The Rat Pack started out around Humphrey Bogart and was named so by his wife. The members of the Rat Pack were Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and a bunch of other friends who used to hang out together a lot having drinks and partying.

After Bogie's death, Sinatra wanted to keep the tradition of the Rat Pack and got other friends to join. Frank Sinatra was the leader of the group, with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior as full-time members. The last two were called Dag and Smokey. Sinatra never really liked the name of Rat Pack and preferred to call it the Summit. Joey Bishop, Peter Lawfold and Shirley Maclaine (who was some sort of group mascot), made occasional appearances.

The Rat Pack made their residence at the Sands Hotel. The hotel no longer exists now but it was in vogue during the sixties. Their meetings were mainly nightclub gatherings where they sang, told jokes and did impressions. There were some movies featuring the Pack, like Ocean's Eleven and Robin and the Seven Hoods.

The gang gained national prominence with the occasion of John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, which they publicly supported. Sinatra even released a new version of High Hopes which was used as a theme song for the campaign.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior and the rest of the group filmed Ocean's Eleven during the campaign. They used to sing at the Sands at night and Kennedy could sometimes be spotted in the audience, close to the stage. Sinatra, Davis Jr, Lawfold and Shirley Maclaine also sang at the Democratic National Convention opening that summer.

After the campaign, the Rat Pack only lasted for a few more years. The relationship between Frank Sinatra and the president started to sour and the one between Frank and Peter also broke down. A short while after, the Rat Pack was a legend. In the late '80s, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior tried to revive the spirit of the gang by reuniting in a tour. Dean Martin dropped out after a few dates due to apathy and illness. After this, him and Frank barely spoke until a few months before Martin's death. Sammy Davis Jr died in 1990 and Dean Martin in 1995. The leader of the Rat Pack himself also died in 1998.