4. The “greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics” until Watergate, the Teapot Dome Scandal saw the first imprisonment of a former member of the United States Cabinet after the conviction of Interior Secretary Albert Fall for conspiracy and bribery
To ensure the Navy would retain sufficient fuel in times of crisis, following the conversion from coal to oil in the early twentieth century President Taft designated certain oil-producing areas as naval reserves. In 1921, President Harding issued an executive order transferring control of Teapot Dome Oil Field, Wyoming, and Elk Hills and Buena Visit Oil Fields, California, from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior. Exploiting his new responsibilities, Interior Secretary Albert Fall leased, without competitive bidding, the sites to the Sinclair Oil Corporation and the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company in 1922.
Offered on highly favorable terms, Fall secretly accepted bribes worth more than $7m dollars today from the companies. After suspicions began to be raised regarding the deal, Fall attempted to cover his tracks. Nevertheless, questions started to be asked concerning how Fall had suddenly become immensely wealthy and an investigation was launched. Discovering the extent of the corruption, in 1927 the Supreme Court invalidated the leases on the grounds they had been corruptly obtained. Convicted of charges of conspiracy and bribery, Fall became the first former cabinet officer to be sentenced to prison as a result of misconduct performed in office.