Chapter . . . . . 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gambling in Cuba
I
n January 1950, Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver introduced a congressional resolution calling for a formal investigation into the network of organized crime in the United States. Kefauver was responding in part to an appeal made by the mayors of New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Portland for federal intercession to expose and combat syndicated crime. The American Municipal Association had expressed the mayors’ concerns to the U.S. Department of Justice in December 1949, claiming that “the problem is too massive to be dealt with solely by local authorities; organized crime elements operate across state borders, on a national scale.” The U.S. attorney general seemed to confirm the gravity of the situation and the validity of the association’s claim by sponsoring a conference on organized crime. On the basis of these developments, the Senate created a committee to investigate and formulate recommendations for dealing with organized crime. In 1950 and 1951, the committee held hearings in Washington, D.C.; Tampa; Miami; New York; Cleveland; St. Louis; Kansas City; New Orleans; Chicago; Detroit; Philadelphia; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and San Francisco. More than eight hundred sworn witnesses contributed thousands of pages of testimony subsequently published in a dozen volumes. Public interest in the matter was heightened considerably when the committee’s New York hearings were televised, reaching an estimated audience of 20 to 30 million viewers despite the fact that television was still a relatively new medium.1 To ensure that the committee’s conclusions would not contradict his ideas and outlook, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), Harry J. Anslinger, saw to it that the committee staff included several FBN agents, who arranged for dozens of drug addicts to testify anonymously.2 The Internal Revenue Service also provided the committee with information about the activities of alleged criminals.3 Although the committee was charged with investigating the full spectrum of syndicated crime in the United States, it
