[Up] [Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

RE: Tea pot Dome Scandal



[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@zilker.net.
[ For more information, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
-------

I can't remember who wrote now, and I've cleaned up my email messages.
However, I am looking up information on Sinclair Oil gas station
architecture and found this site.  I copied the summary over from Alta
Vista (Sinclair Oil history was my search query) and the information
below that.  I hope this helps.  Darwin


13. EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY TIMELINE
[URL: wwwas.ccsu.ctstateu.edu/depts/poli-sci/trieb/early.HTM]
Teapot Dome Scandal (1922)       n 1922, a major political scandal
broke, the Teapot Dome scandal. President Harding's Secretary..
Last modified 18-Dec-97 - page size 6K - in English [ Translate ]



Teapot Dome Scandal (1922)

     In 1922, a major political scandal broke, the Teapot Dome scandal.
President Harding's Secretary of the Interior leased Wyoming's Teapot
Dome oil reserve to Sinclair Oil without bids or any other standard
governmental procedureS. The public perceived this as a payback for the
enormous contributions Sinclair had given to the Republican National
Committee, which in turn helped elect Harding. 
     The public was outraged. Legislators and reformers once again
sounded the cry for campaign finance reform. A movement began to close
the loopholes in the 1907 and 1910 legislation and to restore the
intent--if not the wording--of the 1911 amendments, so that they would
pass a Supreme Court test.




The Federal Corrupt Practices Act (1925)

     Fueled by the Newberry decision and the Teapot Dome scandal, the
Federal Corrupt Practices Act was enacted. "It recodified many of the
earlier reforms, adjusted spending limits for the House and Senate
candidates, and placed the onus for disclosing campaign receipts and
expenditures on the candidates themselves." (Gunlicks, 18) The major
provisions of the act are as follows:



1.Repeal of the 1910 Publicity Act and the 1911 amendments to the
Tillman and Publicity Acts. 2.Enactment of publicity and disclosure
requirements for all campaign spending. 3.Contributions of $50 and
higher within a calendar year had to be reported. 4.Senatorial
candidates could spend 3 cents for each voter in the last election, not
to exceed $25,000. House candidates could spend 3 cents for each voter
in the last election, not to exceed $5,000. 5.Offers of patronage and
contracts were strictly forbidden. 6.Bribery and acceptance of bribes
were strictly forbidden. 7.A ban was placed on corporate contributions
of all kinds. 



(Adapted from Alexander, 222-223)







Public Utilities Holding Act (1935)

     During the late 1920s and in the 1930s, the country went from an
era of great prosperity to one of economic and human devastation.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President in 1932, and was
reform-minded like his Uncle Theodore. Roosevelt also had a goal of
making government agencies and departments more professional, and wanted
to forever expunge patronage from American government. 
     Good government had also been a long time staple of the Democratic
party platform. Many new Democrats were elected to Congress because of
the backlash against Hoover and the Republican Party and the American
people's frustration with the Depression. However, Republicans also
chose to support campaign finance reform since they lost considerable
power and viewed campaign finance reform as a way to regain it. 
     With bipartisan support, a series of campaign finance laws were
enacted. The Public Utilities Holding Act of 1935 barred public utility
companies from making federal campaign contributions. They had evolved
in a different manner than private corporations, and, under FDR's plans,
were gaining more power and influence.




The Hatch Act (1939)

     The Clean Politics Act of 1939, better known as the Hatch Act,
prohibited Federal employees from participating in or contributing to
Federal political campaigns. This legislation grew out of FDR's attempts
to professionalize government, and from a legislative and public
perception that major changes were needed to save the economic viability
of the country.




The Smith Connelly Act (1943)

     In 1939, the world collapsed into World War II, and the U.S. became
part of it in 1941. In the states, every effort went into winning the
war, from victory gardens, to USO dances, to munitions factories.
Patriotism ran high. Thus, when the steel workers' union went on strike
for higher wages during the war, the public was outraged. Our soldiers
needed steel for guns and tanks. In order to punish the unions and to
make the legislature less dependent on them and their contributions, the
Smith Connelly Act of 1943 was enacted. The law extended the Tillman and
the Federal Corrupt Practices Act, effectively banning political
contributions from labor unions until the end of the war.




Taft Hartley Act (1947)

     After the war and the death of FDR, anti-union and anti-Democrat
sentiment ran high. The country wanted a change. These two groups were
to the "left of the center," and the Cold War and another "red scare"
were beginning with the Soviet refusal to pull out of the Eastern
section of Germany. Many Democratic seats were lost to Republicans, with
the exception of Southern seats. However, Southern Democrats were very
conservative and often joined in a conservative coalition with the
Republicans in Congress.
     Due to the power of this coalition, public discontent with liberal
Democrats who were often backed by unions, and lingering anger over
wartime labor strikes, the conservative coalition was able to campaign
for and enact further campaign finance reform. The provisions of the
Smith Connelly Act were made permanent by the Labor-Management Relations
Act of 1947, also called the Taft Hartley Act.
[
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@zilker.net.
[ For subscription, unusubscription, or other instructions, see
[  http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
[ or send mail to majordomo@zilker.net with this single line in the body:
[  info sinclair
[
[ To unsubscribe, send a message like this:
[
[           To: majordomo@zilker.net
[
[           unsubscribe sinclair
[