Tempest in a Teapot Dome

The Harding Teapot Dome scandal broke wide open in January, 1924, so it's time for our Graphical History Tour to break out the toons.

No caption, by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 28, 1924

If I had a dime for every cartoon I've seen of a teapot boiling over — or, since the scandal was over oilfields, becoming a gusher — I'd have a couple of bucks. 

Daniel Fitzpatrick's cartoon stands out for incorporating the Capitol dome into the idea.

"Mister Fall Seems to Have Been the Only One Who could 'See' Anything" by J.P. Alley in Memphis Commercial Appeal, Jan. 27, 1924

In the opening months of the Harding administration, Interior Secretary Albert Fall — one of the Harding administration's "Ohio Gang" — had convinced  Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby that the Interior Department was better suited than the Department of the Navy to manage the naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming and Elk Hills, California. President Warren Harding authorized the transfer, and Fall then leased the oilfields to buddies of his in exchange for over $400,000 in personal loans.

The Senate investigation led by Sen. Thomas Walsh (D-MT) centered on the oil leasing deal under Fall,  who had since resigned, but also faulted Denby and Attorney General Harry Daugherty (another member of the Ohio Gang) for failure to pay attention.

"I'd Do It Again" by Roy James in St. Louis Star, Jan. 31, 1924

Denby testified that he saw nothing wrong with having Interior manage the naval oil reserves. He would not last three more months at his post. Coolidge would ask for Daugherty's resignation as well.

"Rushing with First Aid to the Injured" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, Jan. 29, 1924

Even though the Teapot Dome scandal was a sensation in January, blared across front pages in banner headlines, most of the Republican-oriented cartoonists I've found ignored it. "Ding" Darling was a prominent exception, perhaps explained by his strong differences with Albert Fall over issues of environmental protection.

Here "Ding" complains that the scandal would only benefit the field of Democratic presidential candidates, singling out front-runner William McAdoo, dark horse Sen. Sam Ralston (D-IN), and also-ran Sen. Oscar Underwood (D-AL).

"It's an Ill Wind" by Douglas Rodgers in San Francisco Bulletin, Jan. 31, 1924

Douglas Rodgers adds progressive Republican Senator William Borah of Idaho and Democratic elder statesman William Jennings Bryan to the list of those relishing the Republican scandal. He could well have added Bob LaFollette and several other progressives.

"Beyond Control" by J.P. Alley in Memphis Commercial Appeal, Jan. 31, 1924

Congress voted overwhelmingly to cancel the oil leases made by Fall, and President Coolidge appointed a special prosecutor to handle the case. Democrat-leaning cartoonists eagerly tied the entire Republican Party to the scandal.

"Can't Get Away from It" by Harold Talburt for Scripps-Howard Newspapers, Jan. 31, 1924

"The Tea(Pot Dome) Party" by Grover Page in Louisville Courier-Journal, Jan. 29, 1924

But not so fast, O Party of Andrew Jackson!

"What Dirty Boys..." by Sam Armstrong in Tacoma News Tribune, Feb. 7, 1924

Democrat McAdoo's presidential aspirations would be hobbled by his association with one of the oilmen implicated in the scandal. Edward Doheny, a major donor to the Democratic Party and chair of its Resolutions Committee in 1920, was accused of offering Albert Fall a $100,000 bribe in exchange for his company managing some of the Elk Hills oil reserves. 

"Phew" by Sam Armstrong in Tacoma News Tribune, Jan. 25, 1924

Doheny would be acquitted of the charge; his son Ned would murder an accused accomplice and commit suicide before going to trial for delivering the bribe; Fall would be found guilty of accepting it.

"It Backfired" by Ed Gale in Los Angeles Times, Feb. 3, 1924

That would be years down the road. McAdoo had nothing to do with approval of the oil leases, but his being a fellow Democrat in California was kind of like having one's picture taken with Jeffrey Epstein. Guilt by association was good enough to get Republican cartoonists to argue "they all do it."

"Laocoon" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, Feb. 5, 1924