Episode transcript:
In this final installment of “Beginnings”, Pettengill moves on to examine a hot spot in the history of organized crime: Chicago. In particular, he highlights the intersection of local politics and criminal activity and ultimately concludes that not only did the local vice industry help fuel Chicago’s major industries but the vice lords themselves, at times, helped provide essential services that the local government either could not or would not provide. Long before mafia household names like Capone or Giancana dominated headlines, Michael “King Mike” McDonald, John “Bath House” Coughlin and Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna became early pioneers of organized crime and helped bring some form of order to a chaotic period.