The Teapot Dome Scandal

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Teapot Dome, Wyoming was named for a particular rock formation that looks like a teapot. The scandal had to do with the government-controlled oil fields there. The story is that these oil fields were set aside for emergency use by the U.S. Navy during the U.S. presidency of Warren Harding. During his presidency, there were a lot of men that Harding had appointed to high positions in the government who were dishonest and his administration is particularly remembered as a time of government graft and corruption. A man named Albert B.Fall who was Secretary of the Interior secretly took $400,000 in bribes from wealthy businessmen, allowing them to drill for oil in those fields. And in addition to that, Fall’s friends in the Justice Department helped him to cover up this illegal plot. However, an investigation was launched by some senators and finally, after several years, Fall was convicted and jailed for one year. He was also fined $100,000. Note: Warren Harding died suddenly in 1923, after he learned that this corruption in his administration was going to be exposed. Corrupt governments still exist in many countries. Who really knows what goes on?