinking, women, and gambling were thrown there, with President Harding enjoying the booze and bimbos. The impression McCartney gives of the Harding Administration is total corruption.
Thomas Walsh
Amazingly, McCartney expands this picture of corruption to those seeking to expose the scandal. Frederick Bonfils and H.H. Tammen, crusading owners of the labor-supported Denver Post, caught wind of the Teapot shenanigans and hotly pursued the story. But Bonfils and Tammen also pursued riches, demanding a million dollars in hush money from Sinclair. With pressure from Harding, Sinclair paid up and the newspaper dropped the issue.
The hero of the story was Thomas Walsh, Senator of Montana. Reluctant to lead the Senate investigation at first, Walsh dutifully took on the assignment. McCartney portrays him as a tough, stubborn maverick who was dreaded by the scandal's participants. But those participants made Walsh's task difficult- they either fled the country, fell ill, or lost their memory.
What's also difficult is following all the Senate, criminal, and civil cases related to Teapot Dome. There's Senator Burton K. Wheeler's investigation of Attorney General Daugherty, the pursuits of Special Prosecutors Owen Roberts and Atlee Pomerene, and the Continental Trading investigation. However, McCartney's short chapters and colorful language make it bearable to wade through the muck.
McCartney's book is entertaining with fascinating characters ranging from powerful oil barons, scheming politicians, to progressive reformers and young mistresses. But it is also a sobering look at how a government can be bought and sold.
The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country
Published by Random House, 2008, ISBN: 978-1-4000-6316-1
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