Teapot Dome

The Scandal: One of the politicains who opposed the conservation was Senator Albert B. Fall who became Warren Harding's Secretary of the Interior in 1921. Fall, upon becoming the Secretary of the Interior, convinced Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby to turn the control of the oil fields over to him. Fall then moved to lease the Teapot Dome to Harry Sinclair's Mammoth Oil Company and the Elk Hills reserve to Edward Doheny's Pan American Petroleum Company. In return for leasing these oil fields to the respective oil magnates Fall received "gifts" from the oilmen totaling about $400,000. Fall attempted to keep actions secret but his sudden improvements in standard of living drew speculation. The scandal was first revealed to the public in 1924 after findings by a committee of the U. S. Senate. The individual within the Senate who took charge of investigating the alledged wrongdoing by Fall was Thomas J. Walsh, a democrat from Montana. Albert Fall had made legitamite leases of the oil fields to the private companies but the taking of money was his undoing.