Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes; Robert F. Kennedy's War Against Organized Crime
Andy Carpenter (jacket design) New York: Random House, 1995. First Edition [stated]. Hardcover. 24 cm. xxii, 357, [5] pages. Illustrations. Notes. Selected Bibliography. Index. Inscribed by author on fep. Inscribed to Nina Graybill, the author's partner and friend. DJ has minor crease in bottom front corner, with minor crease to board. Ronald Goldfarb is a Washington, D.C. attorney, author, and literary agent. In 1961, Goldfarb was recruited to join the New Frontier. He was a member of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Department of Justice for almost four years, and conducted grand jury investigations and successful multi-defendant criminal trials in federal courts in Florida, Kentucky, and Ohio. For several months in 1964, the Justice Department delegated Goldfarb to the Presidential Task Force which created the Office of Economic Opportunity under the guidance of Sargent Shriver. When Robert F. Kennedy ran for the U.S. Senate in New York, he recruited Goldfarb to work on that campaign as a speech writer. He resigned from the Justice Department to do so. Goldfarb's book, Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes, about those Justice Department experiences was published in 1995. Derived from a Kirkus Review: In 1961 President Kennedy steamrollered the opposition of almost all concerned and named his brother attorney general. At the time, Robert Kennedy was seen as legally untried, a McCarthy associate--a zealous but injudicious man. He had the vision thing down cold. Kennedy's transformation from henchman to hero began at the Justice Department as he took on a national institution that was tolerated organized crime. He was the first to shed light on the problem and then actively address it, building his reputation while creating powerful enemies. Goldfarb tells the story of those days and their possible effect in terms of the later assassinations of both President Kennedy and his brother. Goldfarb is an experienced writer and is not insensitive to the telling detail. His characters, including ``Bob'', have substance. The best things in the book have to do with Goldfarb's work trying to clean up wild and woolly Newport, Ky., the ``Gomorrah of America,'' according to a local clergyman. A likable book. There is enjoyment in the tale of a career, and Goldfarb tells the tale well. Condition: Good / Good.
Keywords: John F. Kennedy, Law Enforcement, Justice Department, FBI, Mafia, James Hoffa, Assassination, IRS, Teamsters, Robert Blakey, Gambling, Sam Giancana, Edgar Hoover, JFK, McClellan Committee, Newport Kentucky, Organized Crime, George Ratterman, Warren C
ISBN: 0679435654
[Book #80509]
Price: $55.00