Teapot Dome: The Watergate Before Watergate

Up until the 1970’s, if you asked anyone what the biggest U.S. Presidential scandal of all time was, they would most likely say “Teapot Dome.” Sensationalized, decades-long trials ensued in the courts and U.S. senate, resulting in the first presidential cabinet member being sent to prison. Once considered the most popular U.S. President up until his death in 1923, Warren Harding is now considered the worst president of all time - thanks in large part to the Teapot Dome affair.
The scandal centered around the Teapot Dome oil field in Natrona County, Wyoming, which had been set aside as naval oil reserves by president William Howard Taft prior to World War I. After his surprise nomination and subsequent election in 1920, President Warren Harding - a successful Ohio businessman and United States Senator - appointed campaign contributors and close allies to various federal positions. This infamous band of cronies became known as the “Ohio Gang.” One of these men was Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, the former U.S. Senator from New Mexico who sought to use his new position for personal gain. Just two months after President Harding’s inauguration, Secretary Fall got the president to sign Executive Order 3474, which effectively transferred control of the Teapot Dome oil field from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior.
Right away, Secretary Fall began accepting bribes from the highest-paying bidder. He handed out exclusive oil production rights on Teapot Dome to Harry Sinclair of Sinclair Oil, and Edward Doheny of Pan American Petroleum in exchange for kickbacks amounting to over $5-million in today’s dollars. After President Harding’s untimely death in office in 1923, a number of scandals came to light including Teapot Dome. After a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Senate, spearheaded by Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, Secretary Fall was convicted of criminal conspiracy and bribery, becoming the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison. The Teapot Dome oil field sat idle until 1976 when drilling resumed, producing over 22 million barrels of oil and generating $569 million in revenue for the federal government over the course of 39 years. It was eventually sold under the Obama administration to a private oil company in 2015.
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[@ExploreAlways]

Thanks for dropping by, and please remember to share your favorite historical scandals!!

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[@hunsadersrockinranch]

Here I am, a day after Christmas and I'm hooked! I can't stop watching his videos! this is my 3rd one already! So happy to have found this channel.

[@ExploreAlways]

Glad you found us! Thanks for watching.

[@Scroticus_Maximus]

When I heard that the Feds had unloaded the leases I laughed so hard my wife had to call 911.

[@sherreefrager869]

It’s been awhile! Been missing your videos! Thanks for sharing this bit of history. You never disappoint! Very interesting.

[@freeman7079]

I’m always so excited when you upload something new!!!!!

[@ExploreAlways]

Thanks for watching!!

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Different Strokes sent me here. 😆

[@nobody6546]

Great , varied & Informative Videos, Thanks. Subscribed.

[@kylehobkirk2902]

So cool! I seriously love these videos!

[@justsomedude4584]

i had this for homework

[@ExploreAlways]

Awesome! Hope you learned something! 🤣

[@BallparkHunter]

If not for Watergate, the popular choice of suffix might have been dome and not -gate! Was there any other scandal that used the name dome in the years between 1923 and 1973?

[@ExploreAlways]

Good question, I wonder!

[@cerberus144]

The Simpson's passing reference to this made me look it up as a kid.

[@osareafallire]

Thanks. My mom has been rambling about this for two days and, at a sweet and healthy 76, she's not the most concise. Although the story caught my interest, it wasn't until now that I could fully understand its specifics.

[@DD-rf9fc]

So nothing has actually change with our current government.

[@ldeqwaaling881]

Love this!

[@hunterwilson3379]

Just out of curiosity, could you tell me what the name of the 'private oil company' that purchased all of the oil fields in 2015 under the Obama administration? I'm referring to what you had mentioned at 4:37 in the video.

[@catzdollz9810]

Harding was Framed.

[@suesfriend1431]

They kept Jo out way too late, and organized folkmen got angry. Kaboom.

[@tescobakery1927]

I'm here from Family Guy

[@artkahn888]

So this is trumps favorite potus

[@NastyWoman1979]

If you do not study history you are doomed to repeat it.

[@WillBoothe3]

XYZ all day

[@maxschon7709]

Maybe later generation will look at Trump the same way

[@Scroticus_Maximus]

Only Trump could make Harding look good.