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[Since the Democrats seem headed towards making Hillary Clinton their
candidate, we thought we would bring readers some of the hidden history
of Arkansas and the Clintons, the parts the mainstream media largely
forgot to mention. It is a fascinating and instructive story, which we
will follow as a time line. What you do with this tale is your own
business.]
1950s
When Bill Clinton is 7, his family moves from Hope, Arkansas, to the
long-time mob resort of Hot Springs, AR. Here Al Capone is said to have
had permanent rights to suite 443 of the Arlington Hotel. Clinton's
stepfather is a gun-brandishing alcoholic who loses his Buick franchise
through mismanagement and his own pilfering. He physically abuses his
family, including the young Bill. His mother is a heavy gambler with mob
ties. According to FBI and local police officials, his Uncle Raymond --
to whom young Bill turns for wisdom and support -- is a colorful car
dealer, slot machine owner and gambling operator, who thrives (except
when his house is firebombed) on the fault line of criminality.
PAUL BOSSON, HOT SPRINGS PROSECUTOR - In Hot Springs, growing up here,
you were living a lie. You lived a lie because you knew that all of
these activities were illegal. I mean, as soon as you got old enough to
be able to read a newspaper, you knew that gambling in Arkansas was
illegal, prostitution was illegal. And so you lived this lie, so you
have to find some way to justify that to yourself and, you know, you
justify it by saying, "Well," you know, "it's okay here."
VIRGINIA KELLY, Clinton's mother (1923-1994) - Hot Springs was so
different. We had wide-open gambling, for one thing, and it was so wide
open that it never occurred to me that it was illegal - it really didn't
- until it came to a vote about whether we were going to legalize
gambling or not. I never was so shocked.
HOT SPRINGS BEFORE THE CLINTONS
In the 1930s, Hot Springs represented the western border of organized
crime in the U.S with the local syndicate headed by Owney Madden, a New
York killer who had taken over the mob's resort in Arkansas. Owney
Madden was an English born gang member who had been arrested more than
40 times in New York by the time he was 21. Madden got the assignment
from his boss, Myer Lansky. The plan for Arkansas was modeled on an
earlier one in which Governor Huey Long opened a Swiss bank account into
which the mob would put $3 to $4 million annually for the right to run
casinos in the state. Lansky then moved to Hot Springs where he hired
Madden, former operator of Harlem's Cotton Club. According to one
account, "The Hot Springs set up was so luxurious and safe that it
became known as a place for gangsters on the lam to hole up until the
heat blew over."
Hot Springs was where Lucky Luciano was arrested and brought back for
trial - prosecuted by Thomas E. Dewey. According to one account, "Dewey
proclaimed Luciano Public Enemy No 1, and a grand jury returned a
criminal indictment against him that carried a maximum penalty of 1,950
years. . . He was arrested in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and extradited back
to New York. There, in the New York State Supreme Court he was tried,
and on June 7, the verdict of guilty was returned. Eleven days later, he
was sentenced to a total of from 30-to-50 years in state prison. It was
the longest sentence ever handed out for compulsory prostitution."
THE DICE MAN - There is evidence that many syndicate groups became
involved in Hot Springs. Owney Madden was the overseer of everything and
watched out for the New York mob's interests. Morris Kleinman, who was
one of the founding gangsters of the Cleveland syndicate spent much time
in Hot Springs. It is rumored that the Cleveland boys had pieces of the
profits from Hot Springs gambling. Johnny Roselli, an "upper level"
member of the Chicago mob was a silent partner in many Hot Springs
casinos in the 1940's and 1950's, as was Frank Costello. All of these
groups used local operators as "fronts", a system perfected by the
Cleveland syndicate in Ohio, Florida, and Kentucky. Since Hot Springs
was a very popular tourist spot, the command went out from the different
syndicates that there should be no murders carried out in Hot Springs.
This would be the rule in Las Vegas too. If bodies littered the streets
like in Chicago, it would only hurt business. Also "petty" crimes like
burglary and armed robbery were not to be tolerated. If the suckers
weren't comfortable, they wouldn't come to Hot Springs. . .
Owney Madden laid the groundwork for gangsters "on the lam" to hide out
in Hot Springs. The city had a resort-like atmosphere and elegant
nightlife, with people coming and going all the time. This was the
perfect situation to "hide" mobsters who couldn't be seen in their
hometowns. Al Capone would stay at the Arlington Hotel when things got
too hot in Chicago.. . . In 1964, the New York Times called Hot Springs
the largest illegal casino operation in the United States.
1960s
A federal investigation concludes that Hot Springs has the largest
illegal gambling operations in the United States.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[Since the Democrats seem headed towards making Hillary Clinton their
candidate, we thought we would bring readers some of the hidden history
of Arkansas and the Clintons, the parts the mainstream media largely
forgot to mention. It is a fascinating and instructive story, which we
will follow as a time line. What you do with this tale is your own
business.]
1950s
When Bill Clinton is 7, his family moves from Hope, Arkansas, to the
long-time mob resort of Hot Springs, AR. Here Al Capone is said to have
had permanent rights to suite 443 of the Arlington Hotel. Clinton's
stepfather is a gun-brandishing alcoholic who loses his Buick franchise
through mismanagement and his own pilfering. He physically abuses his
family, including the young Bill. His mother is a heavy gambler with mob
ties. According to FBI and local police officials, his Uncle Raymond --
to whom young Bill turns for wisdom and support -- is a colorful car
dealer, slot machine owner and gambling operator, who thrives (except
when his house is firebombed) on the fault line of criminality.
PAUL BOSSON, HOT SPRINGS PROSECUTOR - In Hot Springs, growing up here,
you were living a lie. You lived a lie because you knew that all of
these activities were illegal. I mean, as soon as you got old enough to
be able to read a newspaper, you knew that gambling in Arkansas was
illegal, prostitution was illegal. And so you lived this lie, so you
have to find some way to justify that to yourself and, you know, you
justify it by saying, "Well," you know, "it's okay here."
VIRGINIA KELLY, Clinton's mother (1923-1994) - Hot Springs was so
different. We had wide-open gambling, for one thing, and it was so wide
open that it never occurred to me that it was illegal - it really didn't
- until it came to a vote about whether we were going to legalize
gambling or not. I never was so shocked.
HOT SPRINGS BEFORE THE CLINTONS
In the 1930s, Hot Springs represented the western border of organized
crime in the U.S with the local syndicate headed by Owney Madden, a New
York killer who had taken over the mob's resort in Arkansas. Owney
Madden was an English born gang member who had been arrested more than
40 times in New York by the time he was 21. Madden got the assignment
from his boss, Myer Lansky. The plan for Arkansas was modeled on an
earlier one in which Governor Huey Long opened a Swiss bank account into
which the mob would put $3 to $4 million annually for the right to run
casinos in the state. Lansky then moved to Hot Springs where he hired
Madden, former operator of Harlem's Cotton Club. According to one
account, "The Hot Springs set up was so luxurious and safe that it
became known as a place for gangsters on the lam to hole up until the
heat blew over."
Hot Springs was where Lucky Luciano was arrested and brought back for
trial - prosecuted by Thomas E. Dewey. According to one account, "Dewey
proclaimed Luciano Public Enemy No 1, and a grand jury returned a
criminal indictment against him that carried a maximum penalty of 1,950
years. . . He was arrested in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and extradited back
to New York. There, in the New York State Supreme Court he was tried,
and on June 7, the verdict of guilty was returned. Eleven days later, he
was sentenced to a total of from 30-to-50 years in state prison. It was
the longest sentence ever handed out for compulsory prostitution."
THE DICE MAN - There is evidence that many syndicate groups became
involved in Hot Springs. Owney Madden was the overseer of everything and
watched out for the New York mob's interests. Morris Kleinman, who was
one of the founding gangsters of the Cleveland syndicate spent much time
in Hot Springs. It is rumored that the Cleveland boys had pieces of the
profits from Hot Springs gambling. Johnny Roselli, an "upper level"
member of the Chicago mob was a silent partner in many Hot Springs
casinos in the 1940's and 1950's, as was Frank Costello. All of these
groups used local operators as "fronts", a system perfected by the
Cleveland syndicate in Ohio, Florida, and Kentucky. Since Hot Springs
was a very popular tourist spot, the command went out from the different
syndicates that there should be no murders carried out in Hot Springs.
This would be the rule in Las Vegas too. If bodies littered the streets
like in Chicago, it would only hurt business. Also "petty" crimes like
burglary and armed robbery were not to be tolerated. If the suckers
weren't comfortable, they wouldn't come to Hot Springs. . .
Owney Madden laid the groundwork for gangsters "on the lam" to hide out
in Hot Springs. The city had a resort-like atmosphere and elegant
nightlife, with people coming and going all the time. This was the
perfect situation to "hide" mobsters who couldn't be seen in their
hometowns. Al Capone would stay at the Arlington Hotel when things got
too hot in Chicago.. . . In 1964, the New York Times called Hot Springs
the largest illegal casino operation in the United States.
1960s
A federal investigation concludes that Hot Springs has the largest
illegal gambling operations in the United States.
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