At that point Michael was acting reasonably, thinking things out, not acting or making decisions out of haste. It is at that point that we see that Michael is the son most like his father.

It was not that Michael was a bad Don in the sense that he could not run the family and bring them to power. He was an excellent Don in doing what he did for The Family. He became a bad Don in the sense that in re-building the Corelone reputation and bringing The Family to greater things, he sacrificed his family for the sake of The Family. He lost sight of what was really important in life. His ego and lust for control and power blinded him to what he was doing to his blood family. That's what made him a bad Don compared to his father. Not what he did for The Family, but what he did to his family.

Sonny on the other hand was a good wartime, street savy tactioner. A wartime strategist. Sonny could run a war with the best of them. Sollozo and Tattaglia knew this and that is one of the reasons that they kidnapped Tom and told him that he'd BETTER convince Sonny to make peace and make the deal. But they also knew that if they played their cards right, and Tom was not able to convince Sonny to make the peace, that eventually Sonny's temper would make him slip up and give them an opportunity to make their move against him. And that's exactly what happened.

Sonny was a bad Don in the sense that he could not reason and would let his temper cloud his judgement. Sonny was not a negotiator. Michael, much like his father, was. And there is a time in every war for street fighting and then negotiation. Michael had the ability to differentiate when to war, and when to negotiate. Sonny on the other hand did not have that ability to differentiate when to war and when to negotiate.

Michael was a much better Don because he did not act in haste, made calculated and well thought out decisions, and used reason instead of letting his temper cloud his judgement.


Sonny on the other hand did not have that ability.