Giancana, Sam and Chuck. Double Cross: The Explosive, Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America. New York: Warner Books, 1992. 366 pages.
The dust jacket of this bestseller claims that this is "the first book to solve -- finally -- the sensational, hitherto unsolved mysteries behind the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Marilyn Monroe." Yes, the book is sensational. Yes, Chuck Giancana, the younger brother of "Mooney" Sam, spent his career at Mooney's side and was privy to his secrets. But no, there's nothing to work with apart from Chuck's recollections of Mooney's occasional blustering -- over a span of five decades -- about how he had ex-bootlegger Joseph P. Kennedy in his pocket, had worked with the CIA on secret missions in Cuba, the Vatican, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, and had helped arrange the deaths of MM, JFK, and RFK.The authors note that "too many important political revelations have gone unnoticed by the U.S. reader due to tedious journalistic research, which results, unfortunately, in tedious reading. Instead, the subject of Sam Giancana's life has been approached with every attempt to engage the reader -- to tell a good story -- while maintaining historical accuracy." But while it's true that neither Mafia bravado nor CIA subversion lend themselves to the footnoting that scholars and mainstream journalists demand, what this means, ultimately, is that we're still left looking for the corroboration that might help us rewrite our history.
Lacey, Robert. Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life. London: Century, 1991. 547 pages.
This biography of Meyer Lansky (1902-1983), believe it or not, is fundamentally sympathetic. Author Robert Lacey grew close to Lansky's frail son Buddy before Buddy's death in 1989, and admits that two years earlier, on his first research trip to Israel, the evil genius he had been pursuing was failing to materialize. Lacey had discovered uncensored U.S. documents which had been furnished by the U.S. in 1971 to help Israel consider Lansky's petition for citizenship."The documents left no doubt that the man was a crook, that he had made his living on the wrong side of the law, that he knowingly consorted with men of violence -- that he was a gangster. But here was no Satan. Meyer Lansky had not dealt in drugs -- or prostitution or loan-sharking or stolen property. He had not been a director of Murder, Inc., killing or ordering hits to contract. He was not the head of a shadowy underworld corporation, laundering money and infiltrating legitimate business. It was remarkable, in fact, looking at the evidence, what Meyer Lansky had NOT done. There was nothing here to sustain the notion of Lansky as king of all evil, the brains, the secret mover, the inspirer and controller of American organized crime -- the man whom I had set out to write a book about." (p.442)
Messick, Hank. Lansky. London: Robert Hale & Company, 1973. 286 pages.
When the U.S. edition of this book was published in early 1971, Meyer Lansky was living quietly in Tel Aviv. Journalists there suddenly became interested, and following a Hebrew edition of this book, public opinion forced the government of Israel to deny citizenship to Lansky under the Law of Return. This biography of Lansky portrays him as chairman of the board of the international syndicate. It was Lansky who set up Carlos Marcello in New Orleans, who gave orders to Santo Trafficante, and who cooperated with Paul Ricca, the man behind "publicity hound" Sam Giancana.Hank Messick's many books on organized crime are widely respected. In 1965 he was hired by the Miami Herald for a series on Meyer Lansky, and his first book, The Silent Syndicate (1967), reported on crime and gambling in Kentucky and Ohio. Messick makes a distinction between the syndicate and the Mafia. The former is international and multicultural, and often includes the latter as a subset. But beginning with the Joseph Valachi hearings in 1963 and J. Edgar Hoover's "La Cosa Nostra" hype, the Mafia got all the attention while Lansky was left alone. Messick was the first to hint at the reason for this: Hoover had been compromised by Lansky, as Anthony Summers recently confirmed in "Official and Confidential" (1993). This debate is significant today for assassination theorists, because most "Mafia did it" authors still give Lansky a mere footnote or two at best.
Ragano, Frank and Raab, Selwyn. Mob Lawyer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994. 372 pages.
Just when the controversy over Oliver Stone's movie "JFK" was at its height, mob lawyer Frank Ragano, in an interview with Jack Newfield (New York Post, 1/14/92), confessed that in early 1963 he carried a message from Jimmy Hoffa to Santo Trafficante and Carlos Marcello to take out the President. Those who believe that the Mafia was responsible felt that this was a major breakthrough. Stone himself, while noting that the Mafia and CIA worked hand in hand, insisted that some aspects of the cover-up (the autopsy photos and the Warren Commission, for example) convinced him of non-Mafia involvement. And it's curious that every time a loose spotlight flashes on the CIA, the media start feeding us articles and books about how Oswald acted alone (Plan A) or how the Mafia did it alone (Plan B); only kooks and buffs believe otherwise. By now both A and B are non-threatening: all the players are dead and the mob in America is history. So pick one or the other, but Plan CIA is still off-limits. The owners of our major media know that too many threatening secrets are still buried in the vaults at Langley. Ragano's autobiography is valuable, and it makes a case for Mafia involvement because there's no strong reason to doubt him. But he was not involved with the CIA during his career, and Hoffa and Trafficante didn't tell him more than he needed to know. In the end Ragano merely adds one very small piece to a much larger puzzle. -- D.BrandtHere are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ABRAMS HYMAN ACCARDO ANTHONY ADAMS TOM (FLORIDA) ADONIS JOE AGRANAT SHIMON AHEARN DANIEL FRANCIS ALDERISIO FELIX A (MILWAUKEE PHIL) ALDERMAN WILLIE ISRAEL (ICEPICK WILLIE) ALEX GUS ALI ANGELO ALO VINCENT (JIMMY BLUE EYES) ALONI YAAKOV ALROY YORAM AMATO JOSEPH ANASTASIA ALBERT ANDRETTA THOMAS (MAFIA) ANNENBERG MOSES L ANSLINGER HARRY J ARMSTRONG JERRIS ARVEY JAKE BACH GABRIEL BAKER BOBBY (ROBERT GENE) BANISTER W GUY BANK MIAMI BEACH BANK WORLD COMMERCE BARBARA JOSEPH M BARRETT JOHN (MAFIA) BARRON CHARLES (BABE) BATISTA FULGENCIO BATTAGLIA SAM (TEETS) BAUM JOSEPH BAUTZER GREG BECK DAVE (TEAMSTERS) BECKLEY GILBERT LEE BEDAMI JOE BELLI MELVIN M BENNETT HARRY BERKOVITCH LEO BERMAN CHICKIE BERMAN DAVE BERNS HENDRIK J BINION BENNY BIOFF WILLIE BLACKBURN ED BLAKEY G ROBERT BLANCHE BOBBY BLATT GERSON BLOOM SAM BONANNO JOSEPH BORK ROBERT H BOUDIN LEONARD B BRENNAN OWEN BERT BRIGUGLIO GABRIEL BRIGUGLIO SALVATORE (SALLY BUGS) BRONFMAN SAMUEL BROOK HARRY (MAFIA) BROWN OSSIE BRUDNER CHARLES BRUNO VINCENT BUCHALTER LOUIS (LEPKE) BUFALINO WILLIAM E BURG YOSEF BURKE JAMES (JIMMY THE GENT) CABELL CHARLES PEARRE CAIFANO LEONARD CAIFANO MARSHALL CAIN RICHARD CAMPAGNA LOUIS CAMPBELL R.J. (JUSTICE DEPT) CANN KID CANOVA FRANK CAPONE AL CARFANO ANTHONY (LITTLE AUGIE) CASTRO FIDEL CASTRO RAUL (BROTHER OF FIDEL) CATENA GERARDO CELLINI DINO CELLINI EDDIE CHAVEZ FRANK (JIMMY HOFFA AIDE) CHESLER LOU ARTHUR CHOTINER MURRAY M CITRON MOSES CIVELLO JOSEPH FRANCIS CLARK TOM C CLARK WALTER (SHERIFF) CLARK WILBUR COHEN BEN (MAFIA) COHEN MICKEY COHEN SAM (MAFIA) COHN HARRY COLOMBO JOSEPH COLSON CHARLES WENDELL CONRAD HAROLD COPPOLA ANTHONY COPPOLA MIKE CORNFELD BERNIE COSTELLO FRANK COURTNEY MAX CROSSWELL EDGAR DALITZ MOE B (MORRIS) DAMATO PAUL EMILIO (SKINNY) DAN URI DAVIS DIXIE DAVIS HARDING DAVIS SAMMY JR DE MOHRENSCHILDT GEORGE S DEFEO MICHAEL A DELFINE JOSEPH D DEMPSEY BERNARD DERMER JAY DEVINE IDA DEVINE IRVING (NIG) DEWEY THOMAS E DIAMOND LEGS DICKINSON ANGIE DOCKWEILER JOHN DODGE WILLIAM C DONN JAMES DORFMAN ALLEN M DORFMAN PAUL J DOUGLAS WILLIAM O DRAGNA JACK I DRANOW BENJAMIN DULLES ALLEN WELSH DUNN JOHNNY (COCKEYE) DUVALIER FRANCOIS (PAPA DOC) DWYER WILLIAM (BIG BILL) EDELSTEIN BENJAMIN EDER MAX EISEN BEN C ENGLISH CHARLES (CHUCKIE) ENTRATTER JACK EPSTEIN JOE (MAFIA) ERBE CARL ERICKSON FRANK ESPOSITO DIAMOND JOE EXCHANGE INVESTMENT BANK EXNER JUDITH CAMPBELL FELDMAN IRVING FERDMANN SYLVAIN FERRIE DAVID WILLIAM FISCHETTI JOE FITZSIMMONS FRANK EDWARD FITZSIMMONS RICHARD FOLEY ROGER FRATES WILLIAM GAINES BEN GAMBINO CARLO GARCIA EVARISTO GARFIELD SAM GARRISON JIM (NEW ORLEANS) GENOVESE VITO GENTILE NICOLA GIACALONE ANTHONY (TONY JACK) GIANCANA CHUCK GIANCANA SAM GIBBONS HAROLD J GIGANTE VINCENT (THE CHIN) GIOE CHARLES (CHERRY NOSE) GLIMCO JOSEPH GONZALEZ RAUL GORDON WAXEY GREEN DAVID (SGT) GREENBAUM GUS (AUGUSTUS BERTRAND) GREENBERG HARRY (BIG GREENIE) GREENWALD RICHARD GROVES WALLACE (MEYER LANSKY ASSOCIATE) GURFEIN MURRAY IRWIN GUZIK JAKE (GREASY THUMB) HAFFENDEN CHARLES RADCLIFFE (RED) HAGGERTY JAMES (LAWYER) HAIM IRVING HALE DAVID (FBI) HALL WENDELL HALLEY RUDOLPH HARTFORD HUNTINGTON HARTNET ED HENTEL NAT HERLANDS WILLIAM B HICKS MARION HILL HENRY (MAFIA) HILL RALPH (FBI) HILL VIRGINIA HOFFA JIMMY (JAMES RIDDLE) HOGAN FRANK S HOOVER J EDGAR HUGHES HOWARD R HUMPHREYS MURRAY (THE CAMEL) HUNT SAM GOLFBAG INTERNATIONAL CREDIT BANK INVESTORS OVERSEAS SERVICES JAFFE RICHARD E JAMES WILLIAM (JUSTICE DEPT) JOHNSON DAVID (TEAMSTERS) JOHNSON LYNDON BAINES JONES CLIFFORD A JONES PAUL ROLAND JOSEPH RAYMOND KASTEL PHIL (DANDY) KATZENBERG JACOB (YASHA) KAUFMAN JULIAN (POTATOES) KEFAUVER ESTES (D-TN) KENNEDY JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY JOSEPH PATRICK KENNEDY ROBERT FRANCIS KENNELLY THOMAS KING GERARD KIRK CLAUDE ROY JR KLEINMAN MORRIS KNOHL LARRY KOVOLICK PHIL (THE STICK) LA GUARDIA FIORELLO LANSBURGH MORRIS S LANSKY JAKE (JACK) LANSKY MEYER LANSKY PAUL LANZA JOSEPH (SOCKS) LASCARI MIKE LAWFORD PETER LAZIA JOHN LETENDRE JOHN F (BIG JACK) LEVINE RED (SAM) LEVINSON EDWARD LINSEY JOSEPH LONG HUEY P LONGO JIMMIE LOWER HENRY LUCCHESE TOMMY (THREE-FINGER BROWN) LUCIANO LUCKY (CHARLES) LUDWIG DANIEL KEITH MADDEN OWNEY MAHER DANIEL MAHEU ROBERT AIME MALNIK ALVIN MANGANO VINCENT MARANZANO SALVATORE MARCELLO CARLOS MARCH KEVIN MARDEN BEN MARY CARTER PAINT COMPANY MASSERIA GIUSEPPE (JOE THE BOSS) MCCLELLAN JOHN L (D-AR) MCGUIRE PHYLLIS MCLANEY MICHAEL J MCMILLAN DOUGALD D MCWILLIE LEWIS J MEIR GOLDA MESSICK HANK MILANO FRANK MONROE MARILYN MORGENTHAU ROBERT MORRIS NAPOLITANO DOMINICK (SONNY BLACK) NEAL JAMES F NICOLETTI CHARLES NITTI FRANK NIXON RICHARD MILHOUS NOVACK BEN OBRIEN CHARLES (CHUCKIE) OROVITZ MAX OSBORNE Z TOMMY OSWALD LEE HARVEY PARTIN EDWARD GRADY PARVIN ALBERT PATRICK LENNY PELOQUIN ROBERT DOLAN PENDERGAST TOM J PERRONE JOE (TRAFFICANTE AIDE) PETERS DAN (DUSTY) PISTONE JOSEPH D POLAKOFF MOSES POLLER LOU PRIO SOCARRAS CARLOS PROFACI JOSEPH PROVENZANO ANTHONY (TONY PRO) PULLMAN JOHN RAFT GEORGE RAGANO FRANK REBOZO CHARLES G (BEBE) RELES ABE (KID TWIST) RESORTS INTERNATIONAL RICCA PAUL (THE WAITER) RIVERS JOE RIZZO SALVATORE (SAM) ROOSEVELT FRANKLIN DELANO ROSEN E DAVID ROSENBAUM TIBOR ROSENSTIEL LEWIS SOLON ROSSELLI JOHN ROTHKOPF LOUIS ROTHMAN NORMAN ROTHSTEIN ARNOLD (THE BRAIN) RUBY JACK SADLO GEORGE SANDS STAFFORD SANN PAUL SAPIRO AARON SCHIFFER JACQUES (JACK) SCHULTZ DUTCH SCOTTI ALFRED J SEDWAY MOE SHAPIRO GURRAH (JAKE) SHEFTEL YORAM SHEINER JOSEPH (YOSKEH) SHERIDAN WALTER SHEVIN ROBERT SIEGEL BENJAMIN (BUGSY) SIGELBAUM BENJAMIN SINATRA FRANK SMATHERS GEORGE A SMITH DANA C SMITH SANDY (REPORTER) SPINDEL BERNARD R STACHER JOSEPH (DOC) STARK HERMAN STRATE ZACHARY A (RED) STROMBERG HARRY STURGIS FRANK A SYMS BILL TANNENBAUM ALBERT (ALLIE) TEAMSTERS UNION TERESA VINCENT (FAT VINNIE) TISCI ANTHONY TOBEY CHARLES W (R-NH) TORRIO JOHNNIE TRAFFICANTE SANTO JR TRUMAN HARRY S TUCKER SAMUEL A TWEEL NICHOLAS J VALACHI JOSEPH M VARON JOSEPH A WALKER JIMMY (NEW YORK MAYOR) WALL CHARLIE WASSELL MEYER (MIKE) WASSERMAN JACK (IMMIGRATION LAWYER) WEBB DEL E WERTHEIMER MERT WHITAKER PAT WILKERSON BILLY (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) WILLIAMS EDWARD BENNETT WILSON WILL R (JOHN MITCHELL AIDE) WINCHELL WALTER WOLF GEORGE WOLFSON LOUIS E YARAS DAVID ZWILLMAN ABNER (LONGY)
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