How did Max become a US Senator?

In the shooting script Bailey was a Senator, but this was thought to be implausible so it was scaled down to Secretary of Commerce in the movie.

Possibly it's not scaled down enough but some viewers from New York have said that the Secretary's job isn't high profile and under normal circumstances they wouldn't know his name or have seen a picture of him.

Perhaps in 1968 background checks were not as thorough and Max's role during the prohibition years was low key but it's still a bit of a flaw.

He had a number of corrupt cops in his pocket back in the 1930's, which is how he could pull of that fake death conspiracy. I figure he's got more powerful allies in the 1960's who help keep his true identity a secret.

With enough money and connections, any sort of coverup is possible. I mean, few people are privy to Ringo Starr's stealth mercenary exploits in the '70s and '80s which were explained away by that whole "alcholism" thing.

You haven't smoked enough opium. Once you smoke enough, your dead friends come back to life and become rich and powerful.

Senator MacGuffin resigned and named Max to replace him.

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