Albert Bacon Fall was a powerful New Mexico politician who served in the U.S. Senate before becoming secretary of the interior under President Warren G. Harding in 1921. Fall played a major role in the Teapot Dome Scandal, which involved two oil executives who bribed Fall in exchange for lucrative oil leases. Fall was convicted of bribery for his actions, becoming the first cabinet member to be convicted in U.S. history.

Fall was born on November 26, 1861, in Frankfort, Kentucky. He apprenticed under a lawyer in Frankfurt as a young man and was admitted to the Kentucky bar. However, in 1889, he moved to the New Mexico Territory and established a law practice. Fall soon turned his attentions to politics and was elected to a string of state offices. In 1912, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he became an important figure in Republican Party politics.

After...