How the 'Chicago Way' helped win the war

Glenn Beck’s new book, “Miracles and Massacres,” is about helping people connect with the true, untold history of America. In Chapter Seven, Glenn tells the story of "Easy Eddie," a timeless story of redemption.

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In modern times businesses have to pay off the government for protection, but back in the 1920s, men like Al Capone and Myer Lansky were getting their cut as organized crime began rising throughout the nation’s urban areas.

Al Capone on the cover of a Time Magazine issue dated March 24, 1930. (Source: Time)

It was around this same time that an attorney named Eddie was struggling to take care of his family. He worked hard and studied for the bar and, as the decade began to roar, it all started to pay off. Like many Americans, Eddie was working his way toward achieving his version of the American dream, carving out a niche for himself as a legal advocate for a businessman who travelled around the country marketing an improved lure for dog tracks.

It was all going according to plan for Eddie, until one business trip to a racetrack in Chicago changed everything. Eddie’s greatest dreams and darkest nightmares all came together in the form of one of those aforementioned “protectors:” Al Capone.

From the minute Capone introduced himself with a handshake, Eddie forever remained in his grip. Capone employed Eddie as his chief counsel, and Eddie—whom Capone gave the nickname “Easy Eddie”— didn’t disappoint. He used his legal acumen and penchant for finding loopholes and caveats in the law to allow Capone to build seemingly legitimate enterprises. All of this made Eddie a very rich man, but it also pushed him further and further away from the law he’d spent so much time studying.

"Easy Eddie's" Son. (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

As with most gangsters and their accomplices, the bell ultimately—and violently—tolled for Easy Eddie. Seeing the writing on the wall, Eddie agreed to become a government informant. One of his only caveats was that the Feds had to help get his son a much sought after Congressional recommendation to the U.S. Military Academy in Annapolis.

As it turns out, that final act by Easy Eddie—perhaps of the only selfless things he’d done in years—changed everything. You’ll have to read chapter seven of Miracles and Massacres for the whole incredible story, but it’s not an overstatement to say that Easy Eddie’s death in 1939 may very well have impacted the outcome of World War II.

To read the full, riveting account of the story of "Easy Eddie," along with 11 other epic and untold stories from American history, check out Glenn Beck’s new book, “Miracles and Massacres.” You can find story summaries, excerpts and audio samples by visiting here.

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