Underboss and Consigliere

How a Boss of a family chose is underboss and consigliere ?

Is there certain types of line a boss most think of?
Also, I guess depending of the situation of the death of the old boss,
The new boss most really think how to place the people around him.
Do the consigliere is the guy that was always the right hand man of the new boss?
I guess you chose someone that knows you, and you also know. A guy, with who you were doing hits since ya’ll were youngs.

The underboss, I guess you take someone who you know get things done?
Also, if after the death of the old boss, the position to become the new boss was between two members. Do the new boss put the one that was close to him to be the new boss, the underboss (if there is no animosity between them?)

Do ya’ll have exemple of how some boss of a family decide to
Chose the underboss and consigliere ?

Theoretically the consigliere should be an elderly person capable of resolving disputes in the family while the underboss should be a person who has the full trust of the boss.
In real life every family made what eant: Carlo Gambino used Castellano as white collar underboss and Dellacroce as blue collar underboss.
Bompensiero was made consigliere as a move to kill him,Kansas City mob never had the consigliere rank.

The Boss is the Boss. He chooses whoever he wants for whatever reason suits him. I personally would have the Consiglieri slot be a elected position by the Capo regime. It was originally (at least in the more Sicilian ran Families) an elected position. I think it's a good way to keep the guys in the Family happy because they are essentially participating in the administration.
I would have two underbosse, Similar to Gambino but different. One Sotto-Capo actually runs the day to day operations of the Family and the second. Essentially running a crew that's direct with me (the boss) and he'll act as my eyes/ears on the street and the direct mouthpiece of the Boss. Pretty much the street Boss. But it's a checks and balance system.

Traditionally the boss and the consigliere are elected positions. The boss would be elected by the captains and the consigliere would (theoretically) be elected by the entire membership. This has become less and less common for the consigliere position as time has gone on, though there's some indication it still happens in at least some families. Peter Lovaglio testified that the Bonanno family still elected the consigliere in the 2010s.

The consigliere position, in essence, is that of a neutral arbitrator who can settle disputes within the family and with other families. In this sense, depending on the individual holding it, the position can rival the boss in terms of power. Stefano Magaddino never filled the consigliere position while he was boss of the Buffalo family because he did not want the power in the borgata split. In the 1960s and 1970s, the consigliere of Philadelphia also served as the de facto rappresentante of the family's Calabrian faction.

Thxs for the info guys

Didn’t know that the consigliere were elected by the members. And I think its a good thing, because I guess people talk to him more than they talk to the boss.

Also, I like the idea of two underboss, one for white collar crime and the other blue colar crime.
I guess, the white collar crime underboss would better fit a racketeer. And the blue collar crime would fit more the gangster tough guy.

Also, the term street boss…. Were do they fit?
They are capos? Or do they really call them street boss?
Also, a blue collar underboss, would his role be the same as a street boss?

I think regarding the elections, it depends on how strong of a boss they are. They can twist arms if they want their guys in, but in a family with strong captains and soldiers, a compromise would have to be reached. The captains may vote, but a very strong boss, or weak captains, leads to the boss and his people having more say. What about big families vs small ones? In a family with 250 members the process might be a lot different than in a family with 20-30 members.

"Street boss" is a term that I think was made up by reporters, much like calling soldiers "Hit men."

It might be a made up term but I think the Feds and Reporters try to account for power that's not on paper. A Hierarchy chart is not always representative of what going on in the street (reality).

I think every Family is uniquely different. Just because it's LCN doesn't mean it's "one size fits all". Sometimes the Boss is the Supreme unchallenged ruler. Sometimes you have guys on the streets that command loyal guys like Joe Gallo and Carmin The Snake, they are Street Boss under Profaci and Colombo respectively. Then you have a mouthpiece who acts as the boss in his absence like Johnny Morale. Then you have the most publicly known powerful figure being place in a position to look like the Boss, Funzi/Fat Tony. Of course, there's the scenario of having a pit bull like Lilo Galante run the more nefarious things like drugs and murder. In real life the titles can't account for what's really going on. I do think however it's used, the position is very useful

After 1991 in Philly Scarfo sr havent enought men to maintein the city and Stanfa either so tried use Merlino's young turks but at last Joey put Natale as boss like Tony with Uncle Junior. So Merlino was the underboss but the de facto boss of Philly.

Yes, One of the government wiretaps on Gotti caught him telling Gravano that he could call himself consigliere or underboss--"whatever makes you feel good."

I always wondered how a consigliere makes money. If he's a caporegime, and he's called on to act as consigliere "as needed," he still gets money kicked up to him from his soldiers. But, if he's a full-time consigliere, constantly at the boss's side, he'd need to have a piece of other regimes' earnings--a doubtful proposition given that greed is the M.O. in the Mob.

He can take soldiers that respond only to him like Furnari that had Casso&Amuso. Or Bobby Manna that run the family Jersey crew.

The Consigliere position seems a bit intriguing to me…

Like…. Stefano Cannone; He was Consigliere under Phil Rastelli but he was also his #2…. When has a Consigliere been the #2 guy in a family?? Rastelli obviously didn’t trust Nick Marangello who was his underboss…

Carmine Sessa…. He was a consigliere who was in charge of a hit team…. When has that ever happened???

Bobby Manna; He was in charge of 4-5 Jersey crews I believe??

The position is ambiguous and depends on the person IMO.

It depends on the Family. I always say each Family has its own brand of La Cosa Nostra. It's a tapestry of the origins in Italy/Sicily, how the Family is constructed, the influence of the main Criminal element of a Family (think Vito Genovese, Galante, Gallo etc) and rackets available/capabilities to execute said rackets. Each Family is different and those positions are subject to its Leader and how things were done before.

The Sotto Capo/Underboss in theory is the day to day boss on the street. The problem is trust and loyalty. Treachery is inevitable in that life and it leads to distrust. So there has to be a checks and balances system. Another thing that comes into play is capos on the street with loyal Following. So there's always pressure in this position from above and below.

Consigliere should be an elected old timer or highly reputable member with knowledge of the members and the rules. He should know how to act as intermediate at sitdowns and only have the best interests of the Family and Cosa Nostra. The Boss should make it so this member should want for nothing because the Consigliere should only handle disputes between members, Deal with other Family's gripes, and advise the Boss as a devils advocate. This is actually the most important position in a family imo. The right or wrong person here can make or break the foundation of a Family.

Messagero and Street Boss were both real positions created by the west side. “Front Boss” is not a real position, who would volunteer to be a lightningrod. But it has happened.

A really ancient concept in a family was or is the consiglio, an assembly of a select few to arbitrate as a group.

So official positions:
Boss
Undeboss
Consigliere
Capo

Non-official:
Street boss
Messanger (genovese)


I guess more the organization is big, people will give important key players a role that define them

But those ranks are primary the ranks of the american mob ?
Or are those ranks also in the sicilian mafia, camorra and ndrangheta ?

No.This are only ranks in sicilian and american mob. The Camorra have camorrista,capozona and boss while the ndragheta end dozen of ranks and is divided in 2 groups called societies and every years are discovered new ranks.

it appears that most families don't even use the consigliere position if only for political reasons/quelling revolt.