Fall, Albert Bacon

born Nov. 26, 1861, Frankfort, Ky., U.S.

died Nov. 30, 1944, El Paso, Texas

U.S. secretary of the interior (1921–23).

He began practicing law in New Mexico Territory in 1889. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1913 to 1921, when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior by Pres. Warren G. Harding. He resigned his cabinet post two years later and returned to New Mexico. In 1924 a Senate investigation revealed that Fall had accepted a large bribe to lease to private oil interests, without competitive bidding, naval oil reserve lands in the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming and other reserves in California. He was convicted of bribery in 1929 and served nine months of a one-year prison sentence. See also Teapot Dome scandal.

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▪ United States secretary of the interior

born Nov. 26, 1861, Frankfort, Ky., U.S.

died Nov. 30, 1944, El Paso, Texas

      U.S. secretary of the interior under President Warren G. Harding; he was the first American to be convicted of a felony committed while holding a Cabinet post.

      Fall had little formal schooling but studied law and, after moving to New Mexico Territory, began to practice in 1889. After a lengthy political career in New Mexico, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1912, serving until his appointment as secretary of the interior in 1921. He resigned from the Cabinet two years later and returned to New Mexico.

      In 1924 a Senate investigation revealed that Fall had accepted a large bribe to lease to private oil interests, without competitive bidding, naval oil reserve lands in the Teapot Dome (Teapot Dome Scandal) reserve in Wyoming and other reserves in California. He was convicted of bribery in 1929 and served nine months of a one-year prison sentence.

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