The Ultimate Gangster

What comes to mind when you think of 1920’s gangsters? Maybe Al Capone? Maybe the films The Untouchables, Scarface, or The Godfather? These answers are the answers most modern Americans would give. Although these are the most memorable films and icons related to the 1920’s ‘gangster’, they do not commemorate one of the most successful and influential gangsters during this time. This gangster is the one and only Arnold Rothstein, to whom I dedicate this blog post.

I have finished my first goal of learning about Prohibition and have immersed myself into my second goal for this ELI, which is learning about the organized crime of the Roaring Twenties. As I research this specific subject it becomes more clear that I need to find specific focuses that I will cover. I have narrowed it down to discussing why organized crime boomed after Prohibition, comparing and contrasting two main crime-centered cities during this time, New York and Chicago, and finally highlighting three big mobsters from this time: Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Arnold Rothstein. It is easy to find books, movies, and websites dedicated to Al Capone. This is due to the sole reason that Capone was in love with the spotlight. He was highly publicized and his name was in headlines across the world. Although Lucky Luciano did not frequent the media as much as Capone, he was still known in his respective crime communities, as well through occasional appearances in the media. Unlike both of these men, Arnold Rothstein remained out of the press, but still had his hands in almost every major operation.

Known as “The Brain” and “The Big Bank Roll,” Rothstein was commonly responsible for taking care of the budgeting and expenses for numerous crime bosses. He was a genius with numbers and worked independently instead of associating himself with a specific criminal group. He viewed himself as an “investor” rather than a mobster. Born into a wealthy family, he viewed crime as an entertaining outlet rather than a means to survive. He learned early in his career the importance of buying alliances from policemen and politicians rather than using brute force. He would let his big boned thugs take care of his business and let himself remain in the shadows. Not only did Rothstein make profits off bootlegging for himself, but he tutored some of the most notorious gangsters on his secrets to success. He gave advice to Lucky Luciano, Johnny Torrio, and Meyer Lansky. He taught them to look at crime as a business. He also showed them the importance of cooperation between different ethnic gangs. Using his ideas, they later began the nationwide crime “Syndicate.”

Alongside bootlegging, racketeering, and establishing the first international drug trafficking chain, Rothstein is remembered for his love of gambling. More specifically, he is remembered for supposedly “fixing the 1919 World Series.” Rothstein was a wizard when it came to card games and many speculated that he had a photographic memory. Some also speculated that he fixed numerous sporting events that led to him winning massive amounts of money, the most infamous of these events being the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. Although he would never be pinned for this scandal with evidence, it is still his greatest legacy.

Eventually his luck ran out, and he was killed during a card game in 1928. Regardless of his anti-climatic death, Rothstein was, in my opinion, the most skilled, intelligent, and memorable gangster of the 1920’s.

~Erin