The Main Cause Of The Teapot Dome Scandal

Teapot Dome

During the 1920s under the Harding administration plenty of sandals were developing secretly under the president. The scandals that occurred during the Harding administration was almost identical to the scandals that happened during the Grant Administration. These scandals such as the Credit Mobilier, Whiskey Ring, and Indian Ring scandals that took place during the Grant Administration was the beginning of the misconduct of the government. The president appointees took advantage and the president was blames for being involved in the scandals and for the government’s corruption. The main reason for the caused of these scandals were similar to the Grant administration. The Harding administration also used the spoil system to set

The Teapot Dome Scandal was the secret leasing of naval oil reserve lands to big and wealthy private oil companies. The Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall convinced Navy Secretary Edwin Denby to turn over the custody of the oil reserves land. President Harding went along with it and then signed a secret lease transferring the United States Naval Oil Reserves over to Albert B. Fall. After that, Albert B. Fall leased the Naval Oil Reserve lands without “competitive bidding” to Harry F. Sinclair and then later Edward L. Doheny. First Albert B. Fall secretly leased the Teapot Dome oil reserve land to Harry Sinclair and with the same tactics such as competitive bidding, Albert B. Fall leased the Elk Hills oil reserve to Edward Dohney. It states that Albert B. Fall has gained over $200,000 in liberty bonds from the Naval Oil Reserves. Furthermore, Albert B. Fall also received $100,000 worth of “loans” from assisting Harry F. Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny. Albert B. Fall received gifts and cash from the lease of the naval oil reserves which build up his fortune. The Teapot Dome Scandal did not appear to the public until after the death of president Warren G.

It was a little less than six months later that the Teapot Scandal was exposed to the public. President Coolidge was determined to restore the balance and honesty in the office. President Coolidge tried his best to avoid the conversation and rumors about the scandal and approaching the scandal with caution.The scandal was going through investigation, it took around a year and half before there was a case put together to convicted the individuals involved in the scandal. In the midst of the court trials, The United States Supreme Court ordered that the agreement and leased made by Fall were illegal and ordered the president to cancel the leases of the naval oil reserves. During the outburst of the scandal, President Coolidge was asked by the senate to dismiss Secretary Denby for his wrong doings but President Coolidge refused. In the midst of the scandal being open to the public, Secretary Denby resigned. Denby was the first one to be prosecuted for the scandal. The court stated that Denby “displayed incompetence and irresponsibly” therefore there was no proof that Denby had broken the law. The defended attorney General Harry Daugherty was blamed and accused for knowing about the Teapot Dome scandal. Attorney General Harry Daugherty became at fault for the scandal when he failed to do anything about it such as prosecuting the scandal. Throughout the