...like you said. Then, when the mope is down, they do what they want.
The Mafia’s President: Nixon and the Mob
by Don Fulsom
Unbeknownst to most people even now, the election of 1968 placed the patron saint of the Mafia in the White House. In other words, Richard Nixon would go on to not only lead a criminal presidency; he would be totally indebted to our nation’s top mobsters.
By 1969, thanks in large part to his long-time campaign manager and political advisor Murray Chotiner, a lawyer who specialized in representing mobsters, Nixon had participated in secret criminal dealings for more than 20 years with sketchy figures such as Mickey Cohen, Mob financial guru Meyer Lansky, Teamsters union chief Jimmy Hoffa, and New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello. And with Chotiner as one of his key behind-the-scenes advisors in the White House, Nixon’s ties to the Mafia didn’t end there. The Mafia’s President reveals a mind-blowing litany of favors Nixon exchanged with these sinister characters over decades, ranging from springing Jimmy Hoffa from prison to banning the federal government from using the terms “Mafia” and “La Cosa Nostra.” Drawing on newly released government tapes, documents, and other fresh information, The Mafia’s President by Don Fulsom offers a carefully reported, deeply researched account of Richard Nixon’s secret connections to America’s top crime lords. Read an excerpt of The Mafia’s President below.
Mobsters in Cuba
Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santos Trafficante Jr., based in Tampa, was one of the most powerful Mafia godfathers in the country—and he was brutally vicious to his enemies. Known as the “Silent Don” because he was a keen adherent of the Mob’s vow of silence, he wore thick glasses and dressed more like a bank president than a hood.
Yet Santos never hesitated to order hits on fellow mobsters who tried to encroach on his territory—or who had committed, in his deep green eyes, any other unpardonable sin. Among those Mafiosi reportedly bumped off on Trafficante’s orders were Brooklyn boss Albert “the Mad Hatter” Anastasia; Chicago godfather Sam “Momo” Giancana; and Giancana lieutenant John “Handsome Johnny” Roselli. Trafficante also played a leading role in secret U.S. murder plots against Cuban leader Fidel Castro, instigated in 1959 by Vice President Richard Nixon.
By then, Trafficante had learned the intricacies of a full panoply of Mafia crimes—from common to lethal—from his dad, Santos Trafficante Sr. The senior Trafficante came to Tampa from Sicily in 1904. In Tampa, he built his crime family—which would operate there for the next 50 years. In 1954, a year after surviving a shotgun attempt on his life, Santos Jr. succeeded Santos Sr.
Over the ensuing years, political buff Trafficante became a big Richard Nixon fan, according to the godfather’s lawyer, Frank Ragano: “[Santos] viewed Nixon as a realistic conservative politician who was not a zealot and who would not be hard on him and his Mob friends.”
With headquarters in both Tampa and Miami, Trafficante controlled Florida’s illegal drug and gambling operations. His largest criminal enterprise in the state was the “bolita lottery,” a Cuban numbers game. A Meyer Lansky protégé, Trafficante could also be frequently found in Havana, where he was Lansky’s top enforcer in the Syndicate’s gambling casinos during Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship.
Continues...
https://www.thehistoryreader.com/us-history/mafias-president-nixon-mobsters-in-cuba/
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