Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson (January 20, 1883 - December 9, 1968) was an American politician from the Republican Party who served as an Atlantic City political boss, sheriff of Atlantic County, businessman, and crime boss who was the leader of the political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government from the 1910s until his conviction and imprisonment in 1941. His rule encompassed the Roaring Twenties when Atlantic City was at the height of its popularity as a refuge from Prohibition. In addition to bootlegging, the criminal aspect of his organization was also involved in gambling and prostitution. The HBO series Boardwalk Empire was loosely based on Johnson, portrayed by Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson.

Enoch Lewis Johnson was born on January 20, 1883, in Galloway Township, New Jersey, to Smith E. and Virginia (Higbee) Johnson, who were Protestants and members of two of Atlantic County's oldest families. His nickname "Nucky" was derived from his given name Enoch.

In 1886, Johnson's father was elected Sheriff of Atlantic County, New Jersey for a three-year term, and the family moved to Mays Landing, the county seat. His career in law enforcement alternated between the roles of sheriff of Mays Landing and undersheriff of Atlantic City. Along with Atlantic County Clerk Lewis P. Scott (1854-1907) and Congressman John J. Gardner, the elder Johnson was a member of the three-man group dominating the governments of Atlantic City and Atlantic County prior to the rise to power of Louis Kuehnle. In 1905, Nucky Johnson became his father's undersheriff in Mays Landing. In 1908, he was elected Sheriff of Atlantic County when his father's term expired, a position he held until ousted by a court order in 1911.

In 1906, Johnson married his teenage sweetheart, Mabel Jeffries, of Mays Landing.

Johnson and Mabel soon enrolled at New Jersey State Normal School (now the College of New Jersey) in Trenton, New Jersey, where he studied English literature. However, he later abandoned his studies in favor of his political career.

In 1909, Johnson was appointed to the politically important position of Atlantic County Republican Executive committee secretary. In 1911, local political boss Louis Kuehnle, Johnson and several others were charged with corruption. Kuehnle was convicted and imprisoned, while Johnson was acquitted, allowing him to succeed Kuehnle as leader of the same organization, which effectively controlled the Republican-led Atlantic City and Atlantic County governments.

Atlantic City was a tourist destination, and city leaders knew that its success as a resort depended on providing visitors with what they wanted. What many tourists wanted was the opportunity to drink, gamble, and visit prostitutes. City leaders realized that permitting a vice industry would give the city an edge over its competitors. Therefore, the organization inherited by Johnson permitted the service of alcohol on Sundays (which at the time was prohibited by New Jersey law), gambling, and prostitution, in exchange for the payment of protection money by vice industry operators to the organization. Support of the vice industry was to continue and expand under Nucky Johnson's rule, as would other forms of corruption, such as kickbacks on government contracts.

In 1912, Johnson's wife Mabel died. Reportedly, Johnson had previously been a teetotaler but began to drink after her death.