Maybe he wasnt as "smart as everyone makes him out to be". He might have been smarter. No offense though, you make plausible points but its not that simple. He had the longest run of any boss in american LCN if im not mistaken, and who really knows how long he was pulling the strings. He was also ruthless and crafty. When you say he only lasted because of his crazy act, you are overlooking the commitment, discipline and shrewdness to actually pull that off as long as he did. Thats like saying "the patriots are only aucessful because Belicheck is an amazing coach". No shit but that's a pretty big only.
Not even close to having the longest run of an American LCN Boss. Tony Accardo has him beat by decades. At the very least Accardo was Boss by most accounts 1943. He held the top spot for at least 30 years or more. Joe Zerilli has him beat, Joe Bonanno has him beat. I can name others. He might be in the top 5 but I doubt it. Jack Tocco, Joe Profaci, Gigante was Boss at most from the early 80s to his death in 2005 which would put him in charge around 8 years after he was locked up. That would put him Boss while free on the street about the same time span Carlo Gambino was.Hell, if we count prison time included the Snake has been Boss twice as long as Gigante was.
