Between 1950 and 1951, the Kefauver Committee held all of American's attention. It was the first committee made up of senators from around the country organized to not only gain a better understanding on how to fight organized crime, but also to expose organized crime for the conglomerate empire that it was. Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ...

Headed by Estes Kefauver, the committee traveled the country, investigating all levels of corruption. Estes Kefauver Carey Estes Kefauver (July 26, 1903 - August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. ...

After the hearings were complete, the committee offered many suggestions on how to better tighten the laws surrounding organized crime. Although some of these suggestions were implemented, it did little to deter the National Crime Syndicate from existing. It did however force J. Edgar Hoover to admit that an Underworld existed, a fact he and the FBI had long denied and ignored. The National Crime Syndicate was the name given to an organized crime syndicate, set up in the 1930s, by Charles Lucky Luciano and based out of New York City. ... Hoover in 1961 John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 10, 1924, until his death in 1972, having been appointed to that position for life by President John Calvin Coolidge. ...

As for the Syndicate, they had lost valuable members of their empire after the hearings due to either death or deportation. Willie Moretti, who had supplied considerable comic relief during the hearings was executed as a result of his candor testimony during the hearings in fear that he was becoming mentally unstable and would potentially reveal secrets of the Syndicate. Joe Adonis agreed to be deported to Italy to avoid prison and Costello's power in the underworld was so damaged that he would later step down from boss of his family to avoid further attempts on his life by Vito Genovese. The National Crime Syndicate was the name given to an organized crime syndicate, set up in the 1930s, by Charles Lucky Luciano and based out of New York City. ... Willie Moretti (1894-October 4, 1951) was an Italian-American gangster who, along with fellow mafiosi Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Al Capone, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello was working under Joe The Boss Masseria during the Castellammarese War. ... Joe Adonis Joe Adonis (22 November 1902 - 26 November 1972) was an Italian-American mobster who became one of the most powerful figures in U.S. organized crime during the mid-20th century. ... Francesco Castiglia (January 21, 1891 - February 18, 1973), known as Frank Costello, was a famous mafia leader. ... Vito Genovese (November 2, 1897 - February 14, 1969) was a mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War. ...

Kefauver became a national hero for exhibiting not only his adept questioning skills of crime figures, but for his low key approach to dealing with them. He was called "Lincolnesque" for the quality of his words and seen as an "everyman" struggling against the corruption surrounded him.

Also, Frank Costello added the famous "hand ballet" to the Kefauver Committee. Agreeing to appear at the hearings on the condition that he would not be filmed on television, the cameras were forced to focus only on his hands, which he kept constantly moving, entertaining many while still revealing nothing of himself.