Al Capone

=== Federal intervention ===
In the wake of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, [[Walter A. Strong]], publisher of the ''[[Chicago Daily News]]'', asked his friend President [[Herbert Hoover]] for federal intervention to stem Chicago's lawlessness. He arranged a secret meeting at the White House, just two weeks after Hoover's inauguration. On March 19, 1929, Strong, joined by [[Frank J. Loesch|Frank Loesch]] of the [[Chicago Crime Commission]], and [[Laird Bell]], made their case to the President.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Myers|first1=William S.|title=The Hoover Administration: A Documented Narrative|last2=Newton|first2=Walter H.|publisher=Charles H. Scribner|year=1936|location=New York|pages=376}}</ref> In Hoover's 1952 ''Memoir,'' the former President reported that Strong argued "Chicago was in the hands of the gangsters, that the police and magistrates were completely under their control, …that the Federal government was the only force by which the city's ability to govern itself could be restored. At once I directed that all the Federal agencies concentrate upon Mr. Capone and his allies."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hoover|first=Herbert|title=The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920–1933|publisher=The MacMillen Company|year=1952|location=New York|pages=276}}</ref>

That meeting launched a multi-agency attack on Capone. Treasury and Justice Departments developed plans for income tax prosecutions against Chicago gangsters, and a small, elite squad of Prohibition Bureau agents (whose members included [[Eliot Ness]]) were deployed against bootleggers. In a city used to corruption, these lawmen were incorruptible. Charles Schwarz, a writer for the ''Chicago Daily News'', dubbed them [[Untouchables (law enforcement)|Untouchables]]. To support Federal efforts, Strong secretly used his newspaper's resources to gather and share intelligence on the Capone outfit.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Calder|first=James D.|title=The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives|publisher=Praeger|year=1993|location=Westport, CT}}</ref>