Ness, Eliot (1903-1957), was an American crime fighter. He became known during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s as a special agent in the Prohibition Bureau of the United States Department of Justice. Ness led a group of law enforcement officers against Chicago gangster Al Capone and his bootlegging activities. Ness’s group earned the nickname “the Untouchables” because, unlike many other public officials of the time, they could not be bribed or frightened by mobsters.
Ness was born on April 19, 1903, in Chicago. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1925. He joined the Justice Department as a special agent in 1928 and soon was appointed to lead an elite squad created to enforce the prohibition law. For more than two years, Ness and his team of about 10 Untouchables raided Capone’s bootlegging operations. Ness’s squad seized barrels of illegal liquor, and beer delivery trucks, stills, and other equipment.
From 1935 to 1942, Ness acted as director of public safety in Cleveland, where he cleaned up corruption in the city’s police force. From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, he was director of the federal Social Protection Program, which was set up to handle certain public health issues on military bases. In 1945, Ness became a business executive. In 1947, he ran for mayor of Cleveland but was defeated. He died on May 7, 1957.
