You may not know who Albert B Fall is, but as the first former US Cabinet member to have been convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison, you certainly should. The Tea Pot Dome scandal was, until Watergate, considered the most sensational scandal in the history of American politics, and besides Fall, made several others quite rich as well. One was none other than Harry Ford Sinclair, the owner and founder of Sinclair Oil. Through bribes and other nefarious dealing,s Sinclair secured Naval oil reserves with low cost contracts, earning him his vast fortune. Although the construction of the house at 2 E 79th Street was not commissioned by him, it is Sinclair’s name that is associated with what is now the Ukrainian Institute.
Find out how the building went from national scandal to National Landmark.