This “Portraits in Oversight” video discusses the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing investigation led by attorney Ferdinand Pecora. The program highlights Pecora’s relentless pursuit of powerful bankers and financiers, exposing their unethical practices and the systemic abuses that contributed to the Great Depression, as well as the enduring economic reforms that followed. In this episode, we learn about the importance of government oversight and the role of congressional investigations in holding powerful institutions and groups like Wall Street bankers accountable.

The “Portraits in Oversight” video series is a product of The Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy. The Center was established in 2015 to carry on the legislative oversight legacy and public vision of U.S. Senator Carl Levin. Our civic education program, Learning by Hearings, provides US History and Civics teachers with materials for inquiry lessons and in-class simulations, using noteworthy congressional investigations and hearings to bring to life principles of accountable governance and historic figures central to the development of our democracy. These FREE resources are made available through the support of the State of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Education and the work of Detroit PBS.