After nine weeks of testimony in federal court in Chicago, a jury convicts Charles Forbes, the first director of the Veterans Bureau, of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, along with construction company president E.H. Mortimer. The conviction stems from a $5,000 bribe Forbes accepted from …
Charles ForbesWarren G. HardingE.H. MortimerJ.W. Thompsonpolitical-corruptionveterans-affairsharding-scandals
President Calvin Coolidge dismissed Attorney General Harry Daugherty after he refused to open Justice Department files to a congressional committee investigating charges of wrongdoing by Harding associates. Daugherty faced bitter public opposition when appointed attorney general and nearly faced …
Harry DaughertyCalvin CoolidgeWarren G. Hardingexecutive-corruptioninstitutional-captureaccountability-crisisobstruction
Jesse W. Smith, Attorney General Harry Daugherty’s aide and key Ohio Gang operator within the Justice Department, died by suicide as scrutiny of Harding administration corruption intensified. Smith managed sensitive communications and facilitated illicit schemes including the sale of illegal …
Jesse SmithHarry DaughertyWarren G. Hardingexecutive-corruptioninstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionjustice-department
Veterans Bureau Director Charles Forbes resigned from Paris after President Harding confronted him at the White House, allegedly grabbing him by the throat and shouting “You double-crossing bastard!” Forbes had embezzled money, accepted bribes, and sold nearly 7 million dollars of …
Charles ForbesWarren G. HardingCharles F. Cramerexecutive-corruptioninstitutional-capturefraudsystematic-corruption
Attorney General Harry Daugherty secured a sweeping federal injunction that prohibited virtually any action by railway shop craft workers in furtherance of the largest railway strike in U.S. history. The 1922 strike involved hundreds of thousands of workers fighting wage reductions ordered by the …
Harry DaughertyWarren G. HardingRailroad Labor Boardlabor-suppressionjudicial-captureexecutive-corruptionanti-union
Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon secured passage of the first Republican tax reduction following the 1920 landslide, dropping the top marginal rate from 73 to 58 percent while introducing preferential treatment for capital gains at 12.5 percent. The act repealed the excess profits tax imposed during …
Andrew MellonWarren G. HardingRepublican Partytax-policywealth-concentrationinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruption
President Warren G. Harding signed Executive Order 3474 transferring control of naval petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills and Buena Vista in California from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior under Secretary Albert Fall. This transfer removed the reserves …
Warren G. HardingAlbert FallEdwin Denbyinstitutional-captureexecutive-corruptionresource-extractionregulatory-capture
President Warren G. Harding signs the Emergency Quota Act (also called the Emergency Immigration Act or Johnson Quota Act), establishing for the first time numerical limits on immigration to the United States based on national origin. The law restricts annual immigration from any country to 3% of …
Warren G. HardingAlbert JohnsonU.S. CongressImmigration Restriction Leagueimmigration-policyxenophobiainstitutional-capturelabor-suppressionnativism