Teapot Dome

Teapot Dome scandal? Sound vaguely familiar? Do you remember from history class? While doing Today in History I had to search my memory banks for the details. Easily enough, I knew it was a scandal (duh! I can interpret titles!) and that Teapot Dome was a big rock and the scandal involved oil leases in the Western US. Oh yes, now I remember why it strikes a cord - Teapot Dome has come to represent the corruption of American politics. Isn’t it always about the oil? Finally I resorted to Wikipedia. I won’t bore you with the details but if you are interested I would suggest you visit the Wikipedia website. The Teapot Dome scandal was big news in the first part of the 20^th century for good reason. Teapot Dome was the first time political corruption had been exposed nationally. As a result of this scandal, President Harding’s administration has been remembered in history as one of the most corrupt up until the time of Richard Nixon. The fallout from the Teapot Dome Scandal? Albert Fall, a Republican from New Mexico, Harding’s Secretary of the Interior who caused the scandal was the first Cabinet official ever sent to prison. The Bureau of Investigation (later the FBI) who did a little wiretapping and breaking in and of their own (to the members of congress who were investigating the scandal) were undone. When the bureau's deeds were uncovered, reform ensued and J. Edgar Hoover became the new leader of the agency (a post he held for almost 50 years!)

Over the years we have become so accustomed to political scandal, we are no longer as shocked and morally outraged as we once were in the past. We have come to expect it? Now every new scandal gets the word “gate” attached to it thanks to Nixon. Who can forget the silly title of “Travelgate” under Bill Clinton? Was that a scandal or a controversy? Still, the larger question remains, will we ever have good government- free of scandal? Is it possible? Uninspired by this years crop of Presidential contenders and in the lead up to the 2008 presidential election I am pessimistic. Too bad!