KEFAUVER COMMITTEE

worth a look

http://www.onewal.com/maf-kef.html

Kefauver launched those hearings because he wanted to rum for the Presidency in 1952--not because he was anti-crime (there were plenty of allegations during his Senate career that he'd taken bribes from various corrupt organizations). Kefauver had the genius to take his subcommittee arund the country--and to have the hearings televised. Those of us (ahem) of a certain age remember the Kefauver hearings because they were televised. They were a sensation: in 1950, they attracted more than 30 million viewers daily--more viewers than there were TV sets in America at the time. Movie theaters, despite their hostility to TV, used to charge people to come in and view the hearings on their big screens.
The most memorable moments came when the committee called Frank Costello, who permitted only his hands to be shown on TV. Asked by the subcommittee counsel if he'd done anything civic-minded in his life, Uncle Frank replied, "I paid my tax." Virginia Hill, Bugsy Siegel's mistress, took the stand, too. Asked by a lascivious-minded subcommittee member how she'd managed to retain the affections of both Siegel and Chicago mob figure Joe Epstein, Hill famously replied: "Haven't you heard? I'm the greatest c**ksucker in America." When the subcommittee finally ended its hearings in '51, Kefauver held a press conference and announced that Abner (Longy) Zwillman, crime boss of Newark, NJ, was the biggest gambling czar in America.
The hearings for the first time alerted millions of Americans that there was such a thing as organized crime, and that it was intimately involved with gambling, especially in Nevada. The hearings led, eventually, to the creation of the Nevada Gaming Commission and the "Black Book." But it took the Valachi hearings in '62 to get the FBI interested in the Mafia.
As for Kefauver, he got nowhere fast in his bid for the Democratic nomination in '52. He did get the Democratic nomination for VP in '56 on Adlai Stevenson's ticket, but they suffered a landslide defeat.

Wow did virginia really say that i bet the commitie shit a brick when they heard that,jesus 30 million viewers i dont think the sopranos ever got that much!

She really did say that, but not on TV. The witnesses had the privilege of deciding whether or not they were willing to be televised, and she declined (wisely). Costello didn't (unwisely, even though only his hands were shown). Needless to say, Chopper, her remark never appeared in the "official" transcript of the Kefauver hearings.
Those hearings were a real phe-nom in those days. There are many stories of how the power of TV absolutely stunned people in the early postwar years. That was one of them.

And don't forget, although Kefauver and McCarthy were great rivals, their careers actually became dependent on one another. While one was going on and on about a "national crime syndicate," the other was investigating little old ladies for being a part of the "red menace." They fueled a paranoia in America, the likes of which were never seen, up to that point.

for the life of me i cant remember where i read this but i read that Kefauver had a slightly shady past and he himself was into gambling amongst other things im not sure whether this is true but it wouldnt suprise me.Turnbull i would have loved to hear Virginia say that,and what made Frank Costello even let them show is hands? not a shrewd move.