was Elliot Ness of “Untouchables” fame an FBI special agent?
No, it’s entirely a myth: Ness never served as one of our agents. But…he did work for Director J. Edgar Hoover for nearly six weeks. Confused? Here’s the story—and it’s an interesting one, involving the bootlegging days of Prohibition. It begins in January 1920—86 years ago this month—when Prohibition became the law of the land, thanks to the 18th amendment to the Constitution and congressional action banning the sale and manufacture of alcohol. Enforcement was given largely to the Treasury Department and its Bureau of Internal Revenue, with the Bureau of Investigation (our forerunner), the Coast Guard, and several other agencies playing only bit parts. The law, of course, was hugely unpopular. Many Americans were willing to break the law to have a drink…and an entire criminal industry of bootleggers rose up to meet the nation’s seemingly unquenchable thirst. Mobsters like Al Capone became rich and powerful from the illegal profits and bought off many public officials along the way—so
