Fall, Albert Bacon (1861-1944), served as United States secretary of the interior from 1921 to 1923 under President Warren G. Harding. As interior secretary, Fall participated in the events that became known as the Teapot Dome scandal, an illegal lease of government oil reserves to private oil companies. As a result, Fall became the first U.S. Cabinet member to be convicted of a felony committed while in office.
In 1921, Fall persuaded Harding and Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby to transfer control of three naval oil reserves from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior. The reserves were in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California. In 1922, Fall leased the reserves in Teapot Dome to oilman Harry F. Sinclair and those in Elk Hills to oilman Edward L. Doheny, without competitive bidding. Fall resigned in 1923 and joined Sinclair’s company. In 1924, a Senate investigation revealed Fall had accepted a $100,000 “loan” from Doheny and more than $300,000 in cash, bonds, and livestock from Sinclair for helping arrange the leases. In 1929, Fall was convicted of receiving a bribe. He was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000. Fall served about nine months in prison but never paid the fine.
Fall was born on Nov. 26, 1861, in Frankfort, Kentucky. From 1912 to 1921, he served as a United States senator from New Mexico. He died on Nov. 30, 1944.
See also Teapot Dome.
