Harry F. Sinclair

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Harry F. Sinclair, 1923.

National Photo Company Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: LC-DIG-npcc-23788)

Harry F. Sinclairwas an American oilman who founded Sinclair Oil Corporation, a major integrated petroleum company of the early and mid-20th century. He also figured in the Teapot Dome Scandal in the 1920s.

Sinclair grew up in Independence, Kansas, and studied pharmacy at the University of Kansas (1897–98). After making an unsuccessful attempt in the drugstore business (1898–1901), he decided to venture into the oil fields, which were in the early phase of their development in the central part of the country. Initially a lease broker, he subsequently became an independent producer of oil wells in Oklahoma and finally entered refining and marketing. In 1916 he consolidated his interests into Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation (later renamed Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation), headquartered in New York City. Within a few years he became a major independent producer with holdings worldwide. During World War I he served on the Council of National Defense, a board that advised on the mobilization of raw materials and industry for the war effort.

In 1922 Albert B. Fall, then secretary of the interior in the Warren G. Harding administration, leased the U.S. Navy’s Teapot Dome oil reserve near Casper, Wyoming, to the Mammoth Oil Company, which had been set up by Sinclair. The lease was given to Mammoth without competitive bidding, and it granted Sinclair exclusive rights to take and dispose of all oil and gas from the reserve. It was later disclosed that Fall had received large cash gifts and no-interest “loans” from Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny, another oil producer who had taken out a similar lease with Fall’s approval. A Senate investigation subsequently brought the scandal to light, and the leases were canceled. Sinclair was cited for contempt of the U.S. Senate for refusing to answer certain questions during the investigation. In addition, he and others were indicted and tried for bribery and conspiracy to defraud the government, but Sinclair’s trial was interrupted by a sensational charge that he had hired a detective agency to investigate the jurors with the aim of finding one who might be bribed to vote for acquittal. In a separate trial on this charge, he was convicted for contempt of court. In the resumed conspiracy trial, however, the jury acquitted Sinclair of the major charge, ruling that the government had not proved that the gifts had been given in order to obtain favours for Sinclair. Nevertheless, for contempt of court and of the Senate, he served six and one-half months in prison in 1929.

Sinclair left prison denying all guilt and returned to his oil business, which continued to prosper. During the Great Depression he purchased troubled oil companies, continuing to build a nationwide network of oil fields, pipelines, and refineries. He also sold off assets in Europe as tensions on that continent made the prospect of war likely. His company, renamed the Sinclair Oil Corporation, participated fully in the mobilization of World War II, during which time Sinclair served again on an industrial advisory board. By the time of his retirement in 1949, Sinclair Oil was said to have assets of $1.2 billion, with earnings of $68 million. In 1969 it was merged into Atlantic Richfield Company.

Sinclair was also interested in sports. He was the owner of a stable that raised Thoroughbred horses (one of which won the Kentucky Derby in 1925), and he was one of the organizers of the short-lived Federal League in baseball in 1914–15.