American organized crime of the 1960s
American organized crime in the 1960s was characterized by the dominance of Italian-American crime families, particularly in major cities like New York and Chicago. Following the repeal of Prohibition, organized crime expanded its activities into gambling, labor racketeering, extortion, and heroin smuggling. Prominent figures of this era included Carlo Gambino, the head of the Gambino family, and Sam Giancana, the Chicago boss known for his connections with the Central Intelligence Agency. The decade was also marked by significant events, such as the testimony of Joe Valachi, which exposed the inner workings of the crime syndicate and broke its code of silence.
Las Vegas became a major hub for organized crime's activities, with many casinos under their management, where practices like "skimming" provided substantial profits. Additionally, the relationship between organized crime and the Teamsters Union came under scrutiny, particularly with the controversial tenure of union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy played a critical role in combating organized crime during this time, pushing for more aggressive investigations and legal actions. The combination of increased law enforcement pressure, key testimonies, and societal changes began to set the stage for the eventual decline of organized crime in subsequent decades.
American organized crime of the 1960s
Large criminal “families” that controlled many legal and illegal activities in New York, Chicago, and other major cities. The 1960’s was a turning point for organized crime because of the large numbers of arrests and extensive negative public exposure.
Origins and History
Organized criminal activity gained a foothold in the United States around 1900. In its early manifestations, organized crime consisted of small extortion, prostitution, and burglary rackets. In 1919, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act, both designed to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, created a new and lucrative business for organized crime. From 1920 to 1933, gangs sprang up in the nation’s major cities to cash in on the bootlegging and speakeasy trade that flourished during Prohibition.
The “Families”
In the early thirties, the Italian gangs in New York broke into five “families.” These families, along with gangs in Chicago and the rest of the country, created a “commission,” a governing board that settled territory and policy disputes. After the repeal of Prohibition, organized crime consolidated and got involved in gambling, labor racketeering, and extortion. In 1950, a Senate investigation of gambling led by Senator Estes Kefauver created sensational television coverage. In 1957, law enforcement officers raided an upstate New York meeting of numerous organized crime bosses from around the country. This incident proved the existence of a national organized crime syndicate and led to congressional and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pressure for its destruction. Organized crime suffered a severe reversal in 1959 when Fidel Castro closed down its lucrative Havana casinos.
During the 1960’s, organized crime concentrated on its well-known rackets of gambling, extortion, and labor racketeering. The New York families also became involved in heroin smuggling. The most powerful organized crime figure in the country during the decade was Carlo Gambino, head of the Gambino family in New York and a powerful voice on the syndicate’s commission. Gambino controlled the New York docks and had investments in pornography and labor unions. Another leading organized crime figure of the 1960’s was Chicago boss Sam Giancana, who led a flamboyant life compared with the reserved Gambino. Giancana became involved with the Central Intelligence Agency in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s in an abortive effort to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Giancana fled the country in 1966 to avoid testifying to a grand jury. Other leading organized crime figures around the country were Nick Civella in Kansas City, who had interests in Las Vegas and the Teamsters Union, Carlos Marcello in New Orleans, Santos Trafacante in Florida, and Jimmy Fratiano in Los Angeles.
Damaging Testimony
One of the events that had the most effect on organized crime during the 1960’s was the testimony of Joe Valachi, a low-level member of the Genovese crime family in New York who had been involved in organized crime since 1931. After he went to prison in 1959 on drug charges, Valachi became convinced that his boss, Vito Genovese, also serving time in prison, had ordered his murder. After killing another inmate who he mistakenly believed was tailing him, Valachi made a deal in which he agreed to testify for the government in investigations of organized crime. Valachi’s testimony before a U.S. Senate committee in September and October, 1963, broke the crime syndicate’s code of silence and revealed many details about the structure of organized crime. His memoirs, The Valachi Papers, were published in 1969, the same year Valachi died of cancer.
Funding the Families
One of organized crime’s most lucrative pursuits during the 1960’s was the management of several Las Vegas casinos. Organized crime had been a part of Las Vegas since 1946 when Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel built the Flamingo hotel and casino. By 1960, the Chicago crime family, called the “Outfit,” controlled the Desert Inn, Stardust, and Riviera casinos. Other crime families were associated with the Sands and the Tropicana hotels. Organized crime would take cash directly from the hotels, a practice called “skimming,” and transport the money back to syndicate headquarters. The skimming of Las Vegas was a significant source of profit for organized crime until newspaper exposure created unwelcome publicity in the mid-1960’s. In 1967, billionaire Howard Hughes moved to Las Vegas and bought out most of the hotels connected with organized crime.
Much of organized crime’s Las Vegas adventure was funded with loans from the Central States Teamsters pension fund. The link between organized crime and the Teamsters union became public in the late 1950’s during Senate hearings on labor racketeering. One target of those hearings was Teamster president, Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa’s election as head of the Teamsters in 1955 led to a running battle with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering and pension fund abuse in 1964. His appeals ran out in 1967, and he served prison time until 1975.
Much of the pressure brought to bear on organized crime during the 1960’s was a result of the efforts of Attorney General Kennedy. Kennedy supported federal investigations of organized crime figures and pursued greater wiretapping authority. Kennedy had been chief counsel to the Senate committee investigating labor racketeering in 1958-1959. As attorney general, he urged the reluctant FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, to give organized crime cases higher priority.
Subsequent Events
Organized crime began a slow steady decline during the 1970’s and 1980’s because of new racketeering laws, wiretaps, and informants. By the mid-1990’s, most organized crime families had either disbanded or were under extreme pressure from law enforcement officials.
Hoffa disappeared soon after his release from prison in 1975. That same year, Giancana, recently returned from Mexico, was murdered in his Chicago home. In the early 1980’s, a “mob war” broke out in Philadelphia after the murder of longtime boss Angelo Bruno. In 1985, many of New York City’s top organized crime figures were arrested in what became known as the “commission case.” A leading figure in the case, Gambino boss Paul Castellano, was killed on the streets of Manhattan in September,1985. All of the other defendants in the commission case were convicted and received long prison sentences. Many Chicago-area organized crime figures were convicted in 1980 of charges stemming from the skimming of the Stardust hotel and casino.
Additional Information
An excellent overview of organized crime is provided in Robert Lacey’s biography of Meyer Lansky, Little Man (1991). Also in 1991, two FBI agents, Joseph O’Brien and Andris Kurins, published Boss of Bosses, the story of the agency’s efforts to convict Gambino boss Castellano.