November 24, 2025 • 31 mins
Buster Wortman: The Quiet Kingpin of Southern Illinois dives into the shadowy world of a mob boss who built an empire without the headlines. While the mafia made noise in cities like Chicago and New York, Wortman quietly controlled gambling, politics, and power across Southern Illinois for decades. In this episode, we explore how a soft-spoken farm kid became one of the most influential—and overlooked—figures in Midwest organized crime. Subtle, strategic, and deeply connected, Wortman proves that sometimes the deadliest mobsters are the ones who operate in silence.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we are taking a
pretty significant detour from the usual map of American organized
crime history.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We really are.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I mean, if you, like most people, were asked to
name a famous US crime boss, your mind probably jumped
straight to the glossy spectacle of New York's Five Families, right.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh, absolutely, Or you know the chaotic, high profile wars
of the Chicago outfit under Al Capone, or maybe even
the legendary development of Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Exactly, those are the big names, the ones that made
all the headlines, and.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
They dominated the conversation. Because they dominated those headlines, they
operated with a degree of flash and spectacle that just
demanded national attention, and well that brought the full weight
of the federal government down on them eventually.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
But what if I told you that tucked away, just
across the Mississippi River from Saint Louis, in the quiet
towns and rural stretches of southern Illinois, there was a
kingpin whose operational power and criminal reach. I mean it
rivaled or perhaps even exceeded those legendary figures in terms
of longevity in control.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And yet nobody's ever heard of him.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Exactly. His name remains virtually unknown outside of regional history.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's the perfect illustration of a core operational principle. Really,
the loudest voice gets all the attention, while the most
effective operator he works in silence.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And that operator was William buster Wartman. That's the one.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
He didn't want the notoriety, you know, he didn't want
the fedora or the front page photographs. The sources are
clear on this. He was described by those who dealt
with him not as a mobster, but as a man
of understated calm. He had a deeply strategic mind. His
genius really lay in his ability to just blend in.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
And that obscurity is the hook for this deep dive.
For decades, Buster Whartman controlled rackets, Aletan's politicians and entire
local economies. He was functioning essentially as a shadow government. Yeah,
in a really significant corridor, the Midwest.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You won't find him in the big national news.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Archives, not at all. So this deep dive is our
shortcut for you, the listener, to understanding the blueprint of
this forgotten giant.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And we have some amazing sources that provide a detailed,
almost almost a forensic blueprint of his life, his rise,
and the quiet, utterly insidious mechanics of his power structure.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So our mission today is pretty critical.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
It is we want to analyze how this ambitious farm
boy from Madison County, Illinois managed to transition from a
small time bootlegger to an architect of institutional corruption. I
mean a system that successfully permeated the entire political, judicial,
and law enforcement infrastructure of a very large region.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Okay, so let's unpack this. I think we have to
start with the environment itself before we get into what
he did. We have to establish the strategic importance of
the setting.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Oh, the setting is everything in this analysis, absolutely everything.
We are talking about Southern Illinois, specifically that corridor situated
in your major hubs like East Saint Louis, Bellville, Collinsville,
and Fairview Heights.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
If you look at that on a map, you realize
the geographic placement was a criminal mastermind's dream.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So explain that. Why was this specific region right next
to the border of a major state and a major
city so perfect for building a lasting criminal empire.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, it was positioned perfectly in what you might call
a regulatory blind spot. On one side, you have Saint Louis,
a massive urban center, huge customer base, a huge wealthy
customer base just desperate for vice, you know, and it
had crucial transport and connection points to the national economy.
But then on the other side you have the fragmented
(03:38):
governance of southern Illinois.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Can you elaborate on that fragmented governance? What does that
actually mean in practical terms for law enforcement on the ground, It.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Means that unlike Saint Louis, which had a centralized police force,
federal agencies constantly watching and you know, often statewide oversight,
these smaller adjacent municipalities and counties like Madison and Saint Clair,
they often lacked the strong, centralized and well funded law
enforcement necessary to resist organized criminal pressure.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Their budgets were tighter, much tighter.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Budgets were tight, political appointments were common, and coordination between
say a county sheriff's department and a city police force
was often minimal or just non existent.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So it's the perfect sweet spot. You've got big city
money meets small town governance inefficiency, and that creates a
vacuum that corruption can just fill effortlessly.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
It's too close to the action to be ignored. But
it's too small and fractured to merit constant FBI attention,
at least not until it's far, far.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Too late, exactly, And this leads us directly to the
critical distinction that defines Wartman's style. He understood this vulnerability,
and he exploited it through quiet control, not spectacle. He
deliberately avoided the limelight.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Because in his era, the limelight meant trouble.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It meant the Cupover Committee showing up, or the federal
Prosecutor's office taking a special interest in you.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah. So if we compare him to Capon right and
use custom made suits in public displays of bravado to
generate this terrifying celebrity status, Wartman's approach was the complete opposite.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It was the polar opposite. The sources really emphasized that
his discretion was his single greatest operational asset. Because he
was quiet, because he was calculating, and because he maintained
such a low personal profile, his empire just operated smoothly
and critically, It operated much much longer than comparable, more
visible operations.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
He mastered this sort of counterintuitive strategy he did to
be undeniably powerful without ever needing or seeking fame.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
He wasn't interested in being feared by the general public.
He was only interested in being obeyed by the people
who mattered.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Okay, So to understand the architect, we have to trace
the foundation. Let's go back to the beginning. William Buster
Whartman was born on August twenty, nineteen hundred, right there
in Madison County, Illinois.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
So his start was genuinely rural. I mean, a far
cry from the concrete jungle we associate with organized crime.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
His roots were undern eyeably humble. He grew up grounded
in that hard physical life that was so typical of
early twentieth century Midwestern farming communities, and that environment.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It instills a certain practical toughness, a knowledge of labor,
of logistics, and a kind of stoicism. And these qualities,
when you combine them with his sharp intelligence, they really
formed the basis of his later criminal success.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But the sources suggest that essential contrast was evident early on.
It seems like while most of his peers were settling
into that predictable generational rhythm of rural life, Warpman had
this deep restlessness and ambition.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
He was smart, you're right, sharp eyed, and he was
acutely aware that the vast wealth being generated just across
the river in Saint Louis wasn't going to be earned
by following the straight and narrow path of agriculture.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And then the catalyst fate or I guess a catastrophic
federal law intervenes prohibition. The nineteen twenties, that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Single piece of legislation created a massive in unregulated criminal
economy built on illegal liquor. And for a guy like Wortman,
who's already kind of drifting into petty criminality, this wasn't
a risk. It was a boundless opportunity.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
It was the ultimate catalyst. Then it shifts him from
being just a restless farm boy to a serious valilure
in the underworld. It provided not just the revenue, but
the training ground.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh, absolutely a training ground. Saint Louis and southern Illinois
during Prohibition were incredibly volatile hotbeds. We often focus on Chicago,
but the Mississippi Corridor was crucial for moving booze from
the South and the East.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And this wasn't a peaceful transport road, I take.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
It not at all. Rival bootlegging gangs were fighting brutal,
often anonymous wars, for control over distribution routes and territory.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So he wasn't just some tough guy driving a truckload whiskey.
He was actively observing, learning the harsh mechanics of organized
crime while just trying to survive.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's the vital distinction right there. He realized early on
that mere brute force wasn't enough to lie. The sources
really highlight that he was intensely observant. He watched how
successful and maybe more importantly, unsuccessful leaders operated.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
What was he looking at? Specifically?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He learned the logistics of smuggling, how to handle violent
enforcement crews, how to form reliable, tight alliances, and you know,
most importantly, the exact techniques required to successfully compromise and
manipulate law enforcement.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
That last point feels crucial. What did he learn about
manipulating the law that set him apart from the average
bootlegger who just paid a cop on the corner.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
He learned that outright intimidation was risky and messy. Systemic compromise,
on the other hand, was clean and enduring. He observed
that so many leaders failed because they only focused on
bribing one cop or one judge.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
It's a short term solution.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
A very short term solution. Wartman learned to invest in
the system. He would fund campaigns for candidates who, once
they were elected, owed him a clete loyalty, and that
meant control over hiring, over policy, everything. His education during
Prohibition wasn't about distilling liquor. It was about mastering political leverage.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
So by the time the Volstad Act was repealed in
the early nineteen thirties, the sources are describing him as
a seasoned operator. He had the connections, the reputation for
being reliable and quiet, and all those political survival skills.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And then the economic landscape changed dramatically, almost overnight. That
massive revenue stream from bootlegging just dried up, forcing a
strategic pivot. A lot of former bootleggers they just crashed
or faded away. But Wartman, he didn't even hesitate.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He understood that the underlying demand for vice, the escape,
the thrills, the high stakes, that was still there even
if the primary commodity alcohol was now legal.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Precisely, he immediately identified gambling as the new central revenue engine,
and he saw southern Illinois, that geographically vulnerable zone right
next to a wealthy Saint Louis as a literal gold
mine for unchecked gambling operation.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
This pivot wasn't reactive then, it was pro so active
and strategic completely.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It allowed him to transition his entire infrastructure, his alliances,
his cash flow directly into building the sophisticated, pervasive structure
that would define his reign we call the Warpman Machine.
It was a move that really cemented his place as
a lasting kingpin and separated him from all this temporary
wartime opportunists.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
All right, so by the nineteen forties and fifties, the
Warpman machine is running at full throttle, and the change
in his methodology is just it's striking. He moves away
from the chaotic violence of the bootlegging years and focuses
entirely on structure, dependability, and efficiency.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
He wasn't building a game anymore. He was building a
regulated criminal services industry.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And that comparison, the sources draw that his organization operated
with the structure and efficiency of a fortune five hundred company,
only illegal That feels very apt.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
It is this wasn't about street brawl, so this was
about systemic control, risk management, and profit optimization. His reputation
wasn't built on being the toughest fighter on the block.
It was built up on being the man who could
make things happen.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Which means what exactly make things happen.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It means he could fix a political hurdle, he could
secure a needed license, or he could guarantee the silence
of authorities. He was a problem solver.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
And the breadth of his infrastructure confirms this was not
petty crime. He built this encompassing criminal structure based on
five distinct pillars of control. Let's delve into these, starting
with the economic core pillar won the massive scale of
his gambling operations.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Gambling was the lifeblood. It was the daily influx of
untraceable cash, and this included a truly astonishing variety and
volume of operations.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
So it wasn't just one thing, not at all.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Everything from the ubiquitous slot machines placed on hundreds of
bars and businesses throughout the two main counties, to massive
dice games, sophisticated card rooms, and incredibly lucrative off track
betting schemes on horse racing.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
We need to underline the scale and the clientele here,
because these weren't just small space poker games in someone's base.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
No, No, no, These were often elaborate, heavily secured, highly
exclusive clubs. They were specifically designed to attract high value clientele,
industrialists from Saint Louis, wealthy local elites, and were crucially
influential regional politicians. The money changing hands was just staggering.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And that kind of scale must have necessitated a deep infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Oh for sure, secure transport for all that cash, complex
accounting to keep track of it all, and internal security teams,
all operating completely outside the law, but with the absolute
guarantee that local law enforcement wouldn't interfere, Which.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Brings us to Pillar two. Nightclubs and bars. These were
the necessary public face of the entire operation.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
They served a critical dual purpose. On the one hand,
they offered legitimate entertainment you know, dining, dancing, liquor sales.
This provided necessary operational cover and a veneer of respectability.
But on the other hand, on the other hand, they
acted as fronts, as distribution points for slot machine revenue,
and most importantly, as secured access points to the illegal
(13:02):
backroom operations. They laundered the reputation of the enterprise, making
it appear as though Wartman was just a successful local
entrepreneur providing nightlife.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, now Pillar three, the union ties. This is where
he expanded his reach far beyond vice and into legitimate industry.
That's a classic momb strategy.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Absolutely crucial for Midwestern power structures labor unions, particularly those
involved in construction and trucking. They offered immense leverage. By
compromising or controlling key union leadership, Warmon could manipulate construction
contracts across the entire region.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So he could direct millions of dollars in spending toward
companies that were friendly to his organization. Precisely, and how
did he use that power offensively, not just to make money,
but as a weapon.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Well, he used it defensively to protect his own properties.
First of all, no organized labor strikes against his clubs, ever,
but offensively, he could shut down rivals if a competitor
popped up or a local official cause trouble. Wartman could
use organized labor disputes, sudden crippeting strikes, or boycotts to
bring pressure to bear and.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
It would completely disrupt their business and it.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Would ruin them, and it demonstrated his overwhelming localized strength
without him ever having to directly threaten violence he was
leveraging legitimate commerce for criminal ends. It was brilliant.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Pillar four was the sports and entertainment rackets. Now we're
talking about control over the contests themselves.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
It's a reliable, guaranteed revenue stream. The source material details
his involvement in things like boxing promotions where fight outcomes
could be influenced or fixed, and various betting schemes designed
to completely eliminate risk.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Because when you control both the event and the book making.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
The profits are secured. It offered a reliable supplementary income
that didn't rely solely on walk and gambling traffic. This diversification,
it just showed his comprehensive approach to racketeering.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
But as detailed and extensive as those four pillars are,
everything we've read suggests that the fifth pillar, the political machine,
that was truly Warpman's masterpiece. Without a doubt, this isn't
just a part of his empire. It was the foundation
that shielded all the others one percent.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
If the gambling was the cash flow, the political control
was the protective membrane. This is the difference between being
a successful criminal and being an architect of true institutional capture.
Wharpman didn't just pay off individual officials. He built and
maintained a machine capable of swinging elections and controlling the
(15:31):
very institutions the courts, the police, the licensing boards that
were theoretically supposed to regulate or punish him.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So how did this work in practice? Let's get into
the mechanics of how he exerted control over elected and
appointed officials.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Well, a lot of it was achieved through funding. He
became the unofficial financial clearinghouse for local and county elections.
He bankrolled favored candidates for sheriff, for state's attorney, and
for key positions on city councils. Once they were elected,
these officials ovte him complete allegiance. The control was comprehensive.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Give us some specific, source based examples of the institutions
he controlled.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Okay, look at law enforcement appointments. Sheriffs were loyal to Whartman.
That means deputies were hired based on their willingness to
comply or just look the other way. Police chiefs were
often placed or supported directly by his allies. This ensured
that local police activity, patrols, inspections, nuisance raids. It never
touched Whartman's core businesses.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And the judiciary. That's where the power of institutional capture
really becomes terrifying, doesn't.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It does precisely. The sources point to multiple judges who
owed their campaigns or their positions to the machine. And
this meant that when one of Whartman's associates was arrested,
or when a rival business tried to sue him, or
if some minor official dared to target his operations.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
The case would land on the desk of a friendly.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Judge, a sympathetic judge exactly, and charges would be minimized,
evidence would be dismissed on some technicality, or sentences would
be laughably light.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
So corruption wasn't an occasional event. It was the operating
system of the entire region.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
It was completely normalized. It created a reality where the
police departments and the court systems they weren't acting as
checks against crime. They were functional extensions of the Wartman machine.
So for the average citizen in Madison or Saint Clair County,
the rule of law was not derived from Springfield or Washington,
d C. It was derived from Buster Whartman's operational necessity.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And this level of institutional capture allowed his multi million
dollar business to thrive openly without any fear of local
consequences for years, for decades, And the physical embodiment of
this absolute, unassailable power was the infamous Piazza Club.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Ah the Piazza Club located near Collinsville. It was his
monument to impunity. On the surface, it was designed to
appeal to the highest tier of regional society, a stylish
supper club and dining establishment offering high end cuisine and music.
It looks respectable, it smelled like respectability, and look like
high society.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
But the sources make it clear that the Piasa Club
was known throughout the Midwest as the place to go
if you wanted a real high stakes action.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Oh yeah, it housed extensive illegal gambling rooms, often physically
hidden behind false walls or accessible only by discrete service entrances.
They were regionally infamous. It was the absolute epicenter of
his vast operations.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And the operational insight here is just critical.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
It is it could not have operated for years openly
serving powerful patrons without the explicit complicity of local government.
They knew where the money was, they knew who ran it,
and they did nothing.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
The clientele itself just reinforces the corruption. You had government leaders,
prominent businessmen, and high ranking law enforcement officers enjoying the
club and likely betting heavily there, while simultaneously being responsible
for enforcing the laws it was breaking.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
It created a self sustaining ecosystem of compromise. I mean,
if a police chief was gambling heavily at the Piasa Club,
how could he possibly authorize?
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Or he couldn't?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
He couldn't. The club was not just a successful business.
It was the hub where legitimate power and criminal power met, compromised,
and guaranteed each other's survival. For decades, it stood as
the definitive symbol of Buster Whartman's complete political control.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
This brings us to the man himself and his unique persona.
We've established that he was the anti capone, running this
massive criminal enterprise hidden in plain sight, protected entirely by
his discretion. We need to flesh out this image.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's truly fascinating, especially when you consider the flashy culture
of organized crime in that period. Whartman actively cultivated the
image of a respectable, if you know, somewhat successful, local businessman.
He preferred to blend in. How so, he dressed modestly,
a simple, good quality suit, not silk or loud colors.
(19:50):
He spoke softly, He never sought out attention. He avoided
the limousines, the grand houses, the constant entourage.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
It's the ultimate strategic move, Isn't it appearing harmless or
at worst merely born.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It is exactly he wanted the federal agencies to look
past southern Illinois to focus on the flashy targets in
Chicago or Kansas City. And the irony, as the sources
point out, is that his operations existed openly hundreds of
slot machines, major gambling clubs, not because he was subtle
in his crime, but because his control was so subtle
and absolute that no local official dared to challenge him.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Can we contrast this with, say, a typical reaction of
the Chicago outfit if they faced a challenge.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Oh, it's night and day. The Chicago outfit, particularly in
the capone era, reacted to challenges with immediate, visible and
terrifying violence. I mean, the Saint Valentine's Day massacre is
the ultimate example, right.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Their response was meant to terrorize the public and police
into submission.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Precisely, Wartman's system was far more sophisticated. If he faced
a challenge, it wasn't met with a tommy gun in
the street. It was met with a quiet phone call,
a mysterious license revocation from a local board, a sudden
tax audit from a state agency, or a strange ruling
in court that banks rupted the rival. Systemic paralysis was
his weapon, not overt violence.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
He achieved longevity through this strategic silence and which called
operational pleanliness, ensuring he rarely left direct fingerprints. But even
the quiet kingpin needs necessary muscle. Who handled the true
dirty work.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
That role belonged to a man named ray Red Glick.
Glick was the necessary counterpoint to Whartman's calm, buttoned up demeanor.
Glick was fearsome, uncompromising, and absolutely loyal. He was the
known enforcer, so.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
He's the guy who handled debt collection, intimidation.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
All of it, the intimidation of low level rivals, and
generally ensuring that discipline within the organization was absolute.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So Warpman could remain the respectable man in the corner office.
While Glick's reputation alone deterred most challengers.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
It was a classic division of labor that protected Wartman
Whartman handled the high level political strategy and the financial organization.
Glick managed the enforcement and the physical security. Glick ensured
that Warpman could maintain iron discipline without ever having to
dirty his own hands in the street, and that contributed
massively to that operational cleanliness that kept the heat off
(22:09):
for so long.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Now, let's address the elephant in the room, the relationship
with the biggest organized crime power in the region, the
Chicago Outfit. Was Wharpman ultimately a satellite or a subsidiary
of the Chicago Outfit.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
That's a great question, and the sources are very clear
on this. He was never an official member, nor was
he controlled by them in the way that some smaller satellite.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Operations were, So what was the relation?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Instead, he maintained a highly profitable and strategic alliance built
on a mutual respect for territorial boundaries.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
That's a remarkable achievement for a geographically isolated kingpin. Why
did the outfit tolerate his independence? Why not just move in?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Because the arrangement was mutually beneficial and frankly, highly convenient
for them. The outfit was busy dealing with internal struggles
and fierce federal pressure in Chicago. They respected that Whartman
had succes scessfully monopolized southern Illinois, a region that served
as a critical border and transport hub.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
So he kept things quiet for them.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
He kept the area peaceful and profitable, and that paid
indirect dividends to them through cooperation, particularly regarding the movement
of goods, large scale gambling, and coordination on union dealings
that spanned across the state of Illinois.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
So he managed to operate in the shadow of giants,
using their presence for his own protection, but retaining his
operational autonomy exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Southern Illinois became, in effect a controlled buffer zone. The
outfit influenced the area through Wortman, using him as a
reliable partner, rather than trying to seize direct control and
deal with the messi political entanglement themselves. This independence is
perhaps the ultimate testament to Whartman's strategic standing and political effectiveness.
He was just too profitable and too well connected locally
(23:52):
for Chicago to justify a turf war.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
And circling back to the core lesson for you, the
listener his ghost status. It wasn't about life, It was
about calculated efficiency.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
It was about understanding that in the era of mass
media and federal government expansion, visibility was a liability. He
achieved remarkable longevity and sustained control by being difficult to
legally define. He focused on strategic silence and operational hygiene,
ensuring that he remained the quietly powerful man in the shadows,
even when his most notorious operations like the Piazza Club
(24:23):
were operating in the open, protected by layers and layers
of bureaucratic compromise.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
But despite the genius of his operational security, the era
of impunity eventually began to crumble. By the late nineteen
fifties and early nineteen sixties, we see the shift in
national focus that finally cracks the armor of the Wharton machine.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
That tide was changing across the entire country. The federal government,
fueled by committees like Coover's inquiries into organized crime, began
to centralize resources and focus on dismantling the local political
machines that had protected mob bosses for decades.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And the FBI and the IRS in particular became existential threat.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
They did for Wortman. His quiet empire was suddenly exposed
to a national scrutiny. He had successfully avoided for twenty years.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So how did that federal pressure manifest in southern Illinois?
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Specifically, it manifested through continuous exhausting pressure. The federal government
targeted his financial vulnerabilities. First, the IRS began aggressive audits
against his associates, looking for tax evasion. That's the classic
A Kiney's heel of organized crime, isn't it Always? Federal prosecutors,
operating outside the local compromise court system started building cases
(25:31):
based on interstate commerce and federal racketeering statutes, and.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
This led to the inevitable raids. Right the Piasa Club
finally faced real consequences.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yes, federal raids started hitting the Piazza Club and other
key hubs. While local police had dutifully ignored these clubs
for years, federal agents they didn't. These raids severely shook
the foundations of his empire. They forced underground clubs and
casinos to close or severely restrict their activities.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
There's a butt here, isn't there There is?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
This is where we again see the incredible resilience of
his system.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So how resilient was he against the power of the
US government.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Highly resilient, at least initially The sources note that even
when his associates were indicted by federal grand juries, the
charges frequently collapsed. How why because the machine was still
strong enough to protect itself. Witnesses, even in federal cases,
proved uncooperative, they had been intimidated or compromised. Evidence often
evaporated before trial. Even under intense pressure, His deep political
(26:30):
connections carried just enough weight to slow down and frequently
derail prosecution efforts, forcing prosecutors to abandon weak or compromised cases.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
So the takedown wasn't a satisfying, dramatic federal victory. It
wasn't some big movie scene. It was a long, frustrating
war of attrition.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That's the perfect way to describe it. It wasn't a
rival's bullet or surprise arrest that ended his reign. It
was the slow, systemic grinding down of his resources, and
maybe more importantly, the aging out of his infrastructure.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
As the nineteen sixties progressed, his old alliances just started
to fade. Loyal police chiefs, retired judges passed away, and
the new generation of politicians, though perhaps still corruptible, were
facing an environment where federal oversight was constant and expected.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
So the machine began to dismantle itself from within, due
to natural attrition rather than just external force.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
He was a man of his time, and his time
was running out. In the late nineteen sixties, he quietly
stepped away from the act of day to day spotlight.
His influence was waning, but still significant. And then William
Buster Wortman died on August third, nineteen sixty eight, and
true to.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
His character, his final exit was entirely devoid of.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Fanfare, understated, and controlled right to the very end. His
funeral was small, his death meriting little more than local obituaries.
There were no national news stories or major headlines celebrating
the downfall of a crime king. He slipped into history
exactly as he had preferred to operate, without spectacle, strategically
sighed and largely forgotten by the national narrative.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Okay, let's synthesize this for you, the listener. Why does
Buster Wortman's story offer such a profound lesson today? What
is the legacy of this quiet giant?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I think his story offers really profound lessons in the
nature of real power, not the power of intimidation, but
the power of institutional control. Firstly, he was a master
of discretion. He proved definitively that quiet strategy and political
leverage are far more effective and enduring than theatrical violence
in the long run.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
And he also fundamentally alters the myth that organized crime
requires a New York or a Chicago to dominate.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Absolutely. His career demonstrates the immense power of localized control.
Small towns, rural areas, or regions with politically fragmented and
resource starved governments are the perfect environments for criminal domination.
He found the path of least resistance, and that path
went through the courthouse and the police station, and he
exploited it flawlessly.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
He is the chilling post child for institutional capture.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
That is his most crucial legacy. Whartman's success highlights exactly
how deeply political and institutional corruption can take root when
local oversight is weak and fragmented. And we are not
talking about a few individual bad apples here. We're talking
about entire departments, court systems, and legislative bodies being controlled.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
It's systemic.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
It's completely systemic. His networks successfully integrated criminal gambling and
racketeering with legitimate business and political structures, making the dividing
line between the two virtually invisible to the public. He
proved that control, not fame, is the ultimate measure of
a kingpin. For decades, whether they realized it or not,
the people of southern Illinois were living under the shadow
and the rules of Buster Whartman.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
This deep dive into William Buster Whartman has been fascinating.
We've seen the blueprint, strategic calm, systemic political leverage, and
these centralized high stakes gambling hubs like the Piasa Club,
all combining to create an empire that thrived in the critical,
yet overlooked shadows of the Midwest.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
He truly was an anomaly, a criminal genius who understood
that in the modern era, the spotlight only serves to
illuminate your weaknesses. By meticulously focusing on systemic, quiet control
rather than overt displays of power, he achieved a longevity
and a depth of influence that many more famous figures
could only dream of, and that.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Leads us to our final provocative thought. The sources remind
us that if you drive through Madison or Saint Clair
County today, you will not find any monuments to Buster Whartman,
You won't see his name celebrated in history books.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
You might not even hear it mentioned right.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Not unless you really dig beneath the surface and talk
to longtime locals who remember the way things used to work.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
And that raises an important lingering question for you, the
listener to mull over, as you consume news and political
information today. If Buster Whartman could successfully control an entire
sizeable region of a state, capturing its courts, its law enforcement,
and its political appointments, all without ever see making national
(31:00):
fame or spectacle, how many similar strategically placed empires built
on quiet institutional influence might exist today.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
That's a chilling thought.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
How many are operating just beneath the veneer of legitimate
business and local politics in America right now, just waiting
to be uncovered. The quiet kingpins are often the most dangerous.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
The history books tell us what was loud, The sources
tell us what was effective. It's a profound difference.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Always look past the headlines and ask who truly holds
the localized power.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Thank you for joining us with his deep dive. We'll
see you next time.
Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we are taking a
pretty significant detour from the usual map of American organized
crime history.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We really are.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I mean, if you, like most people, were asked to
name a famous US crime boss, your mind probably jumped
straight to the glossy spectacle of New York's Five Families, right.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh, absolutely, Or you know the chaotic, high profile wars
of the Chicago outfit under Al Capone, or maybe even
the legendary development of Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Exactly, those are the big names, the ones that made
all the headlines, and.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
They dominated the conversation. Because they dominated those headlines, they
operated with a degree of flash and spectacle that just
demanded national attention, and well that brought the full weight
of the federal government down on them eventually.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
But what if I told you that tucked away, just
across the Mississippi River from Saint Louis, in the quiet
towns and rural stretches of southern Illinois, there was a
kingpin whose operational power and criminal reach. I mean it
rivaled or perhaps even exceeded those legendary figures in terms
of longevity in control.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And yet nobody's ever heard of him.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Exactly. His name remains virtually unknown outside of regional history.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's the perfect illustration of a core operational principle. Really,
the loudest voice gets all the attention, while the most
effective operator he works in silence.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And that operator was William buster Wartman. That's the one.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
He didn't want the notoriety, you know, he didn't want
the fedora or the front page photographs. The sources are
clear on this. He was described by those who dealt
with him not as a mobster, but as a man
of understated calm. He had a deeply strategic mind. His
genius really lay in his ability to just blend in.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
And that obscurity is the hook for this deep dive.
For decades, Buster Whartman controlled rackets, Aletan's politicians and entire
local economies. He was functioning essentially as a shadow government. Yeah,
in a really significant corridor, the Midwest.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You won't find him in the big national news.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Archives, not at all. So this deep dive is our
shortcut for you, the listener, to understanding the blueprint of
this forgotten giant.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And we have some amazing sources that provide a detailed,
almost almost a forensic blueprint of his life, his rise,
and the quiet, utterly insidious mechanics of his power structure.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So our mission today is pretty critical.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
It is we want to analyze how this ambitious farm
boy from Madison County, Illinois managed to transition from a
small time bootlegger to an architect of institutional corruption. I
mean a system that successfully permeated the entire political, judicial,
and law enforcement infrastructure of a very large region.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Okay, so let's unpack this. I think we have to
start with the environment itself before we get into what
he did. We have to establish the strategic importance of
the setting.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Oh, the setting is everything in this analysis, absolutely everything.
We are talking about Southern Illinois, specifically that corridor situated
in your major hubs like East Saint Louis, Bellville, Collinsville,
and Fairview Heights.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
If you look at that on a map, you realize
the geographic placement was a criminal mastermind's dream.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So explain that. Why was this specific region right next
to the border of a major state and a major
city so perfect for building a lasting criminal empire.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, it was positioned perfectly in what you might call
a regulatory blind spot. On one side, you have Saint Louis,
a massive urban center, huge customer base, a huge wealthy
customer base just desperate for vice, you know, and it
had crucial transport and connection points to the national economy.
But then on the other side you have the fragmented
(03:38):
governance of southern Illinois.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Can you elaborate on that fragmented governance? What does that
actually mean in practical terms for law enforcement on the ground, It.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Means that unlike Saint Louis, which had a centralized police force,
federal agencies constantly watching and you know, often statewide oversight,
these smaller adjacent municipalities and counties like Madison and Saint Clair,
they often lacked the strong, centralized and well funded law
enforcement necessary to resist organized criminal pressure.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Their budgets were tighter, much tighter.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Budgets were tight, political appointments were common, and coordination between
say a county sheriff's department and a city police force
was often minimal or just non existent.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So it's the perfect sweet spot. You've got big city
money meets small town governance inefficiency, and that creates a
vacuum that corruption can just fill effortlessly.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
It's too close to the action to be ignored. But
it's too small and fractured to merit constant FBI attention,
at least not until it's far, far.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Too late, exactly, And this leads us directly to the
critical distinction that defines Wartman's style. He understood this vulnerability,
and he exploited it through quiet control, not spectacle. He
deliberately avoided the limelight.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Because in his era, the limelight meant trouble.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It meant the Cupover Committee showing up, or the federal
Prosecutor's office taking a special interest in you.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah. So if we compare him to Capon right and
use custom made suits in public displays of bravado to
generate this terrifying celebrity status, Wartman's approach was the complete opposite.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It was the polar opposite. The sources really emphasized that
his discretion was his single greatest operational asset. Because he
was quiet, because he was calculating, and because he maintained
such a low personal profile, his empire just operated smoothly
and critically, It operated much much longer than comparable, more
visible operations.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
He mastered this sort of counterintuitive strategy he did to
be undeniably powerful without ever needing or seeking fame.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
He wasn't interested in being feared by the general public.
He was only interested in being obeyed by the people
who mattered.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Okay, So to understand the architect, we have to trace
the foundation. Let's go back to the beginning. William Buster
Whartman was born on August twenty, nineteen hundred, right there
in Madison County, Illinois.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
So his start was genuinely rural. I mean, a far
cry from the concrete jungle we associate with organized crime.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
His roots were undern eyeably humble. He grew up grounded
in that hard physical life that was so typical of
early twentieth century Midwestern farming communities, and that environment.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It instills a certain practical toughness, a knowledge of labor,
of logistics, and a kind of stoicism. And these qualities,
when you combine them with his sharp intelligence, they really
formed the basis of his later criminal success.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But the sources suggest that essential contrast was evident early on.
It seems like while most of his peers were settling
into that predictable generational rhythm of rural life, Warpman had
this deep restlessness and ambition.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
He was smart, you're right, sharp eyed, and he was
acutely aware that the vast wealth being generated just across
the river in Saint Louis wasn't going to be earned
by following the straight and narrow path of agriculture.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And then the catalyst fate or I guess a catastrophic
federal law intervenes prohibition. The nineteen twenties, that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Single piece of legislation created a massive in unregulated criminal
economy built on illegal liquor. And for a guy like Wortman,
who's already kind of drifting into petty criminality, this wasn't
a risk. It was a boundless opportunity.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
It was the ultimate catalyst. Then it shifts him from
being just a restless farm boy to a serious valilure
in the underworld. It provided not just the revenue, but
the training ground.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh, absolutely a training ground. Saint Louis and southern Illinois
during Prohibition were incredibly volatile hotbeds. We often focus on Chicago,
but the Mississippi Corridor was crucial for moving booze from
the South and the East.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And this wasn't a peaceful transport road, I take.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
It not at all. Rival bootlegging gangs were fighting brutal,
often anonymous wars, for control over distribution routes and territory.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So he wasn't just some tough guy driving a truckload whiskey.
He was actively observing, learning the harsh mechanics of organized
crime while just trying to survive.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's the vital distinction right there. He realized early on
that mere brute force wasn't enough to lie. The sources
really highlight that he was intensely observant. He watched how
successful and maybe more importantly, unsuccessful leaders operated.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
What was he looking at? Specifically?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He learned the logistics of smuggling, how to handle violent
enforcement crews, how to form reliable, tight alliances, and you know,
most importantly, the exact techniques required to successfully compromise and
manipulate law enforcement.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
That last point feels crucial. What did he learn about
manipulating the law that set him apart from the average
bootlegger who just paid a cop on the corner.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
He learned that outright intimidation was risky and messy. Systemic compromise,
on the other hand, was clean and enduring. He observed
that so many leaders failed because they only focused on
bribing one cop or one judge.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
It's a short term solution.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
A very short term solution. Wartman learned to invest in
the system. He would fund campaigns for candidates who, once
they were elected, owed him a clete loyalty, and that
meant control over hiring, over policy, everything. His education during
Prohibition wasn't about distilling liquor. It was about mastering political leverage.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
So by the time the Volstad Act was repealed in
the early nineteen thirties, the sources are describing him as
a seasoned operator. He had the connections, the reputation for
being reliable and quiet, and all those political survival skills.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And then the economic landscape changed dramatically, almost overnight. That
massive revenue stream from bootlegging just dried up, forcing a
strategic pivot. A lot of former bootleggers they just crashed
or faded away. But Wartman, he didn't even hesitate.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He understood that the underlying demand for vice, the escape,
the thrills, the high stakes, that was still there even
if the primary commodity alcohol was now legal.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Precisely, he immediately identified gambling as the new central revenue engine,
and he saw southern Illinois, that geographically vulnerable zone right
next to a wealthy Saint Louis as a literal gold
mine for unchecked gambling operation.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
This pivot wasn't reactive then, it was pro so active
and strategic completely.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It allowed him to transition his entire infrastructure, his alliances,
his cash flow directly into building the sophisticated, pervasive structure
that would define his reign we call the Warpman Machine.
It was a move that really cemented his place as
a lasting kingpin and separated him from all this temporary
wartime opportunists.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
All right, so by the nineteen forties and fifties, the
Warpman machine is running at full throttle, and the change
in his methodology is just it's striking. He moves away
from the chaotic violence of the bootlegging years and focuses
entirely on structure, dependability, and efficiency.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
He wasn't building a game anymore. He was building a
regulated criminal services industry.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And that comparison, the sources draw that his organization operated
with the structure and efficiency of a fortune five hundred company,
only illegal That feels very apt.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
It is this wasn't about street brawl, so this was
about systemic control, risk management, and profit optimization. His reputation
wasn't built on being the toughest fighter on the block.
It was built up on being the man who could
make things happen.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Which means what exactly make things happen.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It means he could fix a political hurdle, he could
secure a needed license, or he could guarantee the silence
of authorities. He was a problem solver.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
And the breadth of his infrastructure confirms this was not
petty crime. He built this encompassing criminal structure based on
five distinct pillars of control. Let's delve into these, starting
with the economic core pillar won the massive scale of
his gambling operations.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Gambling was the lifeblood. It was the daily influx of
untraceable cash, and this included a truly astonishing variety and
volume of operations.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
So it wasn't just one thing, not at all.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Everything from the ubiquitous slot machines placed on hundreds of
bars and businesses throughout the two main counties, to massive
dice games, sophisticated card rooms, and incredibly lucrative off track
betting schemes on horse racing.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
We need to underline the scale and the clientele here,
because these weren't just small space poker games in someone's base.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
No, No, no, These were often elaborate, heavily secured, highly
exclusive clubs. They were specifically designed to attract high value clientele,
industrialists from Saint Louis, wealthy local elites, and were crucially
influential regional politicians. The money changing hands was just staggering.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And that kind of scale must have necessitated a deep infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Oh for sure, secure transport for all that cash, complex
accounting to keep track of it all, and internal security teams,
all operating completely outside the law, but with the absolute
guarantee that local law enforcement wouldn't interfere, Which.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Brings us to Pillar two. Nightclubs and bars. These were
the necessary public face of the entire operation.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
They served a critical dual purpose. On the one hand,
they offered legitimate entertainment you know, dining, dancing, liquor sales.
This provided necessary operational cover and a veneer of respectability.
But on the other hand, on the other hand, they
acted as fronts, as distribution points for slot machine revenue,
and most importantly, as secured access points to the illegal
(13:02):
backroom operations. They laundered the reputation of the enterprise, making
it appear as though Wartman was just a successful local
entrepreneur providing nightlife.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, now Pillar three, the union ties. This is where
he expanded his reach far beyond vice and into legitimate industry.
That's a classic momb strategy.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Absolutely crucial for Midwestern power structures labor unions, particularly those
involved in construction and trucking. They offered immense leverage. By
compromising or controlling key union leadership, Warmon could manipulate construction
contracts across the entire region.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So he could direct millions of dollars in spending toward
companies that were friendly to his organization. Precisely, and how
did he use that power offensively, not just to make money,
but as a weapon.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Well, he used it defensively to protect his own properties.
First of all, no organized labor strikes against his clubs, ever,
but offensively, he could shut down rivals if a competitor
popped up or a local official cause trouble. Wartman could
use organized labor disputes, sudden crippeting strikes, or boycotts to
bring pressure to bear and.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
It would completely disrupt their business and it.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Would ruin them, and it demonstrated his overwhelming localized strength
without him ever having to directly threaten violence he was
leveraging legitimate commerce for criminal ends. It was brilliant.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Pillar four was the sports and entertainment rackets. Now we're
talking about control over the contests themselves.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
It's a reliable, guaranteed revenue stream. The source material details
his involvement in things like boxing promotions where fight outcomes
could be influenced or fixed, and various betting schemes designed
to completely eliminate risk.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Because when you control both the event and the book making.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
The profits are secured. It offered a reliable supplementary income
that didn't rely solely on walk and gambling traffic. This diversification,
it just showed his comprehensive approach to racketeering.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
But as detailed and extensive as those four pillars are,
everything we've read suggests that the fifth pillar, the political machine,
that was truly Warpman's masterpiece. Without a doubt, this isn't
just a part of his empire. It was the foundation
that shielded all the others one percent.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
If the gambling was the cash flow, the political control
was the protective membrane. This is the difference between being
a successful criminal and being an architect of true institutional capture.
Wharpman didn't just pay off individual officials. He built and
maintained a machine capable of swinging elections and controlling the
(15:31):
very institutions the courts, the police, the licensing boards that
were theoretically supposed to regulate or punish him.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So how did this work in practice? Let's get into
the mechanics of how he exerted control over elected and
appointed officials.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Well, a lot of it was achieved through funding. He
became the unofficial financial clearinghouse for local and county elections.
He bankrolled favored candidates for sheriff, for state's attorney, and
for key positions on city councils. Once they were elected,
these officials ovte him complete allegiance. The control was comprehensive.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Give us some specific, source based examples of the institutions
he controlled.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Okay, look at law enforcement appointments. Sheriffs were loyal to Whartman.
That means deputies were hired based on their willingness to
comply or just look the other way. Police chiefs were
often placed or supported directly by his allies. This ensured
that local police activity, patrols, inspections, nuisance raids. It never
touched Whartman's core businesses.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And the judiciary. That's where the power of institutional capture
really becomes terrifying, doesn't.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It does precisely. The sources point to multiple judges who
owed their campaigns or their positions to the machine. And
this meant that when one of Whartman's associates was arrested,
or when a rival business tried to sue him, or
if some minor official dared to target his operations.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
The case would land on the desk of a friendly.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Judge, a sympathetic judge exactly, and charges would be minimized,
evidence would be dismissed on some technicality, or sentences would
be laughably light.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
So corruption wasn't an occasional event. It was the operating
system of the entire region.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
It was completely normalized. It created a reality where the
police departments and the court systems they weren't acting as
checks against crime. They were functional extensions of the Wartman machine.
So for the average citizen in Madison or Saint Clair County,
the rule of law was not derived from Springfield or Washington,
d C. It was derived from Buster Whartman's operational necessity.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And this level of institutional capture allowed his multi million
dollar business to thrive openly without any fear of local
consequences for years, for decades, And the physical embodiment of
this absolute, unassailable power was the infamous Piazza Club.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Ah the Piazza Club located near Collinsville. It was his
monument to impunity. On the surface, it was designed to
appeal to the highest tier of regional society, a stylish
supper club and dining establishment offering high end cuisine and music.
It looks respectable, it smelled like respectability, and look like
high society.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
But the sources make it clear that the Piasa Club
was known throughout the Midwest as the place to go
if you wanted a real high stakes action.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Oh yeah, it housed extensive illegal gambling rooms, often physically
hidden behind false walls or accessible only by discrete service entrances.
They were regionally infamous. It was the absolute epicenter of
his vast operations.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And the operational insight here is just critical.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
It is it could not have operated for years openly
serving powerful patrons without the explicit complicity of local government.
They knew where the money was, they knew who ran it,
and they did nothing.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
The clientele itself just reinforces the corruption. You had government leaders,
prominent businessmen, and high ranking law enforcement officers enjoying the
club and likely betting heavily there, while simultaneously being responsible
for enforcing the laws it was breaking.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
It created a self sustaining ecosystem of compromise. I mean,
if a police chief was gambling heavily at the Piasa Club,
how could he possibly authorize?
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Or he couldn't?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
He couldn't. The club was not just a successful business.
It was the hub where legitimate power and criminal power met, compromised,
and guaranteed each other's survival. For decades, it stood as
the definitive symbol of Buster Whartman's complete political control.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
This brings us to the man himself and his unique persona.
We've established that he was the anti capone, running this
massive criminal enterprise hidden in plain sight, protected entirely by
his discretion. We need to flesh out this image.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's truly fascinating, especially when you consider the flashy culture
of organized crime in that period. Whartman actively cultivated the
image of a respectable, if you know, somewhat successful, local businessman.
He preferred to blend in. How so, he dressed modestly,
a simple, good quality suit, not silk or loud colors.
(19:50):
He spoke softly, He never sought out attention. He avoided
the limousines, the grand houses, the constant entourage.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
It's the ultimate strategic move, Isn't it appearing harmless or
at worst merely born.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It is exactly he wanted the federal agencies to look
past southern Illinois to focus on the flashy targets in
Chicago or Kansas City. And the irony, as the sources
point out, is that his operations existed openly hundreds of
slot machines, major gambling clubs, not because he was subtle
in his crime, but because his control was so subtle
and absolute that no local official dared to challenge him.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Can we contrast this with, say, a typical reaction of
the Chicago outfit if they faced a challenge.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Oh, it's night and day. The Chicago outfit, particularly in
the capone era, reacted to challenges with immediate, visible and
terrifying violence. I mean, the Saint Valentine's Day massacre is
the ultimate example, right.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Their response was meant to terrorize the public and police
into submission.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Precisely, Wartman's system was far more sophisticated. If he faced
a challenge, it wasn't met with a tommy gun in
the street. It was met with a quiet phone call,
a mysterious license revocation from a local board, a sudden
tax audit from a state agency, or a strange ruling
in court that banks rupted the rival. Systemic paralysis was
his weapon, not overt violence.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
He achieved longevity through this strategic silence and which called
operational pleanliness, ensuring he rarely left direct fingerprints. But even
the quiet kingpin needs necessary muscle. Who handled the true
dirty work.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
That role belonged to a man named ray Red Glick.
Glick was the necessary counterpoint to Whartman's calm, buttoned up demeanor.
Glick was fearsome, uncompromising, and absolutely loyal. He was the
known enforcer, so.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
He's the guy who handled debt collection, intimidation.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
All of it, the intimidation of low level rivals, and
generally ensuring that discipline within the organization was absolute.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So Warpman could remain the respectable man in the corner office.
While Glick's reputation alone deterred most challengers.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
It was a classic division of labor that protected Wartman
Whartman handled the high level political strategy and the financial organization.
Glick managed the enforcement and the physical security. Glick ensured
that Warpman could maintain iron discipline without ever having to
dirty his own hands in the street, and that contributed
massively to that operational cleanliness that kept the heat off
(22:09):
for so long.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Now, let's address the elephant in the room, the relationship
with the biggest organized crime power in the region, the
Chicago Outfit. Was Wharpman ultimately a satellite or a subsidiary
of the Chicago Outfit.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
That's a great question, and the sources are very clear
on this. He was never an official member, nor was
he controlled by them in the way that some smaller satellite.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Operations were, So what was the relation?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Instead, he maintained a highly profitable and strategic alliance built
on a mutual respect for territorial boundaries.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
That's a remarkable achievement for a geographically isolated kingpin. Why
did the outfit tolerate his independence? Why not just move in?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Because the arrangement was mutually beneficial and frankly, highly convenient
for them. The outfit was busy dealing with internal struggles
and fierce federal pressure in Chicago. They respected that Whartman
had succes scessfully monopolized southern Illinois, a region that served
as a critical border and transport hub.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
So he kept things quiet for them.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
He kept the area peaceful and profitable, and that paid
indirect dividends to them through cooperation, particularly regarding the movement
of goods, large scale gambling, and coordination on union dealings
that spanned across the state of Illinois.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
So he managed to operate in the shadow of giants,
using their presence for his own protection, but retaining his
operational autonomy exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Southern Illinois became, in effect a controlled buffer zone. The
outfit influenced the area through Wortman, using him as a
reliable partner, rather than trying to seize direct control and
deal with the messi political entanglement themselves. This independence is
perhaps the ultimate testament to Whartman's strategic standing and political effectiveness.
He was just too profitable and too well connected locally
(23:52):
for Chicago to justify a turf war.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
And circling back to the core lesson for you, the
listener his ghost status. It wasn't about life, It was
about calculated efficiency.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
It was about understanding that in the era of mass
media and federal government expansion, visibility was a liability. He
achieved remarkable longevity and sustained control by being difficult to
legally define. He focused on strategic silence and operational hygiene,
ensuring that he remained the quietly powerful man in the shadows,
even when his most notorious operations like the Piazza Club
(24:23):
were operating in the open, protected by layers and layers
of bureaucratic compromise.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
But despite the genius of his operational security, the era
of impunity eventually began to crumble. By the late nineteen
fifties and early nineteen sixties, we see the shift in
national focus that finally cracks the armor of the Wharton machine.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
That tide was changing across the entire country. The federal government,
fueled by committees like Coover's inquiries into organized crime, began
to centralize resources and focus on dismantling the local political
machines that had protected mob bosses for decades.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And the FBI and the IRS in particular became existential threat.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
They did for Wortman. His quiet empire was suddenly exposed
to a national scrutiny. He had successfully avoided for twenty years.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So how did that federal pressure manifest in southern Illinois?
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Specifically, it manifested through continuous exhausting pressure. The federal government
targeted his financial vulnerabilities. First, the IRS began aggressive audits
against his associates, looking for tax evasion. That's the classic
A Kiney's heel of organized crime, isn't it Always? Federal prosecutors,
operating outside the local compromise court system started building cases
(25:31):
based on interstate commerce and federal racketeering statutes, and.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
This led to the inevitable raids. Right the Piasa Club
finally faced real consequences.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yes, federal raids started hitting the Piazza Club and other
key hubs. While local police had dutifully ignored these clubs
for years, federal agents they didn't. These raids severely shook
the foundations of his empire. They forced underground clubs and
casinos to close or severely restrict their activities.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
There's a butt here, isn't there There is?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
This is where we again see the incredible resilience of
his system.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So how resilient was he against the power of the
US government.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Highly resilient, at least initially The sources note that even
when his associates were indicted by federal grand juries, the
charges frequently collapsed. How why because the machine was still
strong enough to protect itself. Witnesses, even in federal cases,
proved uncooperative, they had been intimidated or compromised. Evidence often
evaporated before trial. Even under intense pressure, His deep political
(26:30):
connections carried just enough weight to slow down and frequently
derail prosecution efforts, forcing prosecutors to abandon weak or compromised cases.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
So the takedown wasn't a satisfying, dramatic federal victory. It
wasn't some big movie scene. It was a long, frustrating
war of attrition.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That's the perfect way to describe it. It wasn't a
rival's bullet or surprise arrest that ended his reign. It
was the slow, systemic grinding down of his resources, and
maybe more importantly, the aging out of his infrastructure.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
As the nineteen sixties progressed, his old alliances just started
to fade. Loyal police chiefs, retired judges passed away, and
the new generation of politicians, though perhaps still corruptible, were
facing an environment where federal oversight was constant and expected.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
So the machine began to dismantle itself from within, due
to natural attrition rather than just external force.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
He was a man of his time, and his time
was running out. In the late nineteen sixties, he quietly
stepped away from the act of day to day spotlight.
His influence was waning, but still significant. And then William
Buster Wortman died on August third, nineteen sixty eight, and
true to.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
His character, his final exit was entirely devoid of.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Fanfare, understated, and controlled right to the very end. His
funeral was small, his death meriting little more than local obituaries.
There were no national news stories or major headlines celebrating
the downfall of a crime king. He slipped into history
exactly as he had preferred to operate, without spectacle, strategically
sighed and largely forgotten by the national narrative.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Okay, let's synthesize this for you, the listener. Why does
Buster Wortman's story offer such a profound lesson today? What
is the legacy of this quiet giant?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I think his story offers really profound lessons in the
nature of real power, not the power of intimidation, but
the power of institutional control. Firstly, he was a master
of discretion. He proved definitively that quiet strategy and political
leverage are far more effective and enduring than theatrical violence
in the long run.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
And he also fundamentally alters the myth that organized crime
requires a New York or a Chicago to dominate.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Absolutely. His career demonstrates the immense power of localized control.
Small towns, rural areas, or regions with politically fragmented and
resource starved governments are the perfect environments for criminal domination.
He found the path of least resistance, and that path
went through the courthouse and the police station, and he
exploited it flawlessly.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
He is the chilling post child for institutional capture.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
That is his most crucial legacy. Whartman's success highlights exactly
how deeply political and institutional corruption can take root when
local oversight is weak and fragmented. And we are not
talking about a few individual bad apples here. We're talking
about entire departments, court systems, and legislative bodies being controlled.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
It's systemic.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
It's completely systemic. His networks successfully integrated criminal gambling and
racketeering with legitimate business and political structures, making the dividing
line between the two virtually invisible to the public. He
proved that control, not fame, is the ultimate measure of
a kingpin. For decades, whether they realized it or not,
the people of southern Illinois were living under the shadow
and the rules of Buster Whartman.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
This deep dive into William Buster Whartman has been fascinating.
We've seen the blueprint, strategic calm, systemic political leverage, and
these centralized high stakes gambling hubs like the Piasa Club,
all combining to create an empire that thrived in the critical,
yet overlooked shadows of the Midwest.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
He truly was an anomaly, a criminal genius who understood
that in the modern era, the spotlight only serves to
illuminate your weaknesses. By meticulously focusing on systemic, quiet control
rather than overt displays of power, he achieved a longevity
and a depth of influence that many more famous figures
could only dream of, and that.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Leads us to our final provocative thought. The sources remind
us that if you drive through Madison or Saint Clair
County today, you will not find any monuments to Buster Whartman,
You won't see his name celebrated in history books.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
You might not even hear it mentioned right.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Not unless you really dig beneath the surface and talk
to longtime locals who remember the way things used to work.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
And that raises an important lingering question for you, the
listener to mull over, as you consume news and political
information today. If Buster Whartman could successfully control an entire
sizeable region of a state, capturing its courts, its law enforcement,
and its political appointments, all without ever see making national
(31:00):
fame or spectacle, how many similar strategically placed empires built
on quiet institutional influence might exist today.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
That's a chilling thought.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
How many are operating just beneath the veneer of legitimate
business and local politics in America right now, just waiting
to be uncovered. The quiet kingpins are often the most dangerous.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
The history books tell us what was loud, The sources
tell us what was effective. It's a profound difference.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Always look past the headlines and ask who truly holds
the localized power.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Thank you for joining us with his deep dive. We'll
see you next time.
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