l figures of Frank Costello and Virginia Houser were the subjects of hearings by the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce. The popular name for this committee was the "Kefauver Committee" after its chairman, Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. These proceedings were televised, and an estimated 30,000,000 Americans watched as the relationship between largescale gambling and the New York Mayor's office became evident. Mayor O'Dwyer had named a protege of Frank Costello to a judgeship, and one of his Fire Commissioners had underworld connections. "There are things that you have to do politically if you want to get co-operation," O'Dwyer said (pp. 191-197).
Millions of Americans were asking, "What happened to our ideals of right and wrong?" The telecast of the Kefauver investigation paraded the honest and dishonest, the public servant and the public thief. A broader picture of dishonor in public life emerged (p. 198).
The Kefauver proceedings were quickly forgotten as the nation gasped at the news on April 11, 1951.
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