On June 13, the Foundation and National Archives hosted Organized Crime in the Nixon Era, a Nixon Legacy Forum on RN’s work with Congress to enact sweeping anti-crime legislation and how he gave the Justice Department the tools to more effectively fight organized crime.
Hosted at the University Club in Washington and covered by C-SPAN, the panelists – all Nixon era legal experts from the White House, Justice Department, and Congress – spoke about the spirit of bi-partisanship exemplified by the officials who spearheaded the administration’s initiatives and how they brought substantial, lasting changes to America’s criminal justice system.
The Archivist of the United States David Ferriero gave introductory remarks and supplemented the presentation with original documents from the period. Participants included G. Robert Blakey, Wallace H. Johnson, Richard “Pete” Velde, and Geoffrey C. Shepard.
[youtube https://youtu.be/OIx3bsQUm7Q]
For more information on RN’s efforts to combat organized crime, read Andrew Kreig’s article “Learning from Heroes who Fought the Mafia” at the Justice Integrity Project.
Photo (left to right): Richard “Pete” Velde, Wallace H. Johnson, G. Robert Blakey, and Geoffrey C. Shepard took part in a Nixon Legacy Forum on President Nixon’s efforts to combat organized crime.