I know this opinion is not agreed with by many if not most, but I am going to have to say that Gaetano Gagliano probably did relinquish the boss' seat to Tommy Lucchese in 1953 and died shortly thereafter. The reason I say this is because I am reading Bill Bonanno and again he said it twice that Gagliano stepped down in 53.

Unlike us, he knew was Gagliano looked like. He said he called him "Uncle Tom". Anastasia was "Uncle Albert", and so on.

Bill Bonanno was married in 1957, therefore it follows that he was probably mature enough and clear headed enough to not only remember who Gagliano was, but also when specific Commission meetings occurred, and who was present. The only way he could have gotten the date wrong for the moment Gagliano stepped down is if he thought a Commission meeting that occurred in 1951 actually occurred in 1953.

Now remember, each Commission meeting was supposed to be spaced 5 years apart unless it was an extraordinary session. The first was 1931, then 1936, then 1941, then 1946, then 1951. Bill records a meeting in 1951, as well as the minutes. But then he says there was another distinct meeting in 1953 that he called an "extraordinary" meeting. It was there and then that Bonanno says Gagliano resigned.

I'm sorry, but I do not buy that that Tommasso Gagliano was Tommy Lucchese's old boss.