Dewey to engage Anslinger in a bitter feud that would last for years and ultimately damage the FBNâs credibility. But Anslinger served the espionage Establishment, which had a vested interest in denying that the Luciano Project ever took place; and in the long run Lucianoâs deportation benefited Anslinger by providing the FBN with a durable scapegoat and the basis for a sustainable PR campaign. Luciano contributed to the FBNâs cause by immediately conferring, upon arriving in Italy, with the Sicilian boss of bosses, Don Calogero Vizzini, and by surrounding himself with fellow deportees.
Anslinger would also suggest that Luciano was part of a communist plot to subvert America with narcotic drugs. This unproven allegation would also damage the FBNâs credibility; but the fiction was accepted at the time and helped Anslinger to persuade Congress that stopping drugs overseas, before they reached Americaâs shores, was a matter of national security â a prescient notion that fitted neatly with the Cold War imperative for foreign intervention and helped to establish the need for a larger, more powerful federal Narcotics Bureau.
THE ASCENT OF THE MAFIA
While Anslinger was exploiting Americaâs prejudices and fears to advance the interests of the FBN, the underworld was reorganizing its drug smuggling and distribution industry. Central to this reorganization was Vito Genoveseâs release from jail on 24 June 1946. Having worked for the US Army in Italy, Genovese enjoyed a degree of political protection in Manhattan, where he took over the multimillion-dollar Italian lottery. Once the money started rolling in, he began scheming to seize control of the Luciano family from Frank Costello and claim the title of
capo di tutti capi
of the American Mafia.
During this violent transitional stage, gangster veterans of the Luciano Project began to play a more important role in the deep politics of American society. A quick examination of the background characters in the 1943 murder of
Il Martello
publisher Carlo Tresca provides a graphic example of organized crimeâs deep political association with members of the Establishment.
Tresca was an avowed socialist, and his political adversary was Generoso Pope, publisher of the pro-fascist
Il Progresso Italo-Americano
. It has always been easy for fascists to acquire political patrons in America, but once it became clear that America was going to war with Italy, Pope enlisted the help of New York Congressman Samuel Dickstein, co-founder of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). In 1941 Dickstein defended Pope before Congress, a fact that contributed immensely to Popeâs successful attempt to achieve respectability. 6
With Dickstein in his corner, Pope emerged as a wedge between the Establishment and the Mafia and, with the support of influential friends like columnist Drew Pearson (a former employee of
Il Progresso
), and Assistant US Attorney Roy Cohn, he was able to provide political cover for his gangster cronies. Frank Costello, for example, was godfather to hischildren. But Popeâs closest underworld ally was Joseph Bonanno, whose narcotics manager, Carmine Galante, though never convicted, was universally recognized as Trescaâs assassin. 7
All the Mafia families were investing in labor racketeering, and Pope had aligned with International Ladies Garment Workers Union leader Luigi Antonini through a sweetheart deal arranged by Joe Bonannoâs
consigliere
, Frank Garofalo. A vicious killer, Garofalo had been Popeâs âfactotumâ since 1934, when, as Professor Alan Block asserts, Pope had used him to intimidate âother Italian-language newspapers which were anti-fascist and anti-Pope.â 8 Tresca threatened to expose Garofaloâs connection with Pope, and as a result of that (and because he had blocked Genoveseâs attempt to establish a social club as a front for drug trafficking), Genovese ordered his
Anslinger would also suggest that Luciano was part of a communist plot to subvert America with narcotic drugs. This unproven allegation would also damage the FBNâs credibility; but the fiction was accepted at the time and helped Anslinger to persuade Congress that stopping drugs overseas, before they reached Americaâs shores, was a matter of national security â a prescient notion that fitted neatly with the Cold War imperative for foreign intervention and helped to establish the need for a larger, more powerful federal Narcotics Bureau.
THE ASCENT OF THE MAFIA
While Anslinger was exploiting Americaâs prejudices and fears to advance the interests of the FBN, the underworld was reorganizing its drug smuggling and distribution industry. Central to this reorganization was Vito Genoveseâs release from jail on 24 June 1946. Having worked for the US Army in Italy, Genovese enjoyed a degree of political protection in Manhattan, where he took over the multimillion-dollar Italian lottery. Once the money started rolling in, he began scheming to seize control of the Luciano family from Frank Costello and claim the title of
capo di tutti capi
of the American Mafia.
During this violent transitional stage, gangster veterans of the Luciano Project began to play a more important role in the deep politics of American society. A quick examination of the background characters in the 1943 murder of
Il Martello
publisher Carlo Tresca provides a graphic example of organized crimeâs deep political association with members of the Establishment.
Tresca was an avowed socialist, and his political adversary was Generoso Pope, publisher of the pro-fascist
Il Progresso Italo-Americano
. It has always been easy for fascists to acquire political patrons in America, but once it became clear that America was going to war with Italy, Pope enlisted the help of New York Congressman Samuel Dickstein, co-founder of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). In 1941 Dickstein defended Pope before Congress, a fact that contributed immensely to Popeâs successful attempt to achieve respectability. 6
With Dickstein in his corner, Pope emerged as a wedge between the Establishment and the Mafia and, with the support of influential friends like columnist Drew Pearson (a former employee of
Il Progresso
), and Assistant US Attorney Roy Cohn, he was able to provide political cover for his gangster cronies. Frank Costello, for example, was godfather to hischildren. But Popeâs closest underworld ally was Joseph Bonanno, whose narcotics manager, Carmine Galante, though never convicted, was universally recognized as Trescaâs assassin. 7
All the Mafia families were investing in labor racketeering, and Pope had aligned with International Ladies Garment Workers Union leader Luigi Antonini through a sweetheart deal arranged by Joe Bonannoâs
consigliere
, Frank Garofalo. A vicious killer, Garofalo had been Popeâs âfactotumâ since 1934, when, as Professor Alan Block asserts, Pope had used him to intimidate âother Italian-language newspapers which were anti-fascist and anti-Pope.â 8 Tresca threatened to expose Garofaloâs connection with Pope, and as a result of that (and because he had blocked Genoveseâs attempt to establish a social club as a front for drug trafficking), Genovese ordered his
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