National Affairs: Last Act

After its Manhattan triumph, the Kefauver committee, virtually ignored in its earlier home-town appearances, played to standing room only in Washington, and to millions of television sets in other cities across the nation.

For the occasion, the Senators brought forth an Interesting Character—none other than "Greasy Thumb" Guzik, once Scarface Al Capone's chancellor of exchequer, and now one of the monarchs of the Chicago underworld.

Greasy Thumb was a card—a short (5 ft. 2 in.), shabby-looking, aging (63) gaffer with dark glasses and a straggle of white hair, who ambled into the crowded room like some ancient and anxious raccoon being ushered into...