In the early 1920s, with the nation still recovering from World War I, President Warren G. Harding founded a huge new organization to treat disabled veterans: the US Veterans Bureau, now known as the Department of Veterans Affairs. He appointed his friend, decorated veteran Colonel Charles R. Forbes, as founding director. Forbes lasted in the position for only eighteen months before stepping down under a cloud of criticism and suspicion. In 1926after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud the federal government by rigging government contractshe was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary. Although he was known in his day as a drunken womanizer, and as a corrupt, betraying toady of a weak, blind-sided president, the question persists: was Forbes a criminal or a scapegoat?
Historian Rosemary Stevens tells Forbes's story anew, drawing on previously untapped records to reveal his role in America's initial and ongoing commitment to veterans. She explores how Forbes's rise and fall in Washington illuminates President Harding's efforts to bring business efficiency to government. She also examines the Veterans Bureau scandal in the context of class, professionalism, ethics, and etiquette in a rapidly changing world. Most significantly, Stevens proposes a fascinating revisionist view of both Forbes and Hardingand raises questions about not only the validity but the source of their respective reputations. They did not defraud the government of billions of dollars, Stevens convincingly documents, and do not deserve the reputation they have carried for a hundred years.
Packed with vibrant charactersconniving friends, FBI agents, and rival politicians split by sectional and ideological interests as well as gamblers, revelers, and wronged wives A Time of Scandal will appeal to anyone interested in political gossip, presidential politics, the ""Ohio Gang,"" and the 1920s.
Preface Part I. American Dreams Chapter 1: Hidden Stories, Fateful Meetings Chapter 2: Washington, DC, March-April 1921 Chapter 3: The Dream of Efficiency in Government
Part II. Reality Checks Chapter 4: Harding's Flagship Program, the US Veterans Bureau Chapter 5: High Stakes: Controlling Veterans Hospitals Chapter 6: Hype, Hooch and the Art of the Con
Part III. Winds of Change Chapter 7: Taking a Friend on a Business Trip West Chapter 8: Harding Resurgent: White House versus Forbes Chapter 9: Transitions in 1923: Forbes's Resignation to Harding's Death
Part IV. Scandal Time Chapter 10: Coolidge, Common Cause and the Politics of Scandal Chapter 11: Rush to Judgment: A Senate Committee Investigates Forbes Chapter 12: Scandal Weavers: Scripting a Story of Rogues, Graft and Greed. Chapter 13: The Trial of Charles R. Forbes
Part V. Aftermath Chapter 14: Making the Best of It Chapter 15: Charlie and Bob, Masks and Mirrors
