Birth of a Criminal Mastermind -- The Weight and Consequences of George Remus's Early Life

For George Remus, the path from German immigrant to the bootleg king of the Jazz Age began humbly, as his near-destitute family first set foot in America. Within a decade, with the family disintegrating, young George -- barely a teenager -- took on the mantle as main breadwinner and support system. What initially seemed like the American dream of success via hard work and determination was planted in Remus. At the same time, however, the burden and responsibility hardened him, creating and reinforcing personality traits that would eventually lead him on a resolutely criminal path.

The mass arrival of German immigrants in the United States in the 1800s changed the nation. German settlers gained a significant presence, becoming one of the largest immigrant groups of the 19th century. Millions of Germans made the journey to the US between 1820 and 1880. They sought out economic opportunities and a chance for a better life.

For the Remus clan, the early experiences in America were filled with heartbreak and tragedy as they moved westward in hopes of finding a better life, eventually settling in Chicago. "It was a hardship," George would later reflect on his early years. The weight of their struggles was palpable, pushing young Remus to shoulder the mantle of responsibility. In this cauldron, Remus developed the character traits that came to define him as a person. During these years, the world silently witnessed the birth of criminal mastermind like few had existed before him.

“Tales of the Bourbon King,” hosted by award-winning cultural historian and biographer Bob Batchelor (author of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius) dives into the grand spectacle of Remus’s true crime lifestyle. This is a lens into the dark heart of American in the 1920s as Prohibition outlawed alcohol, but did just the opposite as criminals and devious mob leaders filled the streets with bootleg whiskey, flappers danced the night away, and blazing machine guns barked through the night. All told, the bootleg era brought in countless millions of dollars in illegal booze and cost countless lives as mobsters fought it out for supremacy. Atop it all sat George Remus, the “King of the Bootleggers,” a former pharmacist and one of America’s top attorneys who used his unique knowledge to turn America into his violent playground. He amassed a fortune and lived out a real-life Great Gatsby tale of mayhem and murder as he built an empire from the Ohio and Kentucky whiskey distilleries home to the finest bourbon in the world.