"The Godfather" and Politics

TIS had a good idea for a discussion. See below.

In reality, the mob controlled many corrupt Democratic politicians in New York's Tammany Hall. So guess the Corleones would therefore vote for the Democrats.

Thanks SC.


I don't remember a whole lot of indication as to which side politically the Coreleones/Hagen would be. Off the top of my head:

Considering their "business" aspirations I am thinking could have leaned Republican but considering their family ties, coming to country as immigrants, that they might lean Democrat.

Don't know if any political leaning can be concluded by Sonny (or was it Tom) that referred to the "Japs". Michael was the only member of the Corleone family to serve in the armed forces right?

Anyway, food for thought.

TIS

I would say Vito and the boys were apolitical. The only requirement they considered was which politicians could be bribed.

I believe that Vito would have had Democratic leanings by virtue of his being an Italian immigrant but he most likely would have been apolitical knowing how corrupt the process was.

Tom would have been more Americanized and better schooled in business administration and would have been a Republican. Probably the same for Mike.

Sonny would have nothing to do with it.... it ain't his blood.

Fredo would ask about the presidential erections.

The key to answering this question may be in the dialogue of another movie: American Gangster. Richie tells Frank Lucas that, to the Mafia, a smart business man like Frank represents progress. In his absence, everything can return to normal.

The Corleones made their money off of normalcy. That's one reason why Vito turned down Sollozzo; he did not want to disrupt that which was normal. Over the past several decades, Republicans have come to represent normalcy more than Democrats. It may have been different in the 30s and 40s.

Frank Costello and his boys had just as many Republicans in their pockets back in the day. That would have been the same with the Corleones.

Just for fun, I googled Senator Pat Geary and IMDb has a biography of the fictional character. It lists him as a "corrupt Democratic Senator." I don't think the movie indicated which party he was with.

TIS


http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000818/bio

I may be wrong but I think Geary was loosely based on Senator Pat McCarren of Nevada during the 1940s. He was a Democrat.

SC, that's correct. The article mentions that. I can't say I have heard of McCarren.


TIS

Fair enough. I guess then it's up to your own imagination.

I was off/on about posting this link because I haven't read it closely but it's called Brothers Corleone/A Godfather's Timeline. It seems to mix real politics with fiction ie saying "Michael Corleone was easily re-elected Governor of NY 1962."

Like I said I just found it but maybe all of you have already seen it. And if Geoff or SC tell me there's a link to it here on the BB I will be very embarrassed cause I never saw it.

I'm gonna try to figure out what it is. Check it out if you want to.

TIS

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=149264.0

Vito would have bought whomever was for sale. More Dems than Republicans in his era in NY, but Vito would never have taken a visible stake in either party. And neither party would want to feature Vito as one of their supporters.

Michael and Tom probably would have gravitated to the GOP in Nevada as part of their effort to be publicly "respectable." However, Sen. Pat McCarran, on whom Sen. Pat Geary was modeled, was a Democrat. Bugsy Siegel bought him, and so did Moe Dalitz.

In the novel it says:
"Anthony Stracci, who controlled the New Jersey area and the shipping on the West Side docks of Manhattan (...) was very strong with the Democratic political machine."

And is there a point you are trying to make or are you just quoting some of the novel's lines?

The point he is making is that Don Stracci's involvement with the Democrats could be an indication of the mob's political preference.

Very true, SC. The early Italian immigrants, like most immigrants, were overwhelmingly Democrats. But as they assimilated and became more moneyed and successful, more than a few switched allegiance to the Rebublican party. Just look at Staten Island today, which has a good percentage of upper middle class 2nd, 3rd and even 4th generation Italian Americans. It is by far the most conservative borough demographically speaking. There are more registered Republicans in Staten Island than any other borough of New York City, yet it has the smallest population.

As for Vito's political preference, I agree that he was probably apolitical. But I agree with Sonny that we can really only speculate. Democrats on the board probably want him to be a Democrat. Republicans probably want him to be a Republican. What else is new?

Vito would use whatever party and its people and resources that was available to him.

Vito was apolitical, but when he was controlling the unins in NY I assume he was mostly buying off Democratic politicians.
Michael prbably became more of a Republican by III, but he too probably didn't care for politics any more than he cared for religion ny that stage in his life. A far cry from the idealistic young man who signed up after Pearl Harbor.