Overview

Dark Side of Fortune contains all the elements of a Hollywood thriller. Filling in one of the most important gaps in the history of the American West, Margaret Leslie Davis's riveting biography follows Edward L. Doheny's fascinating story from his days as an itinerant prospector in the dangerous jungles of Mexico, where he built the $100-million oil empire that ushered in the new era of petroleum. But it was a tale that ended in tragedy, when-at the peak of his economic power-Doheny was embroiled in the notorious Teapot Dome scandal and charged with bribing the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Few captains of industry have matched Doheny's drive to succeed and his far-reaching ambition. Drawn to the West in search of fortune, he failed at prospecting before finding oil in a smelly, tar-befouled lot in Los Angeles in 1892. Certain that the substance had commercial value, he envisioned steamships and locomotives no longer powered by coal, but by oil. After developing massive oil wells in Mexico, Doheny built an international oil empire that made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. But in 1924 the scandal of Teapot Dome engulfed him. As accusations mounted, he hired America's top legal talent for his defense. During the ten-year-long litigation, Doheny's only son was mysteriously murdered by a family confidant. The government's case against Doheny ended in an astounding jury decision: The cabinet official accused of taking a bribe from Doheny was found guilty and sent to prison, yet Doheny was fully acquitted. Despite the verdict, the scandal had overshadowed the achievements of a lifetime, and he died in disgrace in 1935. Margaret Leslie Davis recreates the legal drama and adds details of behind-the-scenes strategy gleaned from the personal diaries and archives of Doheny's famed defense attorneys. Previously hidden personal correspondence adds to this first complete portrait of the man and answers questions about Doheny that have eluded historians for almost seventy-five years.

Full Product Details

9780520229099

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Davis delivers both the definitive biography of Doheny and a good-faith apologia for the man often labeled as the icon of unbridled American greed."" - Robert Ito, Los Angeles Magazine ""This biography of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny reads like a novel, and fittingly so. For the life story of this brilliant, driven entrepreneur is the stuff of fiction.... Davis craft[s] a spellbinding account of Doheny's rise to fame, power and fantastic wealth - and his fall from grace as a key figure in the Teapot Dome scandal that shattered the presidency of Warren D. Harding. [This] fascinating narrative will enrich the historical record while appealing to casual readers who enjoy tales of wealth, fame and political intrigue."" - John Flesher, Foreword"""

California historian Davis (Rivers in the Desert: William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles, 1993) revisits Teapot Dome, the cause celebre that began in the time of Warren Harding, to tell the story of one of the scandal's prominent actors, now largely forgotten. As the Gilded Age turned into the Jazz Age, Edward Doheny, hitherto a feckless prospector, peered into the La Brea tar pits and saw a fortune. He punched the first hole for oil in the city of Los Angeles. Successful, he turned to wildcat drilling in the jungles of Mexico. Gusher followed gusher and the shrewd Doheny became wonderfully rich, the master of a great mansion, a private railroad car, and all the accoutrements of great wealth. It was a world of puissant bigwigs, of powerful cronies, extravagantly mustachioed. It happened one day that the oilman transmitted $100,000 in cash to a cash-poor old crony, Albert Fall, who was then Harding's secretary of the interior. He called it a loan. Just about the same time, the Department of the Interior granted Doheny's company favorable leases in fields dedicated to naval oil reserves. Harry Sinclair, another oilman, obtained similar leases in a field known as Teapot Dome for its odd rock formation. When the deals came to light, a battle between conservationists and exploiters erupted. A Senate investigation turned the transactions into scandal, and civil and criminal trials followed. Fall took the Fifth, but was jailed anyway. Sinclair did time, too, Doheny, though, was found innocent of any criminality. His story and that of his family and friends is told expertly, though with a clearly sympathetic bias, while some questions remain (e.g., why was the loan made in cash?). Drawing on a new-found trove of Doheny's personal correspondence, and well researched and narrated, this revisionist biography is an interesting addition to the social history of the times. (Kirkus Reviews)

Davis delivers both the definitive biography of Doheny and a good-faith apologia for the man often labeled as the icon of unbridled American greed. - Robert Ito, Los Angeles Magazine This biography of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny reads like a novel, and fittingly so. For the life story of this brilliant, driven entrepreneur is the stuff of fiction.... Davis craft[s] a spellbinding account of Doheny's rise to fame, power and fantastic wealth - and his fall from grace as a key figure in the Teapot Dome scandal that shattered the presidency of Warren D. Harding. [This] fascinating narrative will enrich the historical record while appealing to casual readers who enjoy tales of wealth, fame and political intrigue. - John Flesher, Foreword

Author Information

Margaret Leslie Davis is the author of Rivers in the Desert: William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles (1993), winner of the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award for Best Nonfiction Book. Davis is a California lawyer and graduate of Georgetown University. She is the former editor of Arts and Humanities at the Excite Network.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available