The narrative is shaped by Donald Trump and his supporters is that his indictment is unprecedented and as such illegitimate. There is little pushback on the unprecedented aspect, and all the focus on the support of the indictment seems to be on its legitimacy. Of course that is the easier case, because Trump can’t seem to open his mouth without criming. So many times we watched him violate laws while in office. From Emoluments clauses to insurrections, his crimes created a fatigue where holding accountable seemed just too hard.
The unprecedented aspect should also get some attention, though. It feels like his presidency revitalized the 1920s. There was a pandemic. There was a rise in authoritarianism. And, the political scandals were right out in the open. An easy comparison more recently involved Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew. Like Trump, Agnew was addicted to corruption and self-dealing. He ultimately leveraged the possibility that he might become president and above the law into a cushy plea deal.
Rhyming with the 1920s puts Warren Harding as they comparison. During Harding’s presidency, America experienced the Teapot Dome Scandal.
Teapot Dome
The Teapot Dome scandal was a political scandal in the United States during the 1920s. It involved the secret leasing of federal oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California, to private oil companies without competitive bidding. The scandal involved high-ranking officials in the administration of President Warren G. Harding, including his Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall.
Fall had been a senator from New Mexico before becoming Secretary of the Interior in 1921. He was responsible for managing the government's oil reserves and used his position to secretly lease the reserves to oil companies in exchange for personal bribes and kickbacks.
The scandal came to light in 1922 when a Senate investigation was launched. Fall was eventually found guilty of accepting bribes and was sentenced to prison. The scandal tarnished the reputation of the Harding administration and led to a wave of public outrage and demands for political reform.
The Teapot Dome scandal is often cited as one of the worst political scandals in American history, and it is remembered as a symbol of government corruption and abuse of power. The scandal also led to significant changes in the way that government contracts and leases were awarded to private companies, with new laws and regulations designed to prevent similar abuses of power in the future.
What feels so disconnected in this narrative, “If they can come for Trump, they can come for you.” is that we want, as a nation of laws, for that to be true. Yes, if I commit crimes, they can come for me. But this isn’t adequate. People need to believe in their leaders and in their government. Therefore a President shouldn’t have more immunity, but be held to the highest standard. They should endure the strictest of public scrutiny, because they are responsible for enforcing the laws as well as living by them.
Scandal is nothing new in American politics. Evidence that our system works, even for the rich, powerful and entitled, would be good for most of the country. Then, we might restore some faith, which is what is needed today.
