In this amazing and at times ribald story, Laton McCartney tells how Big Oil handpicked Warren G. Harding, an obscure Ohio senator, to serve as our twenty-third president. Harding and his “oil cabinet” made it possible for cronies to secure vast fuel reserves that had been set aside for use by the U.S. Navy. In exchange, the oilmen paid off senior government officials, bribed newspaper publishers, and covered the GOP campaign debt. When news of the scandal finally emerged, the consequences were disastrous. Drawing on contemporary records newly made available to McCartney, The Teapot Dome Scandal reveals a shocking, revelatory picture of just how far-reaching the affair was, how high the stakes, and how powerful the conspirators–all told in a dazzling narrative style.

This title describes ten bribery-related court cases for which the author served as an expert language witness. The cases described include the bribery or alleged bribery of United States senators, congressmen, judges, businessmen, and brothel owners, among others. Shuy describes the often-unused linguistic analytical tools that are available to both the prosecution and defence as they argue these cases. His analysis illustrates how grammatical referencing, speech acts, discourse structure, framing, conveyed meaning, and intentionality can be useful, and he describes how these tools affected the outcomes of the particular cases discussed.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)