The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country

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With the presidential election coming up, Jake decided to gamble almost everything he had on backing a long shot in the Republican presidential convention, Senator Warren G. He took his bankroll to Chicago and spread his money around where it counted, buying delegates and influencing the people who needed influencing.

Six months later, Warren Harding was elected president of the United States. Going into the convention, Harding had been a forty-to-one shot. Hamon agreed to back him on the condition that if he was nominated--and made it to the White House--Harding would appoint Hamon secretary of the interior. That would give Hamon control of the Teapot Dome Naval Reserve in Wyoming, an oil supply potentially worth several hundred million dollars dollars--a bonanza so rich that it was almost beyond comprehension. Of course, Jake wasn't going to pocket it all. He agreed to lease out the government fields to some of his friends in the oil business, who in turn would kick back a third of the take to Jake.

Hamon had a fortune within his grasp that could put him in the same league as old John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in America. And Jake already knew what he was going to do with a big chunk of the money--make his son president of the United States. Of course, there was a caveat regarding the Interior post.

Initially, Jake hadn't thought the matter would prove a problem, but he'd been badly mistaken. When Hamon and Harding first met in New York before the convention, they discovered to their mutual amazement that their wives were related--second cousins, in fact. This, of course, had given Jake a big "in" with Harding, but it also presented a problem. Once "the Duchess," as Harding called his wife, Florence, got the lowdown on Jake and Clara, she insisted that Jake get back with his wife before coming to Washington. Florence Harding wasn't going to allow her cousin's husband to come to Washington accompanied by some twenty-seven-year-old floozy.

Clara had to go. Harding spelled out the demands in a letter Jake had brought back from the Chicago convention, packed in his trunk. It stated unequivocally that Hamon had to resume his legal marital relations before he could be considered for an appointment. Not that Harding cared one way or another. He chased anything in a skirt; that was no secret.

But Florence was a tough old bird. There was no getting around her. Of course, Jake waited until after Harding won the election to break the bad news to Clara. No point in getting her all riled up until he was sure Harding had the job. Clara wasn't the kind of woman you wanted to give up unless you had a good reason, and Jake had two of the best--money and power. Jake would be generous in settling with her, of course.

He'd already given Clara a couple of oil wells from which she received small royalties. He'd instructed his business manager, Frank Ketch, to work out a reasonable agreement. Clara would walk away from their ten-year relationship a well-to-do woman with enough to put her younger brother, Jimmy, through college and take care of her ailing father, J.

Smith, down in El Paso. Back a decade or so ago, J. Fortunately, the sheriff managed to disarm him before he could do any damage. Icy calm, in fact. He broke the news on November 7 and gave Clara three weeks to clear out, explaining that his wife and family would be arriving at the end of the month in Ardmore.

God knows, Jake told Clara, he hadn't wanted it to end this way, not after ten years, didn't know what he'd do without her. Jake wanted nothing more than to bring Clara with him to Washington, take her to black-tie dinners at the White House and formal balls, have her meet heads of state, even royalty, but the president-elect of the United States had insisted.

Either get back with his wife or forget about the Interior job. What choice did he have? The day after Jake broke the news, Clara went out and bought a. That, Jake hadn't known. What he knew was that Clara had started packing and seemed resigned to the breakup. It was only a matter of a few days now before she'd be off. In fact, when he got back to the hotel on the evening of November 21, he half expected that she would have already gone.

Instead, she came into Jake's room from the adjoining room, her room, after he toppled onto the bed. He was awake, if a little woozy from the whiskey. It was nearly dark. Clara came over to the bed and put her left hand on Jake's forehead as if to stroke it and with her right shot him in the chest with the. Pop--one shot that pierced his ribs and lodged in his liver. Jake jumped up from the bed, knocked the gun from Clara's hand before she could get off a second round, and then began crawling around the floor on his hands and knees, clutching the chest wound with one hand and looking for the tiny pistol with the other in the near darkness.

Finally he retrieved the gun, put it in his pocket, and staggered to his feet to confront Clara. Clara would later claim that she pleaded with Jake to lie back down on the bed. She wanted to call for Dr. Walter Hardy, the town doctor, but Jake was determined to walk to the nearby Hardy Sanitarium himself.

The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country

That suited Clara just fine. She wanted Jake Hamon dead, and she wanted it to appear as if he'd shot himself while cleaning his pistol. She told her driver so the following day.

Excerpted from The Teapot Dome Scandal: Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher. Make this your default list. The following items were successfully added. Off in some hotel with Clara, Jake decides to suck it up money's more important than broads, obviously and tells Clara that they'll have to part ways. Whether palimony was a term in use back then is anyone's guess, but I guess he tried to be a good guy about it and offer her a few bucks for her travel back to nowhere.

Clara seemed to be taking it well when Jake walked in on her "packing. The story gets ever more complicated from there with plenty of new, equally corrupt characters stepping in, and I'll leave you with a couple of paper clippings to give you a taste. However, I highly recommend you read or listen, as I did to the story yourself. It's equal parts appalling, humorous and ridiculous and chock full of " convenient bullets in the head.

View all 16 comments. Nov 10, Steve rated it it was amazing Shelves: The Hollywood Babylon of political skullduggery. I turned to this book after a scene from episode 8 of Boardwalk Empire , involving the nomination o The Hollywood Babylon of political skullduggery. I turned to this book after a scene from episode 8 of Boardwalk Empire , involving the nomination of Harding at the Republican convention.

Watergate is for pussies. An absolutely riveting read from cover to cover. Apr 01, HBalikov rated it really liked it. Plenty to understand and relate to what has been going on in recent years. McCartney retells the story well with new material not in other versions. Aug 23, Tony rated it really liked it Shelves: I remember zipping through this period in American History both in high school and college.

What we probably learned was equivalent to the extended title of this book. The Teapot Dome was a reserved area of Wyoming that contained significant quantities of oil. It was reserved for the Department of the Navy to tap into in the event of war. The oil barons knew of its potential worth, but needed someone in the White House to release it from its protected status, i.

Albert Fall, a friend of big oil, was appointed to the Interior and in exchange for money — lots of it — managed to wrest control of the area from the Navy and provide the oil industry with the opportunity of drilling there. Hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake, and the heads of the various oil cartels in the U. The key oil executive in all of this was Sinclair, although other representatives from the various Standard Oil corporations were also involved. When news of what was going on started to leak out, a special committee of Congress, headed by Senator Thomas J.

Walsh, began their investigations. This investigation exposed all the principal players in all of their arrogance. The writing is well done and concise. Rich man's justice, secret campaign contributions, disregard for conservation of natural resources, and Republican Party arrogance, it seemed like deja vu all over again.

But this book is not about today's news, it's about the s. Some say it's the biggest scandal in U. The actual bribery incident that was the heart of the Teapot Dome scandal occurred in duri Rich man's justice, secret campaign contributions, disregard for conservation of natural resources, and Republican Party arrogance, it seemed like deja vu all over again.

The actual bribery incident that was the heart of the Teapot Dome scandal occurred in during the administration of President Warren G. But coverup efforts, investigations and prosecutions stretched out over the rest of the decade of the s. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves in Wyoming to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding.

In and , the leases became the subject of a sensational investigation by Senator Thomas J. Fall was later convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies. Interestingly, the rich men who paid the bribe money to Secretary Fall were also tired but thanks to their high priced lawyers they were acquitted. If the reader of this book really wants to understand the story explained by this book it will be necessary to draw a chart with lines connecting the various names and actions.

We're talking about a fairly complicated series of actions and lots of things to keep track of. The timing of various actions and investigative discoveries are also factors to keep track of. Thus some readers may find this book a bit tedious to follow. But I have a special interest in this era because my father was working in southern California at the time, and he was planning to attend a public appearance of President Harding in August But Harding died in San Francisco prior to his scheduled travel to southern California.

That's the closest anybody in my family ever came to seeing a U. The following review is from PageADay's Calendar: This is better-than-fiction history: Jun 26, Yoel rated it did not like it. I had to stop reading this after reading about 30 pages. I was skeptical about some of the stuff he presents as facts, and when I checked them out, turns out some of the "facts" are hotly disputed. Turns out this was Nan Britton's assertion and has never been proven; it is still disputed to this day. In fact, turns out the entire affair with Nan Britton is alleged, but has never been proven. Yet, you would I had to stop reading this after reading about 30 pages.

Yet, you would never know these points are disputed by historians from reading this book. That to me is very disappointing and was reason enough for me to stop reading and give this book a 1 rating. Mar 10, Patrick rated it it was amazing Shelves: But this will make you very, very cynical. All the stuff people accuse Presidents Clinton and Bush Jr.

Flagrant womanizing, drunken parties, dumb guy with pretty face put into office by oil interests I'm not saying Bush is pretty. This one is a combo of Bush and Clinton , political appointments to loyal money men and flunkies, misuse of power by those political appointees for profit, environmental attacks, encouragement of Wow This one is a combo of Bush and Clinton , political appointments to loyal money men and flunkies, misuse of power by those political appointees for profit, environmental attacks, encouragement of a foreign war over oil interests in Mexico , jury tampering, murder of witnesses, biased media, bribes, bribes, bribes, money, money, money.

Jun 11, Jennifer Heise rated it it was amazing Shelves: West, so though I was fascinated by the stories of Teapot Dome scandal and the poker-playing, cigar smoking cabinet-cabal that was said to have run the Harding White House around, not through, Warren Gamaliel Harding. What I found out from McCartney was that it was worse than I imagined.

Allegedly, oilman Jake Hamon set out to buy the right candidate for President of the US so that he would be named secretary of the Interior. Doheny and Harry Sinclair. They hooked up with Harry Daugherty, Ohio politico, who had decided to make his candidate, Harding, the Republican nominee, and would pair up with anyone to achieve it. With the oil money, Daugherty's political machinations, and a certain amount of pushing from Mrs. Florence Harding, he succeeded. Unfortunately, Harding, at Mrs. Harding's insistence, told Hamon he had to dump his mistress and go back to his wife to get the job of secretary.

Given the news, Hamon's mistress appears to have shot him though at first Hamon said he did it himself. So rancher Albert Fall ended up with the job. Daugherty and his Ohio Gang ran the Attorney General's office allegedly like a protection racket; Sinclair and Doheny got their oil leases and Harding bumbled on until his death in his third year in office.

And that's when things got complicated. A lot of this book is devoted to the set-up I just covered; the rest is the unravelling, both of Fall and of the various conspiracies, including a really crooked oil deal that seems to be only relevant because the Liberty bonds involved provided a chain of evidence from the oil magnates to fall. Drunken parties, cigar smoke, political corruption, a veritable Follies of mistresses or alleged mistresses, a huge congressional investigation The scandals of the last 30 years of the presidential politics are pre-writ here.

The main characters of this account are Albert Fall and Thomas Walsh, the Senator who chaired the investigations of the oil leases after other oilmen raised a stink about the no-bid contracts. Ed Doheny and Harry Sinclair are vividly depicted, as is Daugherty and his roomate Jess Smith who our author treats as a sort of nebbishy sidekick though others have claimed worse. Harding is a vivid cameo, as is RNC chairman Hayes. Is this a completely accurate account? Oh, I'd have to read historian reviews to know that. Is it interesting and covers a great deal of ground, letting us know where there is disagreement on the stories?

Jun 01, Dennis rated it really liked it. The Harding presidency was conceived in corruption, and this is a fine account of the largeness and complexity of that corruption. Harding was brought out of near obscurity for the purpose winning the presidency and immediately appointing a Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, who resided deep in the pockets of Big Oil. Fall shifted control of large naval oil reserves to his department and all but gave them to his buddies. Other areas of the Harding adminstration were equally corrupt, i. It was a massive effort of honest men to investigate the corruption, return the oil fields to government control and bring the perpetrators to justice.

McCartney does a fine job unravelling the complexities of the scandal and illuminating the men and women involved. The Teapot Dome scandal made America more cynical concerning the rich and powerful. Lost jobs, fines and short prison sentences were the results of hundreds of millions of dollars illegally flowing into the pockets of corrupt individuals.

But, it was stopped. This is a good story. Sep 25, Loring Wirbel rated it really liked it. This came close to a five-star rating, as McCartney assembled a wealth of direct and peripheral information on the various scandals of the Harding administration, and wove them into an aw-shucks good-ol'-boy tale of blatant corruption that challenges even the worst days of Watergate and Iran-contra. What makes the book simultaneously sinister and hilarious is McCartney's matter-of-fact, almost droll way of relating unbelievable details of an oil scandal that involved not just huge payoffs, but l This came close to a five-star rating, as McCartney assembled a wealth of direct and peripheral information on the various scandals of the Harding administration, and wove them into an aw-shucks good-ol'-boy tale of blatant corruption that challenges even the worst days of Watergate and Iran-contra.

What makes the book simultaneously sinister and hilarious is McCartney's matter-of-fact, almost droll way of relating unbelievable details of an oil scandal that involved not just huge payoffs, but little murders at several turns. And, of course, McCartney points out that the saddest aspect of Teapot Dome was that, by the later years of the Calvin Coolidge administration, in those pre-crash days when everyone just wanted to make money and have a good time, the biggest barrier to learning the truth about Teapot Dome was not a recalcitrant Congress.

It was a public that didn't care at all, even as the dead bodies piled up. Dec 24, Alisha Bennett rated it really liked it. Definitely worth a read! I enjoyed this book; while desperately wanting to punch many of the people in it! First off, McCartney does an excellent job of guiding the reader through the murky political waters and smoky back-room deals that abound in this book.

The ins and outs of who is who and how they are connected can get a bit complicated and he keeps this in mind while never seeming to talk down to the reader. A quick read; and there a quite a few surprising characters that appear in various ways Teddy Roosevelt Jr for one! It's a little hard to review the book without giving it away; but if you like a little intrigue, definitely pick this up.

May 18, Gilda Felt rated it really liked it. The more things change, the more things stay the same. And though Fall was convicted, the vast majority of the conspirators got off scott free. The book often reads like a novel The more things change, the more things stay the same. May 15, Kelley rated it really liked it Shelves: Wow, it's been 90 years since the beginning of this scandal took shape, and after reading it I am sickened by the lack of integrity, greed, and complete indifference that took place.

I don't even want to buy Sinclair gas after this book. Sadly this really was just a precursor to the scandal and shame of wall street and those companies that stole, lied, cheated and did whatever it took to make more money and take it from those who deserve it. I am amazed that Coolidge was elected president in Wow, it's been 90 years since the beginning of this scandal took shape, and after reading it I am sickened by the lack of integrity, greed, and complete indifference that took place.

I am amazed that Coolidge was elected president in Good read, very enlightening. Good to know 90 years ago I wouldn't have liked the Republicans for the same reason I don't like them today.

Jun 21, Jo Stafford rated it really liked it. I'd long wanted to find a book that would give me an in-depth history of the Teapot Dome scandal, and this fits the bill nicely. I'm much better-informed, thanks to McCartney's lucidly written book. Apr 15, Ellen Behrens rated it it was amazing.

Back in high school history class in the early s I learned there was something called the Teapot Dome Scandal and that it was a good example of government gone bad -- the worst government scandal in American history up until then. So when I saw this book in a small independent bookstore in Oregon, I thought of the current scandals in government and wondered if the Teapot Dome Scandal might still be considered the worst ever. Well, it was bad. Men made rich by oil donated millions of dollars Back in high school history class in the early s I learned there was something called the Teapot Dome Scandal and that it was a good example of government gone bad -- the worst government scandal in American history up until then.

Men made rich by oil donated millions of dollars to back Warren G. Harding for the election, tossing a hundred grand here, a hundred grand there can you imagine how much money that would be in today's dollars? Money talks, and Ohioan Harding landed at Pennsylvania Avenue. Of course he owed people. Promises had been made. Promises to big oilmen. The story is complicated, but basically it went like this, as the back cover blurb summarizes things: And they got away with it -- for awhile.

How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country

Enter a Robert Mueller-type figure, Thomas James Walsh, Democratic Senator from Montana, who was pressed into service as a member of the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to lead the investigation into the who affair. Walsh's tenacity, intelligence, and integrity in the face of overwhelming odds "The whole thing was a dog's breakfast, an unsavory mess," writes McCartney is inspirational, especially today. Walsh was often discouraged from continuing his investigation, often by his own party, for political reasons -- voters didn't want the government's time and money invested in a witch hunt.

Meanwhile, millions of dollars in American resources were being re-allocated from government use to private profit. Forget history and you'll repeat it. Today the Teapot Dome Scandal remains a pointed cautionary tale about what goes on when we choose to look the other way, when we decide following a complicated trail of duplicity to its source is too time-consuming.

What's very scary is that today's scandals are far worse: Teapot Dome might have been the worst scandal our nation had ever seen -- until now. If you want a break from today's craziness, yet you can't get yourself to look entirely away from it, read this book. It's an eye-opening, page-turner yep, an unsolved murder and illicit affairs fatten up the plot that will leave you hopeful that with the right special counsel and enough time for a complete investigation, justice will be served.

May 29, Sean Lavan rated it liked it Shelves: I did very much like the book, and it covered a topic I was interested in and learned a good deal about. The writing was accessible and engaging, it was an easy pager turner and enjoyable. The loss of stars from me was the manner in which the research notes were presented - they were pretty thin. I have conflicted feelings about that.

I would have received harsh grades on this if I'd handed it in as a history major, so I acknowledge I may be hypersensitive to the idea, but it really was drilled o I did very much like the book, and it covered a topic I was interested in and learned a good deal about.

The Teapot Dome Scandal by Laton McCartney | leondumoulin.nl

I would have received harsh grades on this if I'd handed it in as a history major, so I acknowledge I may be hypersensitive to the idea, but it really was drilled on us. There were no notations within the chapters themselves, but that's pretty common in "pop history" books. Vague, loosely referenced citations broad general chapter comments in this instance - sometimes only one brief sentence long tend to suggest that there may be deeper issues in either the research or the writing. I'm always left with the feeling that the author has perhaps taken liberties to fill in the blanks where needed, or, at the other end of the spectrum, lifted too heavily from a single secondary source too much.

But the author is providing broad coverage. The book is an overview, not a daring new take on the subject or a controversial thesis requiring an ironclad defense. I didn't get any strong sense that I was being led to a conclusion which was not supported by research. Conclusions regarding exchanges between parties which the author arrived at by induction or inference were generally openly presented as such, so I didn't pick up any of the red flags that sometimes accompany other loosely cited history. There were instances of personal emotions and motives on the part of the principal actors presented which may have been filled in as "color", but I didn't get the impression that any attempt was being made to create a bias for or against any of the major players in those instances.

If anything the added color simply humanized good and bad the parties involved.

The Teapot Dome Scandal

In instances such as this, I am reading the book as an introduction to a specific subject, and it succeeds quite well. There are similar books I've read of late where I could give a nearly identical review in regards to the vagueness of research citations, and still other books I've read where I feel the manner of citation even when better than it was here covered up a much more concerning bias in the presentation of controversial ideas.

And I wasn't ever really worried about that while reading this book. So take my concerns about citations with that in mind here. Accessibility and presenting information is what I'm looking for the most with a book like this. I was looking for an overview of the subject, and found a nice one here. And the writing was very enjoyable and I know more now than I did previously.

McCartney has introduced me to a subject and invited me to do more research, and so I am very happy that I read the book. May 31, Phrodrick rated it really liked it. It is commonplace in for American's to state that all politicians are corrupt. It seems a safe way to use cynicism to protect yourself.

All too often some politician proves to be more error prone than a simple defense of being human allows.

The Teapot Dome Scandal

This happens enough that to plead that all politicians are not corrupt is to label yourself as too naive or too partisan to be credible. What interests me is that the most vocal in preemptive condemnation of politicians seem to be blind or at least less c It is commonplace in for American's to state that all politicians are corrupt. What interests me is that the most vocal in preemptive condemnation of politicians seem to be blind or at least less cynical on the subject of corporate greed and corruption. Either big money corruption is so endemic or so exceptional, that there is no need to make any sweeping statements in condemnation of big money.