Senator Borah Opposes Oil Money in Politics

In March of 1928, incensed that the Republican National Committee had accepted a large contribution from the oil industry in the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal, Senator William E. Borah  (R-Idaho), demanded that the contribution be returned.  When the party chairman declined, Borah, a progressive Republican often at odds with his party's leadership, began a public campaign to raise the money to "refund" the contribution himself.  Though his effort received widespread publicity, he ultimately was unable to raise enough money to make the refund. According to his biographer Claudius Johnson, Borah returned the money he raised to his donors.  One of the contributors to Borah's  refund campaign was the muckraking journalist C.P. Connolly.  His receipt is part of the C.P. Connolly collection (MSS 208) in the Special Collections Department of Albertsons Library.