WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 I want you to picture a resume for a second. 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:05.519 Just imagine reading down a list of a single 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.039 person's life accomplishments and seeing this 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.679 specific sequence. OK, and picturing it. You've 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.140 got taking down America's most notorious bank 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:17.059 robbers. Right. Dating Hollywood starlets. Getting 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.120 General George Patton demoted. And then, just 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.899 to cap it all off, being the last person to interrogate 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.079 top Nazi Hermann Göring. It sounds completely 00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:29.399 fictional. I mean, like a pitch for a movie that 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:31.879 a studio executive would reject for being way 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:34.659 too unbelievable. Correctly. But it is entirely 00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:37.560 real. We are looking at the life of one man who 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:40.840 somehow stood at the exact intersection of 1930s 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:43.240 true crime history and the world shaping events 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.659 of World War Two. Yeah. So today our mission 00:00:45.659 --> 00:00:48.119 for this deep dive is to explore the unbelievable 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:50.560 roller coaster life of America's most famous 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.920 yet somehow totally forgotten G -Man. We're pulling 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:56.179 all of this from a comprehensive Wikipedia article 00:00:56.179 --> 00:00:59.340 on Melvin Horace Purvis II. Melvin Purvis, right. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.719 We really want to get into the mechanics of his 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.799 investigations, but also look at what his story 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.780 reveals about the cost of fame, massive institutional 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:12.060 politics, and just the totally unpredictable 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:14.560 nature of history. I can promise you an incredible 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.560 narrative today. Purvis is a figure who proves 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:20.260 that the people who shape our history are You 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:23.340 know, they're rarely one -dimensional. They navigate 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:27.569 dizzying highs and suffer very quiet, mysterious 00:01:27.569 --> 00:01:30.810 lows. And to really understand him, we have to 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:32.969 look at how he operated within systems that were 00:01:32.969 --> 00:01:35.230 often much bigger than he was. So let's jump 00:01:35.230 --> 00:01:37.269 in. I know you listening are probably well versed 00:01:37.269 --> 00:01:39.769 in the 1930s gangster era and the rise of the 00:01:39.769 --> 00:01:41.510 FBI. So we don't need to retread the basics. 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:45.209 But looking at Purvis's start in 1927, there's 00:01:45.209 --> 00:01:46.989 a detail in his early performance reviews at 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:49.069 the Bureau of Investigation that I found so revealing. 00:01:49.189 --> 00:01:50.950 You're talking about the rulebook scores. Yes. 00:01:51.290 --> 00:01:54.609 He consistently got a 100 % rating on his appearance 00:01:54.609 --> 00:01:57.599 and his loyalty to the Bureau, but he only scored 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.040 an 80 % on his understanding of the Manual of 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:01.980 Instruction. Which Hoover hated. Right, Jake 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:04.480 or Hoover actually scolded him. He told him an 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.439 80 % on the Rule Manual was unacceptable. What's 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.000 fascinating here is that this sets up the fundamental 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:13.349 dynamic of his career. Purvis wasn't a bureaucrat. 00:02:13.490 --> 00:02:15.849 He was an intuitive investigator. He relied on 00:02:15.849 --> 00:02:19.370 his gut. Exactly. You see this perfectly in 1933 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:21.669 when Hoover puts him in charge of the Chicago 00:02:21.669 --> 00:02:25.090 office. Purvis takes on the John Factor kidnapping 00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:28.710 case. Factor had been held captive for 11 days 00:02:28.710 --> 00:02:31.449 by the Roger Tuffy gang. And when he was released, 00:02:32.289 --> 00:02:34.110 Purvis didn't just rely on standard procedure, 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:37.150 did he? No, he hyper -focused on factors environmental 00:02:37.150 --> 00:02:39.150 memory. What kind of environmental clues are 00:02:39.150 --> 00:02:41.069 we talking about here? Things like the specific 00:02:41.069 --> 00:02:43.370 sounds of airplanes, the texture of the walls, 00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:46.550 the voices of the abductors. Purvis and his team 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:49.270 used those sensory details to triangulate the 00:02:49.270 --> 00:02:52.120 gang's exact hideout. That is wild. Just from 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.639 sounds and wall textures. Yeah. They raided the 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.139 house, found the specific linen strips and window 00:02:57.139 --> 00:02:59.900 sash cord used to tie victims, and Purvis managed 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:02.039 to get the gang brought to him in Chicago without 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:04.259 even waiting for a formal extradition order. 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:07.580 It was brilliant, unconventional police work 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:10.780 and a massive win. But that unconventional style 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:13.500 hits a massive brick wall when we get to the 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:17.699 spring of 1934. OK, let's unpack the little Bohemia 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:22.030 Lodge disaster. By April, the Bureau is hunting 00:03:22.030 --> 00:03:24.009 John Dillinger's gang. They've been on the run, 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:26.409 they're completely exhausted, and they holler 00:03:26.409 --> 00:03:28.689 out at this remote lodge in northern Wisconsin. 00:03:28.889 --> 00:03:32.430 Right. The lodge owner's wife sneaks word out, 00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:36.069 and Purvis gets the tip. But this operation is 00:03:36.069 --> 00:03:37.909 a logistical nightmare from the start, isn't 00:03:37.909 --> 00:03:40.129 it? Nightmare doesn't even begin to cover it. 00:03:40.370 --> 00:03:43.280 Because of jurisdictional red tape. Hoover assigns 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.659 Assistant Director Hugh Clegg to co -manage with 00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:47.759 Purvis. Which just slows everything down. It 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:50.680 does. They are trying to coordinate a multi -state 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.360 strike force in an era before reliable two -way 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:56.219 radios or easy air travel. They literally charter 00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:58.500 commercial planes from Chicago and Minnesota. 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:00.599 But the planes can't even get them close. No, 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.860 they can only get to an airport 50 miles away 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:05.360 from the lodge. And from there, it just devolves 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:09.280 into utter chaos. Completely. Clegg is scouring 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.759 this small Wisconsin town at dusk, renting whatever 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:16.060 civilian cars he can find. Purvis is sent to 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:18.879 a local Ford dealership to grab vehicles. He 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.800 even commandeers a car from a random bystander 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:23.959 at the airport. Just a guy dropping someone off? 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.420 Yeah, just took his car. And you have to picture 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:29.519 this. These agents are driving for two hours 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:33.000 over slushy, muddy, pothole -filled back roads. 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:36.319 Two of their commandeered cars break down entirely. 00:04:36.339 --> 00:04:39.740 Oh, no. So now, you have heavily armed federal 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:42.220 agents forced to ride on the exterior running 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:45.040 boards of the remaining cars. Just hanging onto 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.319 the outside of the cars. Clutching their machine 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:49.259 guns in the freezing night air. And they have 00:04:49.259 --> 00:04:50.980 no reconnaissance either. They're going off a 00:04:50.980 --> 00:04:53.500 hand -drawn map. Right. And when they arrive, 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:56.139 the lodge is pitch black. And the very first 00:04:56.139 --> 00:04:57.959 thing that goes wrong is something no one could 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.759 have planned for. The lodge owners had dogs. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:03.920 Of course. The dogs start barking wildly, completely 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.800 blowing the element of surprise. And then the 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:09.899 tragedy happens. There are three men who walk 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:12.720 out of the lodge and get into a parked car. Can 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.040 you explain who these guys were? Yeah. Because 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:16.660 they weren't part of the game. No, they were 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:19.459 Innocent Civilian Conservation Corps workers. 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:22.300 The CCC. Yeah, a Great Depression -era government 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:25.139 work relief program. These three men had just 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:27.600 been having dinner at the lodge. They get into 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.660 a car, turn on the engine, and the car radio 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:32.360 is blaring. So when the agents step out of the 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.839 darkness and yell for them to freeze? The workers 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.899 literally cannot hear the commands over the radio. 00:05:38.019 --> 00:05:40.860 That is just awful. It's a devastating communication 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:44.060 breakdown. The workers start driving away. Purvis, 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:46.160 assuming this is the Dillinger gang trying to 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.720 escape, simultaneously give the order to open 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.920 fire. Oh my god. They kill a 33 -year -old CCC 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.759 worker named Eugene Boyzano and wound the other 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.279 two. Federal agents had just shot innocent government 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:01.000 relief workers. And while that crossfire is happening, 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:03.720 the actual gangsters start shooting from the 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:06.720 dark. Right. Purvis spots a fleeing figure, tries 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:09.360 to fire, but his machine gun jams. Of course 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.160 it does. That figure turns out to be Babyface 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.699 Nelson. He escapes, steals the exact car Purvis 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:17.860 had commandeered from the airport bystander, 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:20.860 and kills a special agent before vanishing. Meanwhile, 00:06:21.139 --> 00:06:22.759 Dillinger and the rest of the gang just slip 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.000 out the second story back windows into the woods? 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:27.680 It was an unmitigated disaster. The local public 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.199 was absolutely furious. Reporters actually faked 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:34.040 a petition from local residents to present to 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:36.740 civic organizations. Just to manufacture headlines 00:06:36.740 --> 00:06:39.949 demanding that Purvis be suspended. Yeah. It 00:06:39.949 --> 00:06:42.189 stood as the Bureau's worst operational failure 00:06:42.189 --> 00:06:45.430 for the next 59 years. But Hoover doesn't fire 00:06:45.430 --> 00:06:48.069 him. He brings in Inspector Samuel P. Calley 00:06:48.069 --> 00:06:51.470 to oversee the manhunt, but Purvis stays in Chicago. 00:06:52.089 --> 00:06:56.269 Which brings us to July 1934 and the famous Biograph 00:06:56.269 --> 00:06:58.949 Theater stakeout. How does Purvis finally corner 00:06:58.949 --> 00:07:01.139 Dillinger? It all comes down to a woman named 00:07:01.139 --> 00:07:03.699 Anna Sage. She was a Romanian immigrant operating 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:06.819 a brothel in Chicago, and she was facing deportation 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:09.959 as an undesirable alien. She realizes her friend, 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:13.639 Polly Hamilton, is secretly dating John Dillinger. 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:17.519 Sage sees a lifeline. She contacts Purvis and 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.779 offers to set up Dillinger in exchange for staying 00:07:19.779 --> 00:07:21.800 in the U .S. and a portion of the reward money. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.620 I found Purvis's response to her really interesting. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:27.529 He doesn't make promises he can't keep. He is 00:07:27.529 --> 00:07:29.990 remarkably upfront. He tells her he doesn't have 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:32.350 the legal authority to halt a State Department 00:07:32.350 --> 00:07:35.050 deportation, but he promises he will officially 00:07:35.050 --> 00:07:37.649 recommend her to stay. She agrees and tips them 00:07:37.649 --> 00:07:39.649 off that they're all going to the Biograph Theater 00:07:39.649 --> 00:07:42.769 the next night. Yes. Here's where it gets really 00:07:42.769 --> 00:07:45.389 interesting. The atmosphere of this stakeout 00:07:45.389 --> 00:07:48.269 is so cinematic, it's a suffocatingly hot July 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:51.029 evening. Dillinger arrives in a straw boater 00:07:51.029 --> 00:07:54.509 hat. Classic 30s detail. Right. Purvis actually 00:07:54.509 --> 00:07:57.259 buys a ticket. goes inside the theater to see 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.259 if he can arrest him in the seats, but realizes 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:02.199 it's way too crowded. He'd risk a massive civilian 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:04.480 crossfire. Smart call after a little bohemian. 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:06.600 Definitely. So he comes back out and sets up 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.439 a system of signals with his agents and the local 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:11.480 Chicago police. The tension must have been agonizing. 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:14.199 They wait outside for two hours. The federal 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.139 men are loitering in the doorways for so long 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:19.199 that the feeder employees actually think they're 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.360 casing the joint for a robbery. They called the 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.259 cops on the feds. They called the local cops. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.339 A squad car pulls up and a federal agent has 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:28.959 to quietly flash his badge to wave them off before 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:31.339 Dillinger walks out. And when the movie finally 00:08:31.339 --> 00:08:34.610 ends... the signal plan completely falls apart. 00:08:35.110 --> 00:08:38.110 Yes. The plan was for Purvis to light a cigar 00:08:38.110 --> 00:08:41.029 to confirm Dillinger's identity, then wave his 00:08:41.029 --> 00:08:43.809 hand to signal the local police to move in. Dillinger 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:47.230 walks out, Purvis strikes a match, lights the 00:08:47.230 --> 00:08:50.009 cigar, waves his hand. And the local cops miss 00:08:50.009 --> 00:08:53.139 it. They miss it. They are distracted by a pedestrian. 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:55.559 Purvis literally has to walk out into the middle 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:57.740 of the sidewalk and wave again and they miss 00:08:57.740 --> 00:08:59.940 it a second time. So the backup agents realize 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:02.620 the cops aren't moving and they start to close 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:05.440 in themselves. But Dillinger senses the shift 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:07.799 in the crowd. Polly Hamilton gives his shirt 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:10.279 a slight warning tug. Dillinger reaches for his 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:13.139 pistol. Purvis moves so fast to draw his own 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:14.899 weapon that he tears the buttons right off his 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:17.740 jacket. But it's agents Herman Hollis, Charles 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:21.039 Winstead and Clarence Hurt who fire first. Dillinger 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.539 is killed instantly. It's an incredible tactical 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:26.919 redemption for Purvis. But I want to pause on 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:29.779 Anna Sage for a second because the fallout for 00:09:29.779 --> 00:09:33.200 her is brutal. It is a tragic irony. Purvis kept 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.519 his word. He officially wrote to Hoover. He released 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:38.039 public statements crediting her. He fought for 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.679 her. But the State Department refused to budge. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.139 They deported her to Romania anyway. It really 00:09:44.139 --> 00:09:46.539 highlights how little power an individual agent 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.019 had against the broader federal machine. And 00:09:49.019 --> 00:09:51.799 that broader machine is about to turn on Purvis 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:54.220 himself. Yeah. Because three months later, in 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:57.980 October 1934, Purvis and his team tracked down 00:09:57.980 --> 00:10:00.379 pretty boy Floyd at an Ohio farmhouse. Right. 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:03.360 Floyd is killed after sprinting zigzagging across 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:06.039 an open field, two massive public enemies down 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:08.710 in a matter of months. Pervis becomes a national 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:11.169 superhero. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:10:11.350 --> 00:10:13.250 this is where the institutional politics come 00:10:13.250 --> 00:10:15.710 into play. If you've ever had a boss who demanded 00:10:15.710 --> 00:10:18.629 total credit for your work or felt deeply threatened 00:10:18.629 --> 00:10:21.389 by your individual success, you will understand 00:10:21.389 --> 00:10:24.450 exactly what Pervis was facing, just on a national 00:10:24.450 --> 00:10:27.730 scale. Pervis was endorsing Gillette razors, 00:10:28.370 --> 00:10:32.549 Dodge cars, post... Toasty cereal. He was a pop 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:35.470 culture icon. And J. Edgar Hoover was building 00:10:35.470 --> 00:10:39.009 a very different mythos. Hoover wanted the institution 00:10:39.009 --> 00:10:42.289 of the FBI to be the hero, not any single agent. 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:45.350 And frankly, he was intensely jealous. The jealousy 00:10:45.350 --> 00:10:48.350 was toxic. Hoover began freezing Purvis out, 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:51.370 criticizing him constantly. There is a surviving 00:10:51.370 --> 00:10:54.509 internal FBI memo written after Purvis eventually 00:10:54.509 --> 00:10:57.590 left, discussing a newspaper article about Purvis's 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:00.090 massive publicity. What did it say? On that memo, 00:11:00.210 --> 00:11:02.769 Hoover wrote in his own angry handwriting, someone 00:11:02.769 --> 00:11:05.470 at Chicago must have talked. Wow. The environment 00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:07.750 became so hostile that Purvis was essentially 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:10.110 forced to resign in 1935. You would think that's 00:11:10.110 --> 00:11:12.409 the peak of a life. Resigning after taking down 00:11:12.409 --> 00:11:14.370 the biggest outlaws of the century. But this 00:11:14.370 --> 00:11:16.710 is where his trajectory gets gets wildly unpredictable. 00:11:16.809 --> 00:11:19.350 She really does. He moves to Hollywood, passes 00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:22.110 the California bar, and just leans into the celebrity. 00:11:22.450 --> 00:11:25.210 He's living a completely different life. He forms 00:11:25.210 --> 00:11:28.110 a junior G -Man club as a radio marketing scheme. 00:11:28.610 --> 00:11:32.230 He writes a memoir called American Agent. He's 00:11:32.230 --> 00:11:35.389 socializing with Clark Gable. He briefly dates 00:11:35.389 --> 00:11:38.009 Hollywood icon Gene Harlow. He's a technical 00:11:38.009 --> 00:11:40.570 advisor for movies. But then World War II breaks 00:11:40.570 --> 00:11:43.600 out. And Purvis immediately contacts Hoover, 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.320 basically begging the director not to use his 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.039 influence to block Purvis from joining the military. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.860 And it works. By 1942, he is a captain in the 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:55.299 Army, assigned to the Provost Marshal General's 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:57.799 office. Because of his unique background in high 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:00.080 -stakes federal investigations, he's sent to 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:02.740 the North African theater. His primary directive 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:05.500 is military intelligence and busting up massive 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:07.620 black market operations. We're talking about 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:10.500 syndicates stealing up to 20 % of American military 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:12.919 material and selling it illegally. Yeah, huge 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:15.159 rings. But his most famous investigation in the 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:17.039 military had nothing to do with stolen goods. 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.019 It had to do with the General George S. Patton. 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.860 Right. How does a former FBI agent end up going 00:12:21.860 --> 00:12:25.759 toe to toe with America's most famous and intimidating 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.860 four -star general? It stems from the infamous 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:33.220 slapping incidents of August 1943. Patton was 00:12:33.220 --> 00:12:36.320 visiting evacuation hospitals in Sicily and encountered 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.620 two soldiers suffering from what they called 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:42.000 battle fatigue or shell shock. What we now medically 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.279 recognize as PTSD. Exactly. Patton didn't believe 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:47.100 in the condition. He thought they were cowards, 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.159 and he physically slapped and verbally abused 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.980 them. And when word of this reaches General Eisenhower, 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:55.259 it's a massive political crisis. Eisenhower needs 00:12:55.259 --> 00:12:58.500 someone to investigate who has absolute investigative 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:01.500 integrity, someone who knows how to handle hostile 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:04.279 witnesses, and crucially, someone who will not 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:07.240 be intimidated by the stars on Patton's shoulder. 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:10.240 He sends Melvin Purvis? He sends Purvis. He travels 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:12.440 to the hospitals, interviews the medical staff, 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:15.519 interviews the witnesses, and compiles a devastatingly 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.720 thorough impartial report. And it was that specific 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.179 report that gave Eisenhower the ammunition he 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:24.019 needed to discipline Patton. Yes. Because of 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:26.539 Purvis's findings, Patton was temporarily relieved 00:13:26.539 --> 00:13:29.480 of field command and demoted to military governor 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.230 of Sicily. It is staggering to think the same 00:13:32.230 --> 00:13:35.190 man who staked out a Chicago movie theater took 00:13:35.190 --> 00:13:37.570 down one of the most powerful military figures 00:13:37.570 --> 00:13:39.889 of the 20th century. And his responsibilities 00:13:39.889 --> 00:13:43.750 only escalate from there. By 1945, the war is 00:13:43.750 --> 00:13:45.769 ending and the War Department tasks him with 00:13:45.769 --> 00:13:48.649 helping organize the War Crimes Division. He's 00:13:48.649 --> 00:13:50.950 literally running around Heidelberg, Germany, 00:13:51.389 --> 00:13:53.590 tracking down rumors of Adolf Hitler's remains 00:13:53.590 --> 00:13:56.639 and hunting for Martin Borman. He is instrumental 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:59.179 in establishing the interrogations and protocols 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:01.320 that would become the Nuremberg trials. Which 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:05.840 leads to October 15th, 1946. Purvis is in a prison 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.379 cell in Nuremberg, conducting a face -to -face 00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:10.639 interview with Hermann Goering, the architect 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.779 of the Luftwaffe and the highest ranking Nazi 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:15.580 official to stand trial. It's an incredible moment. 00:14:16.160 --> 00:14:18.679 Guring looks at Purvis, this kid from South Carolina 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:21.240 turned global investigator, and asks him point 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:24.059 blank if there is any political maneuver, any 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:26.620 possible way he can avoid his sentence of execution 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:29.059 by hanging. And Purvis looks him in the eye and 00:14:29.059 --> 00:14:32.299 simply tells him no. The finality of that. And 00:14:32.299 --> 00:14:35.379 that very night, shortly after that interrogation, 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:38.679 Guring commits suicide by ingesting a smuggled 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:41.730 cyanide capsule in his cell. Purvis was literally 00:14:41.730 --> 00:14:43.690 at the epicenter of the closing chapter of the 00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:46.450 Nazi regime. It is a life so dense with historical 00:14:46.450 --> 00:14:49.649 crossovers, it's hard to process. But we have 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:51.990 to look at the final chapter of his life, because 00:14:51.990 --> 00:14:54.549 after he returns to civilian life in South Carolina, 00:14:54.950 --> 00:14:58.590 the story takes a very dark, quiet turn. It does. 00:14:59.009 --> 00:15:02.450 Fast forward to 1960. Purvis is 56 years old. 00:15:02.610 --> 00:15:04.590 He's been working on Senate subcommittees, running 00:15:04.590 --> 00:15:07.429 a local radio station, but his health is rapidly 00:15:07.429 --> 00:15:09.860 deteriorating. He's terrified that he's suffering 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.000 from a progressive degenerative bone disease. 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.019 He looked awful. Colleagues in Washington had 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:17.019 practically forced him to fly home to rest. And 00:15:17.019 --> 00:15:20.240 on February 29, 1960, his wife found him dead 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.460 on the upstairs landing of their home in Florence, 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:25.139 South Carolina. He had died from a gunshot wound 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:27.320 to the head. The FBI immediately investigated 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:30.019 and ruled it a suicide. But the local coroner's 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:32.159 report did not actually label the cause of death 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:35.759 as suicide, did it? No, the coroner left it undetermined. 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:38.399 This raises an important question about how we 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:40.360 interpret the end of his life. Right. On one 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:42.960 hand, he was in terrible health and deeply depressed 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.379 about his physical decline. On the other hand, 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:48.279 just weeks prior, he had told a colleague he 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:51.120 had far too much to live for to ever take his 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:53.919 own life. There's a theory that it might have 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.179 been a tragic accident. Can you explain the context 00:15:57.179 --> 00:15:59.320 of what he was supposedly doing with the gun? 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.960 Sure. Purvis was an avid gun collector and tinkerer. 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:06.240 The alternative theory, supported by some later 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.679 investigations and family members, is that he 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.419 was trying to extract a jammed tracer bullet 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.639 from a pistol casing. A tracer bullet contains 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.159 a small pyrotechnic charge that burns brightly 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:21.179 when fired. Extracting a jammed one is a notoriously 00:16:21.179 --> 00:16:23.919 tricky and dangerous procedure. It's entirely 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.019 possible the gun discharged accidentally while 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:28.019 he was working on it. So why does all of this 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.360 matter for you listening to this today? I think 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:32.639 Melvin Purvis's life proves that the figures 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:34.879 staring back at us from history books are never 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.980 just the one thing they are famous for. They 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:40.639 are overwhelmingly complex. They navigate massive, 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:43.860 crushing institutional politics. They achieve 00:16:43.860 --> 00:16:47.100 dizzying, world -samus highs. And they suffer 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:51.269 quiet. agonizingly ambiguous lows he was a young 00:16:51.269 --> 00:16:54.730 agent who couldn't pass a rulebook test the architect 00:16:54.730 --> 00:16:57.730 of a spectacular tactical failure at Little Bohemia, 00:16:58.330 --> 00:17:00.750 the hero of the Biograph Theater, a Hollywood 00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:03.529 socialite, a World War II investigator who held 00:17:03.529 --> 00:17:06.589 a legendary American general accountable, and 00:17:06.589 --> 00:17:08.970 a witness to the final desperate moments of the 00:17:08.970 --> 00:17:11.549 Nazi high command. It is an incredible trajectory 00:17:11.549 --> 00:17:14.230 from South Carolina to the neon lights of Chicago 00:17:14.230 --> 00:17:17.049 to the cold halls of Nuremberg. But I want to 00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:18.930 leave you with one final thought to mull over. 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:21.309 Something about the very end of his story that 00:17:21.309 --> 00:17:23.910 just haunts me. Yeah. Consider the weapon that 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:26.130 ended Melvin Purvis's life on that landing in 00:17:26.130 --> 00:17:28.410 South Carolina. It wasn't just any firearm from 00:17:28.410 --> 00:17:30.650 his collection. No, it wasn't. It was the very 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:32.349 pistol that had been given to him as a farewell 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:34.670 gift by his fellow agents when he resigned from 00:17:34.670 --> 00:17:37.930 the FBI in 1935. Whether his death was a tragic 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:40.049 misfire while dinkering with a tracer bullet 00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:42.309 or a deliberate choice made in the depths of 00:17:42.309 --> 00:17:45.009 a terrifying health crisis, the institution that 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:47.769 gave him his legendary fame ultimately provided 00:17:47.769 --> 00:17:50.609 the literal instrument of his demise. What does 00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:52.410 it say about our lives when the symbols of our 00:17:52.410 --> 00:17:54.430 greatest triumphs become the tools of our final 00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:54.930 undoing?