Bobby Baker

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, 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 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, a lieutenant of Florida mobster Meyer Lansky, whose Fremont Hotel in Vegas was financed through a Hoffa loan.¹

Baker conducted considerable business with the Mob in Las Vegas, Chicago, Louisiana, and the Caribbean. Through Baker, Edward Levinson also became acquainted with Clint Murchison, Sr.. Clint W. Murchison, Jr. attempted to persuade the Senate Rules Committee in 1964 that his real estate dealings with Jimmy Hoffa in Florida were " hardly relevant" to the Baker investigation.¹