Gotti was a gangster and lived the life on his own terms regardless of what others thought. When people think of American LCN, guaranteed John Gotti is in the top 3 or 5 first names that come out of their mouths along with Capone, etc. For the regular Joe on the street, John Gotti is the only gangster they know. The papers still mention Gotti all the time (do a google news search for his name and you will see) till this day even though hes been dead for a number of years now. He and the NY Press ate up all the Dapper/Teflon Don hoopla.