Ah yes, sometimes I pine for the Good Old Days – you know, back when men were men and you could tell the Fat Cats by their walrus mustaches and cool fedoras. From the archives of This Day in History – October 25, 1929 – comes the lurid tale of Albert Fall, the first (but not the last) cabinet member found guilty of accepting bribes for his part in the Teapot Dome Scandal. You can read the full History.com blurb here, or see an excerpt below. Oh, in case you were wondering, “Teapot Dome” is in Wyoming and it has nothing to do with Earl Grey or Chamomile. In fact, it was all about oil reserves. Or, as a wise man once said:
Follow the money.
You been warned, Fat Cats.
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As a member of President Warren G. Harding’s corrupt cabinet in the early 1920s, Albert Fall accepted a $100,000 interest-free “loan” from Edward Doheny of the Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Company. Doheny wanted Fall to grant his firm a valuable oil lease in the Elk Hills naval oil reserve in California. That site, along with the Teapot Dome naval oil reserve in Wyoming, had been previously transferred to the Department of the Interior at Fall’s urging. Evidently he realized the personal gains he could achieve by leasing the land to private corporations.
Last word….
As another wise man once said: Pride goeth before a Fall.
Also: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
And that’s all I’ve got to say about that!
<Ahem.>