Editing Thomas E. Dewey (section)

===Special prosecutor===
Dewey became famous in 1935, when he was appointed special prosecutor in New York County ([[Manhattan]]) by Governor [[Herbert H. Lehman]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Conway|first=Robert|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102271446/robert-conway-lehman-names-dewey/|title=Lehman Names Dewey Attorney for Vice Probe|date=June 30, 1935|work=New York Daily News|access-date=May 21, 2022|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A "[[William C. Dodge#Runaway grand jury|runaway grand jury]]" had publicly complained that [[William C. Dodge]], the [[New York County District Attorney|District Attorney]], was not aggressively pursuing the mob and political corruption. Lehman, to avoid charges of partisanship, asked four prominent Republicans to serve as special prosecutor. All four refused and recommended Dewey.<ref>{{cite book |author=Stolberg, Mary M. |title=Fighting Organized Crime: Politics, Justice and the Legacy of Thomas E. Dewey |publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fightingorganize00stol/page/55 55–64] |isbn=1-55553-245-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fightingorganize00stol/page/55 }}</ref>

Dewey moved ahead vigorously. He recruited a staff of over 60 assistants, investigators, process servers, stenographers, and clerks. New York Mayor [[Fiorello H. La Guardia]] assigned a hand picked squad of 63 police officers to Dewey's office. Dewey's targets were ''organized'' [[racketeering]]: the large-scale criminal enterprises, especially [[extortion]], the "[[numbers racket]]" and [[prostitution]]. One writer stated that "Dewey&nbsp;... put on a very impressive show. All the paraphernalia, the hideouts and tapped telephones and so on, became famous. More than any other American of his generation except [Charles] Lindbergh, Dewey became a creature of folklore and a national hero. What he appealed to most was the great American love of ''results.'' People were much more interested in his ends than in his means. Another key to all this may be expressed in a single word: honesty. Dewey was honest."<ref>(Gunther, p. 529)</ref>

One of his biggest prizes was gangster [[Dutch Schultz]], whom he had battled as both a federal and state prosecutor. Schultz's first trial ended in a deadlock; prior to his second trial, Schultz had the venue moved to [[Malone (village), New York|Malone, New York]], then moved there and garnered the sympathy of the townspeople through charitable acts so that when it came time for his trial, the jury found him innocent, liking him too much to convict him.<ref name="five families book"/>

Dewey and La Guardia threatened Schultz with instant arrest and further charges. Schultz now proposed to murder Dewey, who would be killed while he made his daily morning call to his office from a pay phone near his home.<ref name="five families book"/> However, New York crime boss [[Lucky Luciano]] and the "[[The Commission (mafia)|Mafia Commission]]" decided that Dewey's murder would provoke an all-out crackdown. Instead they had Schultz killed.<ref name="five families book"/> Schultz was shot to death in the restroom of a bar in Newark.<ref>Smith, pp.&nbsp;165–174.</ref>

Dewey's legal team turned their attention to [[Lucky Luciano]]. Assistant DA [[Eunice Carter]] oversaw investigations into prostitution racketeering. She raided 80 houses of prostitution in the New York City area and arrested hundreds of prostitutes and "madams". Carter had developed trust with many of these women, and through her coaching, many of the arrested prostitutes –  some of whom told of being beaten and abused by [[Italian-American Mafia|Mafia]] thugs –  were willing to testify to avoid prison time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/how-eunice-hunton-carter-took-mob-watcher/ |title=How Eunice Hunton Carter Took on the Mob, 'The Watcher' {{!}} All of It |website=WNYC |language=en |access-date=January 8, 2019}}</ref> Three implicated Luciano as controller of organized prostitution in the New York/New Jersey area –  one of the largest prostitution rings in American history.<ref name="five families book"/> Carter's investigation was the first to link Luciano to a crime. Dewey prosecuted the case, and in the greatest victory of his legal career, he won the conviction of Luciano for the prostitution racket, with a sentence of 30 to 50 years on June 18, 1936.<ref>Smith, pp. 181–206.</ref><ref name="l_trial">{{cite web | url = http://www.lucianotrial1936.com/codef.html | title = Luciano Trial Website | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090131202519/http://www.lucianotrial1936.com/codef.html | archive-date = January 31, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="luciano sentence">{{cite news|title=Lucania Sentenced to 30 to 50 Years; Court Warns Ring|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/06/19/93521980.pdf|access-date=June 17, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 19, 1936}}</ref>

In January 1937, Dewey successfully prosecuted Tootsie Herbert, the leader of New York's poultry racket, for [[embezzlement]]. Following his conviction, New York's poultry "marketplace returned to normal, and New York consumers saved $5&nbsp;million in 1938 alone."<ref>(Smith, pp. 214–215)</ref> That same month, Dewey, his staff, and New York City police made a series of dramatic raids that led to the arrest of 65 of New York's leading operators in various rackets, including the bakery racket, numbers racket, and restaurant racket.<ref>(Smith, pp. 215–216)</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' ran an editorial praising Dewey for breaking up the "shadow government" of New York's racketeers, and ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' wrote "If you don't think Dewey is Public Hero No. 1, listen to the applause he gets every time he is shown in a newsreel."<ref>(Smith, p. 216)</ref>

In 1936, Dewey received [[The Hundred Year Association of New York]]'s Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York".