Teapot Dome Scandal

The Teapot Dome scandal occurred during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Albert B. Fall, secretary of the interior, secretly leased three federal oil reserves to several oil company officials in 1921 and 1922 and received personal compensation from them. This scandal and accusations of influence peddling and corruption by several of President Harding's political appointees resulted in congressional investigations and court cases that extended throughout that decade.

Underground petroleum reserves on federal government lands had been set aside for possible use in a national emergency by several previous administrations. Two of these oil reserves were located in California, and a third was near Casper, Wyoming. The property in Wyoming was called Teapot Dome due to the shape then of a rock formation on that ...

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