Month: October 2024

Eric Dezenhall rates Harry Truman as a leader who “would not have been president without the Mob” for his involvement with the Kansas City political machine, which was heavily influenced by organized crime. In this photo taken in the late 1930s, Senator Truman, right, examines revolvers with then Vice-President John Nance Garner. Library of Congress

Author explores ties between mobsters and U.S. presidents

Posted on by James Riter

On a hot summer day in the early 1980s, Eric Dezenhall, then in his 20s and working in President Ronald…

Charles “Lucky” Luciano, well known by his facial scars and drooping eye, was abducted by assailants who left him for dead. This 1931 mugshot shows the slight disfigurements he received. Cipollini Collection

Charles Luciano survived ‘gang ride’ 95 years ago

Posted on by James Riter

With unseasonably warm weather for a mid-October evening, Officer Henry A. Blanke dropped the convertible top of his Ford patrol…

On March 14, 1891, a lynch mob stormed the Orleans Parish Prison and murdered 11 Italians prisoners held in relation to the assassination of Chief of Police David Hennessy. The outrage that followed from the Italian American community contributed to the first Columbus Day.

Columbus Day and its ‘Mafia’ origins

Posted on by James Riter

On July 21, 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that Friday, October 21st, would be a celebration of the 400th anniversary…