The Teapot Dome Scandal
Subtitle: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country
Publisher: Random House
Published: February 5, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9781400063161
Subjects: Political Corruption; U.S. History - 1920s; History; History - U.S.; History: American; Government & Business; Industries - Energy Industries; United States - 20th Century/20s; History / United States / 20th Century; United States - 20th Century; Teapot Dome Scandal, 1921-1924
Description: In The Teapot Dome Scandal, acclaimed author Laton McCartney tells the amazing, complex, and at times ribald story of how Big Oil handpicked Warren G. Harding, an obscure Ohio senator, to serve as our twenty-third president. Harding and his so-called "oil cabinet" made it possible for the oilmen to secure vast oil reserves that had been set aside for use by the U.S. Navy. In exchange, the oilmen paid off senior government officials, bribed newspaper publishers, and covered the GOP campaign debt. When news of the scandal finally emerged, the consequences were disastrous for the nation and for the principles in the plot to bilk the taxpayers: Harding's administration was hamstrung; Americans' confidence in their government plummeted; Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was indicted, convicted, and incarcerated; and others implicated in the affair suffered similarly dire fates. Stonewalling by members of Harding's circle kept a lid on the story--witnesses developed "faulty" memories or fled the country, and important documents went missing--but contemporary records newly made available to McCartney reveal a shocking, revelatory picture of just how far-reaching the affair was, how high the stakes, and how powerful the conspirators.--From publisher description.