That is having very devastating and bad influences upon our economy upon the morale of morals, of our people, and upon politics and government. And thanks for joining us for congress investigates an American History tv series looking back at historic and significant congressional hearings this week. Our focus is organized crime. Well, it was in the early 1950s that democrat senator Estes Kefauver of tennessee and his special committee in interrogated major organized crime figures like Frank Costello. The hearings held over a series of months, had 600 witnesses and went to 14 cities. Many americans learned details about organized crime for the first time in 1951. 12 million us households had tvs and this became a major and Early Television event. The hearings also made Estes Kefauver a household name and helped fuel his political career. Here to talk about the work of the Kefauver Committee is daniel holt, associate u. S. Historian. Mr. Holt, thanks for being with us. The official name of the key flavor committee was the United StatesSenate Special committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce in the early 1950s. How ingrained was organized crime into the American Business framework . So yeah. The senate or the American People were certainly not new to the idea of organized crime in the early 1950s. There had been, you know, very high profile criminal investigations in the 1930s, going back into the 1920s. And, you know, the kinds of criminal syndicates that grew up in the you know, in the wake of prohibition and bootlegging. There were, you know, famous gangsters of the 1930s, like bonnie and clyde. But by the 1940s and after the war, i think there was definitely a change in scale and scope of these organized crime, criminal activities. Part of it was a matter of the postwar boom. There was a lot of additional money in peoples pockets and that kind of thing could certainly feed into, you know, demand for gambling. And that was one of the, you know, kefauver concludes that this interstate gambling carried on over telegraph and telephone is kind of the backbone o organized crime in the country during this period. And its pretty clear from the committees work that this is a problem all over the country in cities big and small. And people are very concerned about it. And there is a growing demand by the late 1940s that the federal government begin to take steps to address it. What was the impact of the televised hearings . It really was a public sensation. As you mentioned. It certainly helped that in the year before the committee began its work that Television Ownership had begun to expand. So there were just more tvs out there. It also, you know, they they televisethis mostly during the day. There wasnt a lot of program for these Television Networks during the day. So while they did, you know, sacrifice some some revenue in order to, you know, take away from their commercial programing to have the the the hearings televised during the day, they didnt have a lot of competition. So when people started to to learn that these proceedings were going to be on tv, they attracted a huge audience. And that audience grew as the committees work went on and on. It got so popular that even folks who didnt have tvs could nd their way to watching them because some moe eaters essentially converted their theaters to project the the live proceedings from television. There had been newsreel footage shown in movie theaters for some years before this, but this was really the first time that the entire countrys attention was focused on a congressional proceeding like this. Dan holt, tell us more about senator kefauver and why he took this issue up. Senator kefauver was definitely a rising star in american politics in the late 1940s. He had a successful career as a lawyer in chattanooga, tennessee, ran for the house of representatives and served there for five terms. In 1948. He ran in the primary, in the democratic primary in tennessee, and was and was elected over the objections of tennessees Democratic Political boss, named e. H. Crump, who had kind of been running the show there for a decades. At that point. And to win the democratic primary in 1948, meant to essentially be assured of victory in the general election over the republican and later on, he entered the senate in 1949, then with a reputation as being an up and coming liberal and for his part, looking for a major issue that he could dive into that would help increase his his National Reputation at that time. How was the committee created . The committee was almost not created and it took quite a bit of pull political maneuvering for it to happen. Senator kefauver, in january of 1950 introduced a resolution that would have allowed the Senate Judiciary committee, presumably under his chairmanship, to essentially create a subcommittee that would have done this investigation into organized crime on democrats in the senate were not very excited about doing this. Organized crime was generally considered to be a an urban problem around the country. And democratic politicians were typically the ones who were in charge in in the major cities around the United States. The Truman Administration was already kind of entering an embattled period, and truman himself had come to political success in kansas city, missouri, under the the watch of a entrenched Democratic Political machine. So there was this idea that this this hearing was going to not reflect well on democrats around the country. And this was something that would have to be controlled. So within his party, there was folks who werent interested in this. On the flip side, Senate Republicans wanted to make sure that they could get involved in this because they saw this as a potential issue for them to run on in the 1950 midterm elections. And then in the following elections. And so there was a rival proposal to have a committee, the congress committee, run this investigation, ultimately through lots of negotiation. Senate democratic leadership came up with the idea of creating a special committee that would be appointed by the Vice President , alvin barkley, and that then the membership could be both republican and democrat. And maybe this would make everyone happy, essentially, and give senator kefauver his ability to lead the committee, investigate and as he had planned. Now, dan holt, you indicate that senator kefauver was looking for an issue to give him national exposure. Did he care about organized crime at that point . I think he did sincerely. I think it was it was a combination of being interested in and taking on an issue. But i also believe there was a sincere interest on his part in tackling this issue. As i sort of mentioned earlier, in the late 1940s, the issue was started to get more and more public attention around the country. You had state and local Crime Commissions that were doing their own investigating at the local level. And you had an Organization Called the American Municipal Association and its leader was at that time the mayor of new orleans. And he called on the federal government to do some kind of action to to really address this problem. There was not it wasnt clear that the Truman Administration was willing to do this initially. In february of 1950, of the attorney general Howard Mcgrath organizes a conference on crime and truman makes some statements there announcing that the federal government is going to take this seriously. But i think there was a real opening here for the legislative branch to take the lead based on frustration that there hadnt been more activity by the fbi or the Truman Administration. And i think i think chief farber believed that sincerely that this was an opportunity to do some good. So we had senator kefauver, the other democrat ites were Herbert Oconnor of maryland and lester hunt of wyoming. The two republicans, Alexander Wiley of wisconsin, and Charles Tobey of new hampshire, just five members. That seems awfully small in todays numbers. Yes. Yes. And in some cases, you know, because there was so much travel involved, sometimes the hearings were not held with all five of those members. Sometimes it was just one member. They would essentially travel to a city and kefauver would sit as the calling himself a subcommittee of one. Its interesting because those five really worked ultimately, they worked well together. The two republicans were the ranking members of the house. Im sorry, of the Senate Judiciary committee and the the Commerce Committee and so they had a personal stake in this, as i said earlier, because they were looking for an issue that they could campaign on. Hunt and oconnor had been former governors, and they had been in the senate since the late 1930s. And i think all five of them took the job very seriously. And were, you know, for something that became quite sensational. I think they comported themselves with a certain level of seriousness and diligence that even though there was only the five of them, it was a you know, it was a good group to lead this investigation. Dan holt, when did the committee disband . Kefauver stepped down in may of 1951. So almost a complete year from when the committee began in may of 1950. Chief kefauver thought that the committee had done its job and was willing to essentially wrap up operations at that point. But the other members wanted to continue. They believed that there was more work to do, and maybe also as as you kind of suggested, maybe they did not want to necessarily get rid of the public platform that they had developed over that previous year. And so there was a an interim report that came out in may of 1951 that that summarized key favors, general contributions and conclusions, and then an additional report came out in september of 1951, and thats when the committee formally ended its its operations. Well, as we mentioned, millions of americans watched these live hearings on tv and the interest really spiked when the committee went to new york city. Heres some newsreel coverage of that. In a setting reminiscent of a hollywood production, the Senate Crime Committee headed by senator kefauver, senators tobey and oconnor, an attorney, halley becomes the sensation of the country. Frank ericksen, big time bookmakers, someone from jail where hes serving a two year sentence is the person, station maker, senator keefe. All very hearing. The lawbreaker refused to answer the attorneys. Simple question. Thats always we gotta you mr. Schumer i business is in jail why go back and prior to being convicted subject has been a judge on the grounds and i appreciate i another alleged underworld leader jordan is continues the defiance of the committee with stubborn determination and almost categorical contempt. I answer on this account with any other i declined to answer and to say what i in the hearing room in new yorks federal Court Building is crowded when Virginia Hill hauser, the fabulous sweetheart of the slain bugsy siegel, notorious underworld figure, answers her subpoena unfolding in blandest manner. Revelations that set the nation wandering. Do you ever get any money from any other person whom we might call a gangster rather than they got no. Did you ever get any money from cocktail allowed . No. And did you ever get any money from meyer lansky . I never got money from any of those that i know about. None of those fellas. None of the none of these that ive been reading about. None that i knew. They never gave me anything. None of. Of you . No. I dont even speak to that. I mean, i met that charlie once or twice. I dont even talk to him yet. I like him. No. You still about the horse racing . The only thing now, i wouldnt. I dont bet anything now im afraid ill win. And then theyll say, i made more money than i did. I dont know. You mean you just dont want to win anymore . I dont want any more leaving the hearing. The brunet beauty is in a temper while waiting for her car, giving a performance that discloses shes not at all pleased, but her serenity is restored as she exits. The crime hearings biggest sensation comes from Frank Costello, reputed king of the underworld. He provides a startling bit of dramatic reality. Woman mr. Costello, deal with bad. It testimony all about the fact that maclachlan yesterday now the mr. Harry order is back which i have an awful lot of respect for. Im not going to answer another question. Youre just because im not under arrest and im going to walk out now, i, i should explain here exactly what the legal situation is. You are under the container and if i die, i form the chairman, instruct you to remain and ask the question. You are thereby become guilty of contempt of that senate committee. I in just a minute, mr. Wells just asked about it. Mr. Costello, you dont mean that i will use every resource in our command to see that hes brought to contempt and that he was arrested by the United States senate. Action worthy of gromyko, the alleged crime king dares the nations highest elected body to do its worst. So, dan holt, we were watching some newsreel coverage of the Kefauver Committee in new york city who were some of the major crime figures in that city at the time. So the most important one that they were able to bring in for questioning was Frank Costello. He had been a reputed mob figure going back into the 1920s and through the 1930s and forties, connected with the the Crime Syndicate associated with meyer lansky and and folks like that in new york. He was connected to organized gambling, but also had in his in his past things like extortion in and bribery and of connections to to murder and those kinds of things to get him in front of the cameras was a bit of a challenge. And but he was one of the main figures that that really brought attention to those new york hearings, along with other mobsters from the time by one by the name of anastasia. Last name anastasia, who was essentially charge in charge of the ne york waterfroought to be the inspiration behind the Marlon Brando film on the waterfront. Later that decade, would you call Frank Costello an obstinate witness, unwilling witness, yeah. So this was a major problem for a lot of the investigations, for a lot of the public hearings, when members who had known criminal backgrounds decided that they would take the fifth amendment right to not incriminate themselves. And sometimes that was a great deal of the televise hearings as well. Costello did show up with the and did say that he would testify initially. He didnt want to be shown by the television cameras, however, and so i think it was between his first day in front of those cames, there was an agreement that the camera would only focus on his his body and his hands and in some ways, those hands became the most iconic element of this entire hearings as the camera watched him fidget and sweat. And he was playing with like little pieces of paper with his hands. And he seemed very fidgety and tense, even as his his comportment tried to not let that on. Ultimately, he was did go on camera with his face shown, but at one point, he he showed up and claimed that he was not feeling well and he didnt want to he wasnt going to testify. And he got up and left in the middle of the of the questioning again came back and did answer some questions. But it was not an easy process to get him there and to get him to speak on camera. Dan holt, what about you talked about political connection with new york city mayor. At the time, William Odwyer had a role in these hearings. What was it . Right. So one of the key goals that chief oliver established for this committee was to not just understand the criminal element in these cities, but to understand their political connections and the extent to which local crime, local Law Enforcement, was either not addressing the problem or wouldnt address the problem because of their connections with organized crime. Former mayor of new york William Odwyer, initially connected with the committee and and provided them with a lot of information talking about his experiences in fighting crime in new york city during his time there at the time of the Committee Hearings, he was actually ambassador to mexico and he came back from that assignment to sty on camera. But when chief oliver turned to questioning odwyer, it wasnt to praise him for all the work that he had done. It was to question the ways in which he had not taken steps to deal with the gambling problem. In new york city, the people that he was connected to that prevented him from actually bringing people to justice and to allowing a lot of these these criminal elements to largely act unchecked in the city over the time when he was in charge now there was a bit of sideshow lurid tests emanate from rginia hill, who was a Virginia Hill had been an associate of the famed gangster bugsy siegel, which people might remember. He was one of the Main Investors and creators of the Flamingo Hotel in nevada at the las vegas, nevada. She was connected with a host of other connect