Charles Van Doren, Herbert Stempel And the 50's Quiz Show Scandal (Part Two)

The true story of the television scandal that shocked America. Charles Van Doren, 1959 On November 2, 1959, at 10 AM, Charles Van Doren and his attorney Carl Rubino entered the caucus room where the House Subcommittee hearings investigating potential game show corruption were conducted.  He had spent the previous evening accompanied by his wife and father at what must have been a very surreal dinner party at the home of Dick Goodwin, as this event was also attended by prosecutor Joseph Stone. District Attorney Frank Hogan Investigator Stone understood the potential volatility of the situation and he immediately personally briefed his boss, the District Attorney.  Frank Hogan was also skeptical of Stempel but for an additional reason.  He was a prominent alumnus of Columbia University, knew Professor Mark Van Doren personally and had even met Charles Van Doren.  He found it hard to believe that someone of the younger Van Doren’s background was capable of such duplicity but, at a formal news conference on August 28, Hogan did acknowledge that both Dotto and 21 were under investigation.  However, he also added that as yet the allegations were still unproven. Richard Goodwin, a high level White House staff member during both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Richard Goodwin quickly resigned from his subcommittee position and went to work for the Kennedy presidential campaign.   Herbert Stempel, later years Herb Stempel remained in an apartment not far from where he lived in Forest Hills, NY, in 1959, his phone number publicly accessible.  He lived well into his nineties, long retired from the Department of Transportation, Stempel and said he always knew when the film “Quiz Show” appeared on television.  Invariably, frequently in the middle of the night, his phone rang and the caller asked “What film won the award for best picture of 1955?”  Stempel always answered Marty, wished the caller a good evening and hung up the telephone.  He passed away on April 7, 2020, aged 93