My favorite of all time? Mistakes and all, it would have to be Sam Giancana.

When he walked into a room, there was a sense of power and self confidence I never saw in any other person EVER in my life. He was a true Mafioso. He would come over to the house and see my father occasionally. He lived in Oak Park, we lived in River Forest. I never went to his house. My father always went there alone.

He had balls bigger than the United States. That was actually his downfall when he returned to Chicago. He let his guard down. He still thought he was invincible.

He was always nice to me and actually asked me questions about school. I was just a kid but I knew he was special in some way. He actually liked the Beatles, But preferred Sinatra and Dean Martin. He even somehow arranged a few of us kids to see the Beatles Concert at Comisky Park in 1965 even when he was having a lot of legal trouble.
He was one of the most loyal straight forward men you would ever meet. There was nothing phoney about him.

He was very generous with his men and valued them. All his men had fat bellies (very large amounts of money). He would NEVER betray a friend. He had some real good qualities that outweighed his bad qualities.
He had a good heart for his friends. He feared noone.
As tough as he was, he had trouble handling his daughter Antionette. She was a big problem for him.
Life for my family was never the same when Mooney left. I know most people think he is burning in hell, but I'd like to think his generous heart and loyalty to his friends saved him.