[2][3][4] Poletti intended to manage a bakery after graduating from Spaulding High School in 1920,[5] but was encouraged by his principal to attend college.

[6] He attended Harvard University on a scholarship, and worked a variety of part-time jobs to finance his studies, including waiting tables, washing dishes, and tutoring.

After passing the bar exam he joined the New York City firm of 1924 Democratic presidential nominee John W.

[11] In 1928 Poletti was active in the presidential campaign of Governor Alfred E. Smith, and in 1932 he became counsel to the Democratic National Committee.

[13] Lehman relied heavily on Poletti, asked him to move into the executive mansion, and assigned him tasks from drafting legislation and speeches to lobbying for passage of New Deal measures advocated by the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt.

[14][15][16] In 1937 Lehman appointed Poletti to a vacancy as a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, and later that year he was elected to a full 14-year term.

[30] As governor, Poletti controversially pardoned three convicts with ties to labor unions, without consulting New York's parole board.

These included Alexander Hoffman, a CIO official who had served just eight months of a four-to-eight year prison term for the attempted arson of a non-union laundry firm.

In response to adverse media coverage, Poletti stated "I was advised that Hoffman enjoyed an excellent reputation as an honorable citizen [...] I acted honestly and I believe courageously on the basis of the facts submitted to me".

"[36] In July 1943 Poletti was assigned to serve as a U.S. Army civil affairs officer in Italy, largely because as a first-generation Italian-American who had studied in Italy, was fluent in Italian and had served as a governor, he had an understanding of the local culture and sufficient stature to earn the Sicilian people's respect.

Initially assigned to assist in restoring civil government in Palermo, he became responsible for rebuilding efforts throughout Sicily.

[40] Some sources say that while Poletti served in Sicily his driver and interpreter was Mafia boss Vito Genovese, who had fled New York in the 1930s to escape prosecution for murder.

[41] Genovese was allegedly heavily involved in black-market activities with other Sicilian Mafiosi, including Calogero Vizzini.

"[46] In addition, the stories alleging a Genovese-Poletti connection fail to explain why Poletti would have needed an Italian language interpreter, given his fluency in Italian (including the Sicilian and Neapolitan dialects), Spanish, and German as the result of his heritage, his college studies, a job in his twenties working as a tour guide for college students visiting Europe, and his regular visits to his mother after she began residing in Italy following the death of his father.

[72] The Charles Poletti Power Project (renamed in 1982 to honor him) was located in Astoria, Queens, across the East River from Manhattan in New York City.