---
born: 1928-11-12
category: Intelligence Scandal
died: 2017-11-12
location: Easley, South Carolina
summary: On October 8, 1963, Baker was forced to resign as a Senate investigation
  into his outside business activities began to reveal numerous questionable deals.
tags:
- Person
- JFK
- OrganizedCrime
---

[Bobby Baker](/people/bobby-baker/) was a key figure in a major scandal that emerged in the autumn of 1963. He was made secretary of the Senate Democrats in 1955 by then-Vice President [Lyndon Johnson](/people/lyndon-johnson/), who referred to Baker as "my strong right arm, the last man I see at night, the first I see in the morning."[^1]

On October 8, 1963, Baker was forced to resign as a Senate investigation into his outside business activities began to reveal numerous questionable deals. Baker's dealings were tightly interwoven with the [Murchison family](/people/clint-murchison-sr/) and organized crime figures. The Senate investigation was initially prompted by a lawsuit against Baker in 1963 by his associates in a vending company, who alleged that he failed to uphold certain agreements. These associates were primarily Las Vegas gamblers, including [Edward Levinson](/people/edward-levinson/), a lieutenant of Florida mobster [Meyer Lansky](/people/meyer-lansky/), whose Fremont Hotel in Vegas was financed through a [Hoffa](/people/jimmy-hoffa/) loan.[^1]

Baker conducted considerable business with the Mob in Las Vegas, Chicago, Louisiana, and the Caribbean. Through Baker, [Edward Levinson](/people/edward-levinson/) also became acquainted with [Clint Murchison, Sr.](/people/clint-murchison-sr/). [Clint W. Murchison, Jr.](/people/clint-w-murchison-jr/) attempted to persuade the Senate Rules Committee in 1964 that his real estate dealings with [Jimmy Hoffa](/people/jimmy-hoffa/) in Florida were " hardly relevant" to the Baker investigation.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.