Crooked

February 15, 2023
It was the first big scandal of American politics--the first to capture the attention of the entire nation and points beyond. The attorney general was ruthless Harry Daugherty, who almost single-handedly put Warren G. Harding into the White House. The senator was the idealistic Burton Wheeler, who was determined to expose the corrupt AG and remove him from power. The catalyst was the death of a man named Jess Smith, a well-known political fixer and Daugherty's close friend (and, it was rumored, lover). Smith's apparent suicide set off a chain of events that was, for many Americans, an eye-opening introduction to the dark side of politics. Although the events took place many decades ago, the story is as timely now as it ever was, and Masters brings it to pulsing life. Wheeler, Daugherty, and the various supporting players (including J. Edgar Hoover, before the world knew who he was) emerge as fully fleshed-out people, and the story is as exciting as any political thriller.

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Starred review from February 1, 2023
Revelations about a period of deep corruption that rocked American politics. Masters, host and producer of the public TV series Lost L.A., makes an impressive book debut with a brisk, lively history of a political scandal, "one of those Roaring Twenties spectacles...that held the entire nation spellbound." The central figures were newly elected Montana Sen. Burton Wheeler, eager to make his reputation as a crusader for public integrity, and the nation's ruthless, manipulative Attorney General, Harry Daugherty. Appointed by President Warren B. Harding, Daugherty proved a bane for Harding's successor, Calvin Coolidge, especially when Wheeler uncovered endemic fraud, bribery, and blackmail. In 1922, the Harding administration leased a Wyoming oil field known as Teapot Dome to politically connected oilmen, "in secret and without competitive bidding." Wheeler hoped that Teapot Dome "would prove to be only the first domino to fall--a prelude to an even more troubling scandal that would expose threats to impartial justice, congressional independence, and the rule of law itself." Convening a select committee, Wheeler heard evidence from an assortment of Daugherty's associates, notably the smarmy Gaston Means, who testified that he carried out "black-bag operations" for which he "collected cash--lots of it." One witness testified that he had "uncovered more than $7 million of fraud in the government's wartime aviation contracts, only to have his findings ignored by higher-ups," and "another was fired after his inquiry into Prohibition violations along the US-Mexican border implicated a federal prosecutor." Drawing on extensive archival research, Masters creates a tense narrative peopled by colorful, often unsavory characters. "Wheeler's investigation," Masters writes, "shocked the American people into caring whether the Department of Justice was actually pursuing justice--or something else entirely." The feisty senator, Masters asserts, revealed both the force of congressional investigations and the heady power of the court of public opinion. A stirring look at a shameful episode that holds distressing relevance for today.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 10, 2024

This historical panorama of Prohibition, gangsters, assassins, spies, and a burgeoning FBI serves as a background for a Roaring Twenties scandal that captured the nation's attention. Writer, historian, and host of the public television series Lost L.A., Masters debuts with an in-depth look at the Warren G. Harding administration and Harry Daugherty, the corrupt attorney general who shepherded Harding to power. Daugherty was taken down by Montana's crusading Sen. Burton Wheeler, who used the investigation into Daugherty's crony, Jess Smith, to expose the layers of corruption within Harding's administration. Masters combed court documents, testimonies, newspapers, memoirs, and more to reveal the many dishonest and unscrupulous dealings that resulted in unprecedented congressional hearings and fueled newspaper headlines for years. While the account is based in fact, the book reads like a thriller and remains engaging to the last minute. David H. Lawrence XVII's narration brings a documentary-like feel to the tale and helps listeners keep track of the dizzying cast of characters. VERDICT For fans of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage. Recommended for general purchase.--Terry Ann Lawler

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