When New York Governor Thomas Dewey commuted the sentence of imprisoned Mafia boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano 80 years ago, it was widely described as an act of wartime necessity. For Luciano, it proved to be a life sentence of a different kind. Dewey’s rise to national prominence began in 1935. New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Governor Herbert Lehman backed the creation of a special prosecutor’s office to confront racketeering and political corruption that conventional law enforcement had failed to contain. Dewey — young, disciplined and relentlessly visible — fit the moment perfectly. LaGuardia valued Dewey’s independence and understood the political dividends of ...