The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States from 1920 to 1923, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and two other locations in California to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. In 1922 and 1923, the leases became the subject of a sensational investigation by Senator Thomas J. Walsh.
Fall was later convicted in 1929 of accepting bribes from the oil companies and became the first Cabinet member to go to prison. Before the Watergate scandal, Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics". The scandal damaged the public reputation of the Harding administration.
It is ranked number three due to its significance.The scandal damaged Harding's reputation and public approval since it was him that put this corrupt man in a position of such authority. The public began to wonder weather the these government officials would give away the nations precious resources just to make a quick buck. To make matters worse more scandals soon erupted after Teapot Dome broke. The weight of this scandal along with the smaller others caused Harding to go on a speech tour which untimely lead to his death from a heart attack.