I am currently a student in Ohio and am writing a research paper on the effect of Al Capone on the American crime syndicate and public views of these syndicates. I need to get an interview in about Capone but my paper is due in 5 days and I am running our of time. I had an interview lined up with the historian who wrote what I considered to be the most informative book that I read during the course of my research but he bailed on me. So I am asking /r/AskHistorians for help.
I cut down my list of questions so that if would be more concise and direct, if any of you could answer any of these questions for me that would be great (when answering please include your name and relevant positions/knowledge basis e.g. Professor at University of X so that I can cite you in my paper, I can simply attribute your help to the reddit -hive-mind if you would prefer but specifics would obviously lend the most credibility to it).
I know that Capone's eccentric personality caused him to talk to the media so much but did he receive any sort of physical benefit from the habit. In other words, was there any real logic to giving himself over to the media?
Capone was seen very differently by those that knew him personally and those that did not, surely the people that knew him much has spoke about his "good character" to their friend though, which would increase the range of those that viewed him as more than being a scourge upon the Earth. Just where on the spectrum between "Uncle Al" and "Scarface" did he fall for the general public? How did this change before and after being named "Public Enemy Number 1"?
Today Eliot Ness is credited with bringing down Capone but his name appears in no newspaper headlines from the time and is only mentioned tangentially in the articles themselves. When and why did the public perception of Ness change?
How important was it that Capone was the one leading his organization, was he especially good at it or would anyone else have worked? Essentially, how good was Capone at his job?
How much did other criminals at the time model themselves after Capone? Did other crime bosses try and emulate him? How about lower ranking criminals?
What sort of lasting (to today) impact did Capone have on Bootlegging? On Organized Crime? On how we fight crime? On Alcohol in general?
Is there any other information you think I should have?
Al Capone and his era fall outside my area, so I just have a few tips for you:
I dont think there is any "lasting effect" of Capone in a specific criminal activity. The way to look at him is not to see him as an inventor or innovator of specific crime. Rather, he was just an entrepreneur that took advantage of an opportunity on a market, much like any other entrepreneurs of the past and today will try to arrange for supply in any area with customer demand.
If you look at the way we fight organized crime, I think investigating Al Capone was the first time that U.S. law enforcement realized that when trying to get someone so powerful behind the bars, the only way might be to target his illicit profits. You could say that Al Capone´s fate layed foundation to the anti-money laundering regimes of today.
If you try to read up on Al Capone, be wary of the sources you use, because a lot of them might be distorted by stereotyping imagery. I´d recommend you to try looking for info in the Illinois Crime Survey published in 1929...it is available online and although it is a massive document of 1000+ pages, the only part that should interest you is the "Organized Crime in Chicago" study by John Landesco that starts on page 823. This is one out of two true quality sources on organized crime from this era. The pdf I have is fully searchable, so you can just CTRL-F "Capone" and it might lead you to some useful info...
GL and sorry I couldnt be more of a help.
Here's a bit of explanation about why Eliot Ness seems to be mostly myth.