LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Howard Hughes: United States
built 197 days ago
On November 27, 1966, Hughes arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada by railroad car, and moved into the Desert Inn Hotel. Refusing to leave the hotel and to avoid further conflicts with the owners of the hotel, Hughes bought the Desert Inn in early 1967. The hotel's eighth floor became the nerve center of his empire, and the ninth floor penthouse became Hughes' personal residence. Between 1966 and 1968, Hughes bought several other hotels/casinos (Castaways, New Frontier, The Landmark Hotel and Casino, Sands and Silver Slipper) from the Mafia, transactions which ultimately ended mob control of the city's hotels and casinos. Hughes wanted to change the image of Las Vegas from its mobsters in gaudy silk suits and thousand-dollar-a-night call girls to a more glamorous image. As Hughes wrote in a memo to an aide: "I like to think of Las Vegas in terms of a well-dressed man in a dinner jacket and a beautifully jeweled and furred female getting out of an expensive car". A chronic insomniac, Hughes bought several local television stations (including KLAS-TV) so that there would always be something for him to watch in the early hours of the morning.
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From the 1950s Hughes began to show unmistakable symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Formerly highly visible, he retreated from the public eye, although remaining a target of tabloid speculation about his health, death, or mental state. On January 12, 1957, Hughes re-married, this time to Jean Peters, but he hardly was in contact with her, except by telephone. The concept of the trophy wife is not a new one.
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Hughes let go of the RKO theaters in 1953 as settlement of the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. antitrust case. With the sale of the profitable theaters, the shaky status of the film studio became increasingly apparent. A steady stream of lawsuits from RKO's minority shareholders, charging him with financial misconduct and corporate mismanagement, became an increasing nuisance, especially because Hughes wanted to focus on his aircraft-manufacturing and TWA holdings during the Korean War years. Eager to be rid of the distraction, Hughes offered to buy out all other stockholders.
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Hughes ... benefited from special treatment. Governor Paul Laxalt, eager to remove the stigma of organized crime from Nevada gaming, encouraged Hughes' purchases. Because of the intervention of Laxalt and other state officials, Hughes became the only licensee who was never required to appear personally before the Nevada Gaming Control Board or the Nevada Gaming Commission, arguing that Hughes was a special case.
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In Nevada, Hughes wielded enormous political power; he was often able to influence the outcome of elections and legislation. His influence did have its limits; he was afraid of the effects of nuclear radiation from the open-air nuclear weapons tests then conducted in the state, and told his aides to offer $1 million to presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon if they'd bring the tests to an end. Hughes' aides never offered the bribes, but reported that Johnson had declined the offer, and that they were unable to contact Nixon.
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Hughes' now-legendary eccentric behavior extended to broadcasting when he bought the local television station, KLAS Channel 8. His sole purpose for acquiring the station was that he disliked its policy of going off the air late at night. Once he owned it, he is said to have insisted that it show movies all evening long so he could watch them.
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