Gaston Means
Gaston Bullock Means, also known as Gaston Means, B.
1879 in
Concord, North Carolina D.
1938 in
Leavenworth, Kansas.
Washington, D.C., Personality, F.B.I Agent and Con Artist 1920s â€" 1930s. While not involved in the
Teapot Dome scandal that rocked
Warren G. Harding's Presidential administration, Means is included in those names associated with the
Ohio Gang myth that has overshadowed the accomplishments of Harding in office.
Gaston Means came to
Washington, D.C., under the Bureau of Investigation Administration of Benjamin Burns. Burns was a crony of
Harry M. Daugherty,
Attorney General in the Harding Administration. Burns had employed Means as a detective, and Means demonstrated great skill in not only uncovering the truth, but also as an extortionist. Means was suspended from his government job at the insistence of Daugherty, who was becoming increasingly aware that Means was a loose cannon.
Means often bragged during the era of the Harding Administration that he had been tried for every known crime, including murder, but never found guilty. This included the murder of one Maude King, an elderly widow that Means shot execution style on a walk outside of
Concord, North Carolina. Means was found innocent primarily because of the local outrage that
New York Attorneys were used on behalf of the prosecution staff.
In the late fall of
1922, Means began selling his services to local Washington Bootleggers, guaranteeing that he could "fix" their legal problems with the government. In 1924, following Harding's death, Means was called to testify against
Harry M. Daugherty during Congressional hearings that explored the
Justice Departments role in failing to oversee their duties under the
Volstead Act.
Means was indicted for
perjury and tried before a jury. During his testimony, Means' implicated the late President and Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon as being part of the cover up regarding the illegal issuance of liquor permits. Unable to support his own counter charges, and unable to convince the jury of his innocence, Means was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to two years in a Federal prison.
Means ultimate con was the "writing" of
The Strange Death of President Harding, in which Means provided the scenario that exposed Harding as being complicit in all of the scandals of the administration. The book captured the American public's imagination, foremost of which involved the rumors that
First Lady Florence Harding conspired to kill the President along with help from the Harding's personal physician,
Charles E. Sawyer. However in a
1933 edition of
Liberty Magazine Means "authorship" was exposed when Mae Dixon Thacker (a part-time tabloid journalist) stepped forward announcing that not only had she had ghosted the book for Means, but also that Means had bilked her out of her share of the books profits.
Means final flirtation with America was in
1932, when he convinced Harding friend and confident
Evalyn Walsh McLean, owner of the
Hope Diamond, that he knew the whereabouts of the
Lindbergh baby. McLean advanced Means the sum of $100,000 which he had promised would afford access to the kidnappers. Means disappeared with the money, only to turn up in California months later, and wired another request to McLean for an additional $150,000, which, like before he said would guarantee the release of the missing child. McLean, a noted spendthrift herself, contacted police and Means was captured. When this con game was exposed, Means was found guilty of larceny and sentenced to fifteen years. Assigned to the Federal Penitentiary in
Leavenworth, Kansas, Gaston B. Means died while in custody in
1938.
* Mee, Charles Jr.
The Ohio Gang: A Historical Entertainment.
* Dean, John; Schlesinger, Arthur M.
Warren Harding (The American President Series), Times Books, 2004.
* Ferrell, Robert H.
The Strange Deaths of President Harding. University of Missouri Press, 1996.
