Nucky is an American character, soon to become a myth because of the character "Nucky Thompson" in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Like other notorious criminals - Jesse James, Al Capone, Meyer Lansky - his story will fascinate us for generations. He so dominated his world for so many years that, inevitably, anything said about him will be at least partially true.
He was a superb politician who was able to count on the votes of thousands of Atlantic City working people, all of whom voted Republican if they wanted to keep their jobs. He was a power broker who operated so effectively between 1918 and 1940 that even a Republican Presidential nomination required his imprimatur. The source of his political clout was jobs, most of them filled by African American hotel workers, the largest permanent population in a seasonal city. If you wanted to work in Atlantic City during its heyday, Nucky was the man to see. The price of the job was cheap - registration as a Republican and a promise to vote early and often.
He was a gangster, no doubt. The HBO Mini Series is right on that score, though Buscemi's portrayal is probably not one that people who knew the real Nucky would recognize. Accounts I've read do not mention that he instilled fear. Rather, people admired the longtime Treasurer of Atlantic County. They were impressed by his size (6' 4"), his incredible wardrobe, his charm, and his reputation as THE man to see and whose approval was required for any change to the status quo. He exerted authority in the underworld because the amount of money from Atlantic City's casinos, whorehouses, and saloons -though technically illegal - was so enormous and reliable. Remember that Atlantic City was the model for Las Vegas.
The best source I've found on the man is Judge Nelson Johnson's (no relation) excellent history of Atlantic City, Boardwalk Empire,
He was a superb politician who was able to count on the votes of thousands of Atlantic City working people, all of whom voted Republican if they wanted to keep their jobs. He was a power broker who operated so effectively between 1918 and 1940 that even a Republican Presidential nomination required his imprimatur. The source of his political clout was jobs, most of them filled by African American hotel workers, the largest permanent population in a seasonal city. If you wanted to work in Atlantic City during its heyday, Nucky was the man to see. The price of the job was cheap - registration as a Republican and a promise to vote early and often.
He was a gangster, no doubt. The HBO Mini Series is right on that score, though Buscemi's portrayal is probably not one that people who knew the real Nucky would recognize. Accounts I've read do not mention that he instilled fear. Rather, people admired the longtime Treasurer of Atlantic County. They were impressed by his size (6' 4"), his incredible wardrobe, his charm, and his reputation as THE man to see and whose approval was required for any change to the status quo. He exerted authority in the underworld because the amount of money from Atlantic City's casinos, whorehouses, and saloons -though technically illegal - was so enormous and reliable. Remember that Atlantic City was the model for Las Vegas.
The best source I've found on the man is Judge Nelson Johnson's (no relation) excellent history of Atlantic City, Boardwalk Empire,