John Little McClellan (1896-1977)

Arkansas’ Democrat senator, he will be in office from 1943 until his death. He passed his bar exam in 1913 at the age of 17, becoming the youngest lawyer in the U.S. He will give his name to the McClellan Commission, more commonly known as the Valachi Commission because of it’s star witness, Joseph Valachi, the first member of the Mafia to testify against the Cosa Nostra. His testimony will help the public draw a general picture of the underworld and the Commission will shed light on the illegal activities ad ties between Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters and certain high ranking officers of the Mafia such as Sam Giancana. It is Joseph Valachi who, in 1963, will be the first member of the mafia to testify against the organization, thus revealing its very existence to the population at large and giving the people a glimpse of the extent of its operations in North America. It is during these proceedings that McClellan will hire a young lawyer by the name of Robert Kennedy, turning him into an instant star. McClellan will continue his war against organized crime until 1973, when he will begin devoting his attention to subversion and corruption in the governement itself, especially the ties between certain national defense contractors and the Texan financier Billie Sol Estes.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Little_McClellan