A timely book that anyone political observer would enjoy is The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought The White House and Tried to Steal the Country. It is very well written by Laton McCartney.
Now people may think this book is timely because of the oil crisis. It is timely for that reason.
An additional reason I think it is timely today is because of a post on this site written by Duane on some of the problems within the Republican party. It was an excellent post that rang true for many of us.
I would agree with virtually everything Duane wrote and add one more concept. We need to police our own political party for corruption. The sad truth is that when a long time Republican Sheriff, Congressman, Supervisor, or party leader does something unethical or illegal we all go silent. In the long run, our silence alone is a failure.
We need a couple people that are not elected officials to step up and lead this effort. People that will audit our party and hold members accountable when they break their commitments, commit illegal or unethical acts, or sell out their vote.
Which brings me back to the book. The best character is a Democrat Senator from Montana names Thomas Walsh. At one point he sought the nomination for President. He was poised to accept the position of Attorney General but died of a heart attack on his way to Washington to accept them position.
Walsh, in a low-tech era, went after corruption within the Harding administration carefully but with passion. In the end, he was one of the few people that came out of the scandal with his integrity still in place.
In reading outside of the book subject to this review, it appears that Walsh faced down even members of his own political party to follow the trail of corruption within the Harding administration.
McCartney has written a book that has some excellent history of the United States and even California. I strongly recommend it to anyone but don’t focus on the story of the oil companies. Look for the characters that showed courage under fire from political party bosses that sough to expose the corrupt people within government.
At some point our party needs to make some major changes to advance the cause of limited government. It will be a long process that will require some people to realize that it is not about the elected leaders. It is about the principles they stand on.