Most people know Eliot Ness as the man who fought the Capone Mob in Chicago, but there were much more durable achievements after he left Chicago. After his success in Chicago, Ness became head of the police and fire departments in Cleveland, Ohio. He transformed a corrupt and incompetent police force into a modern model for the country. His contributions to Cleveland’s safety forces were the pinnacle of his career.
Later, he became the chairman of Diebold Corporation. Subsequent business ventures did not fare as well. In a lapse of judgment, he was persuaded to run in an unsuccessful bid for mayor of Cleveland as an independent against a popular Democratic incumbent. He, his third wife, Betty Andersen Ness, and his adopted son, Bobby, led a humble existence in Coudersport, PA until his death on May 16, 1957, of a heart attack.