Robert eliot ness biography summary
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Ultimately, the team compiled over 5,000 violations, which were used in an indictment. Ness never had children but enjoyed them and wanted a family of his own. Ness was the youngest of five children in the family, which ran a bakery in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood. Ness, who by then had established a reputation as a competent and ethical investigator, was chosen to lead the special squad of Prohibition agents assigned to take down Capone’s criminal network.
Ness’s first step in assembling his team was to carefully select agents who could not be bribed or corrupted by Capone’s immense resources.
Raids against stills and breweries began immediately; within six months Ness claimed to have seized breweries collectively worth more than one million dollars. Image: Al Capone
When and where was Eliot Ness born?
Eliot Ness was born on April 19, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois.
What was Ness’s educational background?
Ness attended Christian Fenger High School and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1925 with a degree in political science and business administration.
He married illustrator Evaline Michelow in 1939, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1945.
Later Career and Personal Decline
Ness’s career in Cleveland eventually faltered as political tides shifted and his reputation took hits from both the press and his own personal missteps. He married for the final time to a friend of Evaline’s, Elisabeth Anderson Seaver, in 1946.
He is associated with Chicago gangster Al Capone in the 1930s. He joined the United States Treasury Department in 1927 during a time when bootlegging was rampant throughout the nation. The book helped reintroduce Ness’s legacy to the public, and it inspired numerous adaptations in film and television, most notably the 1959 television series The Untouchables and the 1987 film of the same name starring Kevin Costner.
Unfortunately, Ness did not live to see the resurgence of his fame.
He handpicked ten fellow lawmen from around the United States to complete his group, with one key attribute in mind—the men must stand firm against bribery. The best-known adaptations include the 1959 TV series The Untouchables starring Robert Stack, and the 1987 film directed by Brian De Palma, with Kevin Costner as Ness. However, with the end of Prohibition in 1933, the Untouchables ceased to exist, with state and federal agencies re-organizing without the need for a Prohibition Bureau.
They did, and as a result, the group became known as the “Untouchables.” They went after Capone, looking for evidence of Prohibition violations, determined to stop the production of illegal alcohol.
Elisabeth died from throat cancer in 1977. Ness focused on revitalizing the police and fire departments with modern equipment, including two-way radios and typewriters, to improve communication.
While Ness’ tenure in Cleveland was largely successful, he did have some detractors. Ness was transferred to Cleveland as the Special Agent in Charge of the ATU there in December 1934.
Later life and Legacy
Ness was promoted to Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago and in 1934 for Ohio. Six killings had taken place in 1936 alone, then continued into the following years. The team began its operations in March 1931 by conducting raids on illegal breweries and supply routes controlled by Capone’s organization.
The cost of enforcing prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol (some $500 million annually nationwide) affected government coffers.