Re-reading Joe Bonanno’s self-serving (but interesting) autobiography, “A Man of Honor” [sic], I wondered again how he managed to become Don of Salvatore Maranzano’s family at the tender age of 26. He claims the 300-plus members of the family “elected” him Don following Maranzano’s assassination by Charlie Luciano.

Bonanno says he was totally surprised by Maranzano's murder. And while he claimed to be close to Maranzano, he hadn't described himself as a member of the family's hierarchy--hardly surprising for such a youngster. He'd like you to believe that it was his “inner qualities” and “forcefulness” that led to his "election" as Don.

Not long after his "election," says Bonanno, Luciano paid him a courtesy call. Lucky confirmed that the reason he whacked Maranzano was that Maranzano was planning to have him killed. Then Luciano offered Bonanno a piece of the Garment District action, which Bonanno refused. As they parted, Bonanno said, "I have no quarrel with you."

I doubt it happened that way. I think Luciano and Bonanno conspired to have Maranzano whacked. Luciano was a careful, forward-thinking man. He'd never have had the capo di tutti capi killed without assuring that his successor wouldn’t come after him seeking vengeance. Luciano also was looking for allies for the Commission he had formed—he had removed Frank Scalise as Don of the former Mineo family, and replaced him with Vincent Mangano, because Scalise had been too close to Maranzano. And he named Bonanno as “secretary” of the Commission.

Also, I don't think that the family would ever have "elected" a 26-year-old as Don. I think Bonanno presented them with a fait accompli, backed by Charlie Luciano in his new role as the founder and de facto boss of the Commission.

In his book, Bonanno damns Luciano with faint praise. Although Luciano was “courteous,” he says he didn’t speak Sicilian fluently, and was “not a man of my Tradition” because he associated with non-Italians like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, and was involved with drugs. Yeah, sure. Bonanno (as we now know) met secretly with Luciano in Sicily in 1957 to set up a major heroin pipeline to the US. So much for “Tradition.”