Category: Crime
-
Sing Along With Keef, Part 2: “Senator From Tennessee”
Estes Kefauver’s probe of organized crime turned him into a national hero, and inspired movies, TV shows… and even songs. Here’s a song that speaks to Kefauver’s crime-busting reputation.
-
Kefauver and LBJ: Two Paths to Power
Estes Kefauver and Lyndon Johnson had a number of things in common: two liberal-leaning, ambitious Southern Democrats who joined the Senate in the same year. But their approach to politics – and the pursuit of power – couldn’t have been more different.
-
Sing Along with Keef: “Estes Is Bestes”
The song most associated with Kefauver was “The Tennessee Waltz,” for better or for worse (and definitely for worse after a long campaign). But there’s a long-forgotten campaign song that captures his folk-hero appeal.
-
Boom!
The transcripts of the organized crime hearings include a reference to a then-current pop song. Check out the song here, but beware: it’s a real earworm.
-
Requiem for a Heavyweight: Kefauver Takes On Boxing
Think Estes Kefauver only faced off with organized crime once? Think again. A decade after the hearings that made him famous, Kefauver took on the mob again… and tried to clean up boxing.
-
Kefauver at the Movies: “The Captive City”
A look at a 1952 movie inspired by the Kefauver Committee organized crime hearings… featuring an appearance from the Senator himself.
-
Kefauver’s Moment of Game-Show Fame
Kefauver’s crime hearings briefly made him a national celebrity… enough of one to be the mystery celebrity on an episode of “What’s My Line?”
-
Facing “The Face of U.S. Gangland”: The Crime Hearings
In the early 1950s, Kefauver chaired a series of hearings into organized crime. The hearings made Kefauver a household name, a Presidential contender… and Public Enemy Number One to Democratic leaders.
Estes Kefauver for President 