The deal: In exchange for large, secret personal “loans ... this one leased to another oil magnate, Harry Sinclair, was Teapot Dome (NPR-3), located about 25 miles north of Casper, Wyoming.

taller external dome. To counteract “hoop stress,” the outward, bulging pressure created by a large structure’s weight that could cause it to crack or collapse, he would bind the walls with ...