Charles Keating

Here is a full, detailed biography of Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. (1923 – 2014), the American lawyer, financier, and controversial figure at the center of one of the most infamous financial scandals in U.S. history.

Charles Keating – Life, Career, and the “Keating Five” Scandal

Explore the life, career, controversies, and legacy of Charles Keating Jr. (1923–2014), American lawyer-turned-financier whose fall from grace in the 1980s became synonymous with the savings-and-loan crisis.

Introduction

Charles H. Keating Jr. was a multifaceted and polarizing figure: a successful lawyer, a real-estate developer, a crusader against pornography, and ultimately the central character in a high-profile financial collapse known as the the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal or the “Keating Five” affair. His rise and fall illustrate themes of ambition, regulatory failure, political influence, and the sometimes thin line between business growth and fraud.

Early Life, Education & Swimming

Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. was born on December 4, 1923 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family; his parents were Adele (née Kipp) and Charles Humphrey Keating Sr. His father suffered from Parkinson’s disease starting in the early 1930s and passed away in 1964.

Keating’s youth was distinguished by athletic success. He swam competitively throughout high school and college. At St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, he excelled in swimming, track, and football.

During World War II, he left college to enlist in the U.S. Navy Air Corps, training as a carrier-based pilot though he did not serve in combat. After the war, he resumed his studies under a deal that allowed him credit for military service, attended the University of Cincinnati, and later earned his law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1948.

His swimming prowess did not fade: in 1946, he won the 200-yard breaststroke in NCAA competition. His legacy in aquatic sports continues; in later life he supported swimming through major philanthropic contributions, and parts of the University of Cincinnati’s aquatic facilities bear the Keating name.

Legal Career, Anti-Pornography Activism, and Business Beginnings

After law school, Keating joined a corporate law firm and also did legal work for the FBI in some capacities. In 1952, he and his brother William, along with a colleague, founded the firm Keating, Muething & Klekamp in Cincinnati. Over time, corporate clients became central to the firm’s work.

From the late 1950s onward, Keating became active in cultural morality campaigns, especially anti-pornography movements. He founded Citizens for Decent Literature (later Citizens for Decency through Law), which grew into a large network with chapters across the U.S. and filed amicus curiae briefs in Supreme Court cases on obscenity. In 1969, Keating was appointed to the President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, and was a vocal dissenting voice in that commission’s final report.

Parallel to these activities, Keating gradually shifted toward business and real estate. One of his earliest large clients was Carl Lindner Jr., whose companies had diversified holdings. In 1960, Keating and Lindner launched American Financial Corporation, a holding structure that organized Lindner’s growing enterprises, and Keating joined its board in 1963.

By the mid-1970s, regulatory and legal pressure against American Financial had intensified. Stockholder lawsuits and SEC investigations arose, especially over unsecured loans and accounting practices. Keating resigned from American Financial in 1976 and relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, where he was appointed to run American Continental Homes, a faltering homebuilding business.

The Lincoln Savings & Loan Collapse and the Keating Five

Expansion & Risky Operations

In 1984, Keating’s American Continental Corporation acquired Lincoln Savings & Loan Association, based in Irvine, California. During the 1980s, deregulation of savings and loan institutions allowed more speculative investments and risk-taking. Keating aggressively expanded Lincoln’s asset base, moving into higher-risk securities and real estate ventures.

Between 1984 and 1988, Lincoln’s reported assets ballooned from about $1.1 billion to $5.5 billion. But regulators flagged unreported losses and violations: by 1986, unreported losses of $135 million were found, and Lincoln had exceeded direct investment limits by hundreds of millions.

Political Influence: The “Keating Five”

As Lincoln’s financial position became precarious, Keating used political influence to attempt to shield his operations. He contributed heavily to political campaigns and sought help from U.S. senators.

Five U.S. senators—Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, John Glenn, Donald Riegle, and John McCain—met with regulators at Keating’s request. These interactions came under intense scrutiny as possibly unethical pressure applied to banking regulators. The affair came to be known as the Keating Five scandal.

Senate ethics investigations later reprimanded some of the senators to varying degrees; the political fallout was significant.

Collapse & Legal Fallout

By late 1988, regulators had ordered Lincoln to stop transferring cash to parent company American Continental, which undermined the parent’s liquidity and triggered a crash in stock price. In April 1989, American Continental declared bankruptcy, and Lincoln was seized by federal regulators. Approximately 23,000 depositors were left holding worthless bonds.

The federal government’s cost to cover insured liabilities to Lincoln’s depositors exceeded $3 billion. Keating was soon indicted on numerous counts—including fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy.

In 1991, he was convicted in California state court on 17 counts and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 1993, he was convicted in federal court on 73 counts of similar charges, receiving a 12-year sentence, along with an order to pay $122 million in restitution.

However, in 1996 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the state conviction based on errors in jury instructions, and also vacated the federal conviction on grounds of prejudicial mixing of state and federal matters. By then, Keating had served about four and a half years in prison.

In 1999, Keating entered a plea deal on a limited set of charges (wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud), admitting extracting nearly $1 million from American Continental while anticipating its collapse. He was credited with time served and released.

Personal Life, Later Years, and Death

In 1949, Keating married Mary Elaine Fette, with whom he had six children: Kathleen, Mary, Maureen, Elaine, Elizabeth, and Charles Keating III. His children and grandchildren have been notable in swimming and military service.

After his legal troubles, Keating lived a more subdued life. He moved in with his daughter Mary in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Though he remained involved in some real estate ventures, he mostly avoided public attention.

Charles Keating died on March 31, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona, at age 90.

Legacy and Significance

Charles Keating’s life and downfall stand as a cautionary tale about the interplay of deregulation, political influence, corporate risk, and ethics:

• The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, in which thousands of U.S. savings institutions failed, is often traced in part to abuses by operators such as Keating.

• His case helped stimulate debates over financial regulation, the oversight of depository institutions, and the accountability of political figures.

• The Keating Five episode remains a prominent case study in political ethics — illustrating when elected officials may overstep boundaries in dealing with regulators.

• Although his convictions were largely overturned, the perception of wrongdoing left a durable mark on his public reputation.

• In popular culture, Keating has appeared (as a character) in works such as The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), where he was portrayed by actor James Cromwell.

His legacy is deeply ambivalent: a man of ambition and influence whose business acumen was overshadowed by legal and moral collapse.

If you’d like, I can also compile a timeline of major events in his life, key lessons from the scandal, or suggest further reading. Would you like me to do that?