. The name comes from an oil reserve near Teapot Rock, Wyoming. President Warren G. Harding let the reserve and another reserve in California, be under the control of the Department of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, who had taken $100,000 from oil companies, then let oil companies use the land. The United States Senate looked into the matter and found Fall had committed conspiracy. It is thought to be one of the biggest political scandals in American history. The scandal caused a large amount of damage to the legacy of former President Harding. 