Robert Todd Lincoln (right) at the dedication of his father’s memorial in 1922, along with Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft (left) and President Warren Harding (center). (Courtesy,…

U.S. Senator Lawrence Sherman of Illinois received a monthly retainer from Samuel Insull, who made the secret payments through Robert Todd Lincoln’s law firm. (Courtesy, Library of Congress)

Charles Dawes (right), the U.S. Vice-President under Calvin Coolidge (left), abused his position as president of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and committed fraud to survive the Chicago banking panic of…

Samuel Insull, the “emperor” of Chicago, controlled a utility empire with assets of $3 billion in depression-era dollars. (Courtesy, Loyola University Chicago Archives)