The Teapot Dome Scandal: When Oil Money Bought Washington

In 1920, Warren G. Harding won the White House with the financial backing of powerful oil barons who demanded cabinet positions in exchange for their support. What followed became the greatest political corruption scandal in American history. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall secretly leased valuable public oil reserves—including Wyoming's Teapot Dome—to his wealthy friends Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in "loans" and gifts in return.

When a Wall Street Journal article exposed the backroom deals in April 1922, it shattered public trust in government and sparked one of the most significant criminal investigations in Senate history. The scandal revealed how easily wealthy industrialists could manipulate the political system, turning public natural resources into private fortunes. Fall became the first cabinet member in U.S. history to be imprisoned for crimes committed while in office.

The Teapot Dome Scandal wasn't just about political corruption—it exposed the vulnerability of American democracy to moneyed interests and prompted lasting reforms in government transparency. Discover how oil money, presidential poker games, and a teapot-shaped rock formation in Wyoming converged to create a scandal that would define an era.

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KEY LOCATIONS:

- Teapot Dome oil reserve, Wyoming (near a teapot-shaped rock outcrop)

- Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills oil reserves, California

- Washington, D.C. (center of political dealings)

- "Little Green House" at 1625 K Street, Washington D.C. (unofficial headquarters of the "Ohio Gang")

- Albert Fall's ranch, New Mexico (purchased with bribe money)

TIMELINE OF CORRUPTION:

1920 - Warren G. Harding wins presidency with financial support from oil barons Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny, promising oil-friendly cabinet appointments

1921 - Harding appoints Albert Fall as Secretary of the Interior; Fall immediately transfers control of naval oil reserves from Navy to Interior Department

1922 - Fall secretly leases Teapot Dome to Sinclair's Mammoth Oil Company and California sites to Doheny's Pan American Petroleum Company—no competitive bidding, no public disclosure

April 14, 1922 - Wall Street Journal breaks the story: "Sinclair Consolidated in Big Oil Deal With U.S."

April 15, 1922 - Senator John Kendrick presents resolution launching Senate investigation

January 1923 - Albert Fall resigns as Interior Secretary (officially "to spend time on his ranch")

June 1923 - President Harding asks Herbert Hoover whether a scandal should be exposed or buried "for the good of the country"

August 2, 1923 - President Harding dies at age 57 in San Francisco (stroke or heart attack), before facing consequences

1927 - Supreme Court invalidates the oil leases; production stopped at Teapot Dome and California sites

Fall 1929 - Albert Fall convicted of accepting $100,000 bribe from Doheny; fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison

1929 - Fall serves only 9 months in prison (released for declining health); fine waived because he'd lost all his wealth

1944 - Albert Fall dies after long illness

KEY FIGURES:

- Warren G. Harding (1865-1923): 29th President of the United States, died before facing consequences for approving the corrupt oil leases

- Albert B. Fall (1861-1944): Secretary of the Interior, first cabinet member imprisoned for crimes in office

- Harry F. Sinclair (1876-1956): Oil baron, owner of Mammoth Oil Company, leased Teapot Dome

- Edward L. Doheny (1856-1935): Oil baron, owner of Pan American Petroleum Company, leased California sites

- Thomas J. Walsh (1859-1933): Democratic Senator from Montana, led Senate investigation that exposed the scandal

- John B. Kendrick (1857-1933): Wyoming Democratic Senator who initiated the investigation

- Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933): Vice President who became President after Harding's death, appointed special prosecutors

THE FINANCIAL CORRUPTION:

- Albert Fall received $100,000 "loan" from Doheny (delivered in cash by Doheny's son Ned and friend Hugh Plunkett)

- Sinclair transferred $300,000 in Liberty bonds and cash to Fall's son-in-law

- Sinclair gave Fall a large herd of sheep for his ranch

- Estimated oil reserve value: hundreds of millions of dollars

- Fall's take: approximately $400,000 total (compared to the massive profits oil barons made)

TRAGIC AFTERMATH:

- Hugh Plunkett shot and killed Ned Doheny at the Doheny family's Beverly Hills mansion

- Plunkett then killed himself (possibly fearing prosecution for delivering the bribe money)

- Edward Doheny foreclosed on Fall's New Mexico ranch

- Fall lost all his ill-gotten wealth and died penniless in 1944

THE OIL RESERVES' LATER HISTORY:

- 1927: Supreme Court canceled all corrupt leases, returning land to public ownership

- World War II: Elk Hills oil tapped to support U.S. military operations

- 1970s: All naval oil reserves went to full production during the energy crisis

- 1995: Congress authorized sale of Elk Hills under President Clinton's privatization push

- 1998: Occidental Petroleum took over production

- January 2015: Teapot Dome Reserve sold to Stranded Oil Resources Corporation for $45.2 million after producing 22 million barrels and earning $569 million for the U.S. government

LASTING IMPACT:

The Teapot Dome Scandal fundamentally changed American politics by:

- Exposing the vulnerability of the political system to moneyed interests

- Prompting reforms in government transparency and accountability

- Establishing legal precedent for prosecuting government corruption

- Creating lasting public skepticism about the influence of wealthy industrialists on elected officials

- Demonstrating that even presidents and cabinet members could face consequences (though enforcement remained inconsistent)

The phrase "Teapot Dome" became synonymous with government corruption and remains a cautionary tale about the dangers of allowing private interests to exploit public resources.

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