Oscar Goodman: Pleading The Fifth With A Side of Baked Potato
by Jack Prophet | Aug 11 2011
What does one do after being a famed mob lawyer and three-time Las Vegas mayor? Open a martini and steak restaurant in a Las Vegas
casino of course. There is probably only one person in the world with all that on his resume and that would the legendary Oscar Goodman. In a city known for driven, ambitious, and big personalities like Steve Wynn and
Sheldon Adelson, Goodman is most certainly at home.
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Oscar Goldman was born in Philadelphia in 1939 in unremarkable circumstances. After gaining his law degree he moved to Las Vegas in 1965 where he worked as a public defender. Shortly thereafter he moved on to private practice where he soon had a full revolving roster of mobster clients. Famed clients included the infamous Meyer Lansky, Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein, Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro, and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. Tony Spilotro and Frank Rosenthal were played by Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro respectively in Martin Scorsese's move Casino. In true larger than life form, Oscar Goodman played himself in the movie as their attorney.
So successful was Goodman at defending his mob clients that the Federal government at one point despaired of trying to convict anyone. However, it was probably the corporations that did more to end the dominating presence of the mob in Las Vegas than the Justice Department. By the late 80's many of his high profile clients were dead or retired and Goodman decided to move into local politics. Given that probably a lot of people owed him favours this turned out to be an inspired idea. In 1999 Goodman was sworn in as mayor of Sin City and never looked back.
During his time as mayor Goodman was often in the news for being outspoken and opinionated. At one point for instance he proposed that vandals should be punished by having their thumbs cut off. Medieval punishments aside however, Goodman proved to be the most popular mayor in the history of the city and won his two re-election victories with greater than 80% of the vote each time. This allowed him to have an enormous mandate which he wasn't shy to use. One of Goodman's mantras was the continued modernization of Las Vegas although he was always conscious of the city's storied past.
In the end term limit legislation caught up with the popular mayor who was prevented from running a fourth time by city statute in 2011. Ever game for a fight Goodman tried to have the statue changed but was unsuccessful. Undaunted he threw his weight behind a fresh faced rookie politician who just happened to be his wife. With Goodman's connections and popularity it was all but a shoe-in and Carolyn Goodman is now the incumbent mayor of Las Vegas. Hey, it's a family business!
Now in the twilight of his career the ever popular Goodman has settled into the role of a goodwill ambassador at large for the city. Some critics however unkindly maintain that he is still running the city. Whatever the case may be, he will soon be found holding court at his eponymously named steak house in the newly renovated Plaza Casino and Hotel. Certainly many things can be said about Oscar Goodman, but at the end of the day it will be hard to negate his impact upon the famed city of Las Vegas.
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