Todd Purdum

His father had been a supporter of the Machado regime, which is itself a kind of tragic story because Machado arose in the 1920s as a reform-minded, progressive politician who then, once he got in office, became corrupted by power. He suspended normal electoral processes and really kind of became a dictatorial figure and president.

There's no indication that Tessie's father was himself part of the Machado era corruption, but he had backed the regime. He was, by that point, a member of the National Assembly in Congress in Havana. And so he was tarred by association with the Machado regime and fled when it fell.

There's no indication that Tessie's father was himself part of the Machado era corruption, but he had backed the regime. He was, by that point, a member of the National Assembly in Congress in Havana. And so he was tarred by association with the Machado regime and fled when it fell.

There's no indication that Tessie's father was himself part of the Machado era corruption, but he had backed the regime. He was, by that point, a member of the National Assembly in Congress in Havana. And so he was tarred by association with the Machado regime and fled when it fell.

Yes, he and his mother fled from Santiago after the regime fell to relatives in Havana. And he saw things that no teenage boy should probably ever want to have to see, including a man's head stuck on a long pole hung in front of his house and his body was hung two doors down. I think, you know, it was an era when people wouldn't have necessarily processed this in the way we might now.

Yes, he and his mother fled from Santiago after the regime fell to relatives in Havana. And he saw things that no teenage boy should probably ever want to have to see, including a man's head stuck on a long pole hung in front of his house and his body was hung two doors down. I think, you know, it was an era when people wouldn't have necessarily processed this in the way we might now.

Yes, he and his mother fled from Santiago after the regime fell to relatives in Havana. And he saw things that no teenage boy should probably ever want to have to see, including a man's head stuck on a long pole hung in front of his house and his body was hung two doors down. I think, you know, it was an era when people wouldn't have necessarily processed this in the way we might now.

And I think Desi must have been haunted for the rest of his life by this youthful dislocation. The strange part about it is it's that dislocation that also sparked his enormous drive to succeed. So it gave him, on the one hand, a tremendous willingness to take risks because he'd lost everything. He figured, what the heck, you know, I might as well try something new.

And I think Desi must have been haunted for the rest of his life by this youthful dislocation. The strange part about it is it's that dislocation that also sparked his enormous drive to succeed. So it gave him, on the one hand, a tremendous willingness to take risks because he'd lost everything. He figured, what the heck, you know, I might as well try something new.

And I think Desi must have been haunted for the rest of his life by this youthful dislocation. The strange part about it is it's that dislocation that also sparked his enormous drive to succeed. So it gave him, on the one hand, a tremendous willingness to take risks because he'd lost everything. He figured, what the heck, you know, I might as well try something new.

But it also, in the end, I think, must have left a lot of ghosts rattling around inside his psyche that he sought refuge from in alcohol. Yeah.

But it also, in the end, I think, must have left a lot of ghosts rattling around inside his psyche that he sought refuge from in alcohol. Yeah.

But it also, in the end, I think, must have left a lot of ghosts rattling around inside his psyche that he sought refuge from in alcohol. Yeah.

Killing rats with baseball bats, yes.

Killing rats with baseball bats, yes.

Killing rats with baseball bats, yes.

Yes, and I think that must have been a really wrenching dislocation, that he was on track to go to Notre Dame to become a lawyer, to come to college in America, and then suddenly he's kind of struggling to get through high school in Miami Beach, struggling to learn English, struggling to reinvent himself, becoming a musician, catching the attention of...

Yes, and I think that must have been a really wrenching dislocation, that he was on track to go to Notre Dame to become a lawyer, to come to college in America, and then suddenly he's kind of struggling to get through high school in Miami Beach, struggling to learn English, struggling to reinvent himself, becoming a musician, catching the attention of...

Yes, and I think that must have been a really wrenching dislocation, that he was on track to go to Notre Dame to become a lawyer, to come to college in America, and then suddenly he's kind of struggling to get through high school in Miami Beach, struggling to learn English, struggling to reinvent himself, becoming a musician, catching the attention of...

Savior Cugat, the rumba band leader, and the next thing you know, he's playing at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. So I think his head must have been spinning by all the various changes in his life that came when he was still really in his late teens.