10 Key Insights into the Teapot Dome Scandal

Before scandals like Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the impeachment of Bill Clinton, there was the Teapot Dome scandal. Albert Fall, the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren Harding, took advantage of his government role to secretly lease public land to his oil industry associates in exchange for bribes. These illicit transactions led to a significant investigation, a guilty verdict, and a landmark Supreme Court case that altered the Senate's authority. While similar controversies have emerged in the years since, Teapot Dome continues to serve as a symbol of corruption in U.S. politics. Here’s what you need to understand about the biggest political scandal of the 1920s.

1. Warren Harding’s campaign had strong financial backing from the oil industry.

When Warren G. Harding assumed the presidency in 1920, oil magnates saw an opportunity in him. Some had contributed generously to his campaign, hoping to see their interests rewarded with pro-oil Cabinet selections. Edward L. Doheny of Pan American Petroleum and Transport donated $25,000 to Harding’s cause, while Harry F. Sinclair of Mammoth Oil gave a whopping $1 million. When Harding appointed his old friend, Senator Albert Fall—a New Mexico rancher—as his Secretary of the Interior, it was clear that Big Oil had its thumb on the scale.

2. Teapot Dome wasn’t Fall’s first attempt at securing federal resources.

Environmentalists had their doubts about Fall even before the Teapot Dome scandal broke. Prior to joining Harding’s Cabinet, Fall had worked as a lawyer for the logging and mining industries, and as Interior Secretary, he wasted no time in using his power to grant corporations access to public lands. His first target was Alaska’s vast natural resources, and later, he attempted to shift control of the U.S. national forests and the Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture to his own department. Both efforts were thwarted by conservationists in Congress, but they couldn’t stop him from moving the Navy’s oil reserves to the Department of the Interior in 1922.

3. Teapot Dome was just one of several oil reserves involved in the scandal.

Before President Harding took office, his predecessor, William Howard Taft, had set aside several oil fields to serve as fuel reserves for the Navy in case of wartime shortages. These lands had long been coveted by private oil barons, and Harding made it easier for them to gain access. Fall persuaded Harding to transfer control of these public reserves to the Department of the Interior. After the transfer, Secretary Fall leased several of these government-owned sites to private businessmen without public notice or competitive bidding. Teapot Dome, located north of Casper, Wyoming, was leased to Harry Sinclair, while Elk Hills in California went to Edward L. Doheny. Though Teapot Dome (named after a nearby rock formation resembling a teapot) was just one of the sites involved, it became the symbol of the scandal.

4. The leases themselves weren’t the issue that brought Fall down.

Doheny paid Fall $100,000 for the land—a sum that would be worth over $1.5 million today. Fall used this money to fund his expansive ranch in New Mexico. Meanwhile, Sinclair sent livestock to Fall’s property and also transferred approximately $300,000 in cash and Liberty bonds to Fall’s son-in-law. It was these gifts, rather than the leases, that led to their legal troubles. Despite Doheny and Fall claiming the $100,000 was simply an 'interest-free loan,' the Senate suspected bribery and initiated an investigation.

5. It resulted in a Supreme Court case that affirmed Congress’s investigatory powers.

Congress’s authority to subpoena witnesses during investigations is less than a century old. As the Senate probed Attorney General Harry Daugherty’s failure to investigate the Teapot Dome scandal, they called on his brother, Mally Daugherty, to testify. He refused, which led to the separate trial McGrain v. Daugherty. Although the Constitution doesn’t directly grant Congress the right to investigate private citizens, the Supreme Court recognized this authority in its 1927 decision. This precedent was reinforced in 1929 after Sinclair refused to testify on certain issues before the Senate. In Sinclair v. United States, the Court again ruled that Congress could compel witnesses to appear before its investigatory committees, even if they weren’t government officials.

6. Fall became the first Cabinet official to serve prison time.

Albert Fall was convicted of accepting a bribe, making him the first Cabinet member ever found guilty of a crime committed while in office. Fall was the only one convicted (although Edward Doheny also offered the bribe, he was acquitted). Initially, Fall was fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison. He was incarcerated in 1931 but released three months early due to his deteriorating health. While Sinclair was not convicted of bribery, he was sentenced to six months in prison for jury tampering.

7. Harding didn’t survive to face the scandal’s repercussions.

Harding had appointed Fall as Interior Secretary and Daugherty as Attorney General, but the 29th president largely avoided the fallout of the scandal. Harding died unexpectedly at age 57 in 1923, likely from a heart attack. Although he didn’t live to witness the full investigation, the Teapot Dome scandal and other corrupt practices during his administration severely tarnished his legacy. Many historians now rank him among the worst presidents in U.S. history.

8. Albert Fall wasn’t the original scapegoat.

Although Fall wasn’t the sole participant, he was the only one convicted of bribery in the Teapot Dome scandal. This technically makes him a 'fall guy'—someone who takes the full blame for a situation—but contrary to popular belief, the term didn’t originate with him. 'Fall guy' was already in use by the 1920s, and it was even the title of a Broadway play that debuted in 1925. The phrase’s exact origin remains unclear, but it certainly predates the Teapot Dome affair.

9. It was the Watergate scandal of its era.

The Teapot Dome scandal was the most significant political controversy the U.S. had seen when it erupted during the Harding administration in the 1920s. Five decades later, when five burglars infiltrated the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s Watergate complex, journalists quickly drew comparisons to Teapot Dome. Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell, became the second U.S. Cabinet official to be imprisoned, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

10. The government eventually sold Teapot Dome—legally.

After the scandal, the leased oil fields were returned to the Navy as reserves—though this status didn’t last long. Under President Clinton, Elk Hills in California was sold to Occidental Petroleum. The U.S. government held on to Teapot Dome until 2015, when it was purchased by Stranded Oil Resources Corporation for $45 million. This time, the sale was fully transparent and did not result in any criminal charges.