Jonathan Eig

And frankly, you know, a lot of other gangsters, a lot of other bootleggers are horrified by this.

Why are you calling attention to yourself?

You're just asking for trouble.

And it turns out that he was asking for trouble by making himself the most prominent underworld figure in America by...

making himself internationally known.

He recognized that people wanted a drink, and he was the one providing the drinks.

The government was the bad guy.

Why would you take away our booze?

America is a country of freedom.

We don't take away rights.

We're adults here.

He's also incredibly generous, spreading the money around.

He's providing jobs, you know, truck drivers and barrel makers, as well as distillers.

And he's spreading bribes around as well.

Capone's a celebrity.

When people come in from out of town, back then you'd come in for a big weekend, your honeymoon.

You might go from Iowa, drive into Chicago.

There'd be magazines you could buy filled with pictures of Capone.

Some of them would have crime scenes, too.

The crime was a part of the allure.