'Boardwalk Empire' Author: Corruption Key to Atlantic City's Success

'Boardwalk Empire' Author: Corruption Key to Atlantic City's Success
Nelson Johnson's book provides the historical background for the acclaimed HBO series of the same name.
By Lauren Burgoon

Corruption in Atlantic City is entrenched and enduring—and absolutely necessary for the town’s success as a Jersey Shore gaming destination, according to Boardwalk Empire author Nelson Johnson.

Without early corruption, Atlantic City would not be the gaming mecca it is today, and the town would more closely resemble “Camden by the Shore” or “Asbury Park South” today, Johnson told an audience Thursday at Camden County College (CCC).

The author, a judge in Atlantic County, appeared at the invitation of CCC’s Center for Civic Leadership and Responsibility.

Johnson’s book provides the historical basis for Boardwalk Empire, the HBO series that chronicles politician and racketeer Nucky Thomspon. Played by Steve Buscemi, the character is based on Enoch “Nucky” Johnson (no relation to the author), a Republican political boss who ruled during Atlantic City’s climb to a top tourist destination.

As one of Johnson’s interview subjects told him, “If the people who came to Atlantic City wanted Bible readings, we would have given them that. But they never asked for Bible readings,” the author recounted. “They wanted booze, broads and gambling.”

Providing those vices meant there had to be “accommodations” from law enforcement, from sidestepping the drinking ban on Sundays to ignoring alcohol consumption altogether during Prohibition.

Nucky’s political clout resulted in officials indebted to him, and therefore more than willing to turn a blind eye to illegal activities. That freedom made Atlantic City a welcome escape for tourists from the tri-state area.

Even though Atlantic City’s sheen has diminished somewhat in recent decades, Nucky’s legacy of corruption endures. Johnson came up against it himself while serving on the city’s Planning Board at a time when many of the modern casinos were seeking approvals.

“I went into City Hall knowing it was corrupt,” Johnson said. “But I had no idea just how dysfunctional City Hall was, and I thought to myself, ‘How the hell did the town get to this point?’”

As Johnson started to research that question—research that would later become Boardwalk Empire—he realized that no author previously provided a comprehensive account of Atlantic City’s founding and flourishing. Instead, books dealt with single issues, such as the rise of casinos, the first railroad and the Miss America pageant.

Johnson set out to give a more inclusive history, starting from the town’s earliest days as a “sand island” to the construction of the first railroad, likely built with slave labor, through the early- to mid-1900s of Republican political bosses’ control.

Just how closely does the HBO series mirror history? Johnson said HBO’s depiction is “70 percent my Nucky and 30 percent fictional Nucky.” Producers and writers often call him to confirm historic details about Nucky’s life and the events in Atlantic City. Overall, he’s pleased with how the series has unfolded.


“For their prospective with the series, they like the Prohibition era of Atlantic City,” Johnson said. “They’re going to tell you this story through the eyes of the criminals, and have Nucky as the center of all that.”