People might have thought Tommy was a wimp but you'd have had a much smarter family with another Gambino at the top running things like a business - between Tommy, Gaggi, diBernardo, Gravano and Scotto amongst some others, you'd have had a real low key/well connected/highly profitable family that would have truly made the Gambino's a worthy rival of the Genovese.

Sure Tommy's cover story might have been that he was a dressmaker but the Genovese did just fine all those years with a fraction of the heat having a "crazy nut bar" at the top. Logically a far superior choice to Gotti.

Its kind of like the age old political question of which candidate would you rather have a beer with? People analyze that question but really it's a stupid question. The candidate you want is the one who is too smart and doesn't have the time to sit down and have a beer with you because they're too busy keeping the world running. Sometimes a not very nice person is the right person for the job. Sometimes a brilliant person you can't understand is the right person. If you had cancer and needed an operation you wouldn't pick the surgeon you'd most like to have a beer with.

Gotti was the candidate that rank and file blue collar Gambino buttons wanted to "have a beer with." Guys like Castellano and Gambino weren't as popular but they had the brains to really run the thing. Man, they were bred to do that just like how the Monarchy works. The rank and file of the Gambino's just didn't understand that, although they've certainly had a better run of bosses in the last 10-15 years.