Who was the greatest mob boss of all time ?

I'll have to go with Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo because he ran the Chicago Outfit from 1947-1992, and spent only one night in jail or avoided the inside of a cell entirely.

Now that wouldn't happened to today because heat from the feds, but he knew how to avoid L.E.

joe massino hands down fbi said he was the most powerful boss in the 90's.

Tony Accardo and Carlo Gambino

Tony Accardo in America and probably Calogero Vizzini in Italy.

carlo g and tommy l

Frank Costello,Carlos Marcello and Angelo Bruno.Choose one...

Joe Massino, Russel Bufalino, Carlos Marcello, amd no other then the boss of bosses "Fat tony"

Joe Batters retired didn't he though ? I thought he went down to Florida or Arizona to chill

Ye Fat Tony invented LCN and even elektricity.He was also the nephew of Genghis Khan

Carlo Gambino. A lion and a fox.

But these ones all went to jail.

Joe Massino? I think he lost that title the day he flipped.

Was thinking the same thing.

Id have to say Costello or Luciano. Just because they helped formed the modern american mafia and both died out of the can and spend limited time in the can.

His response to a similar comment while in the PC Unit at a Fed. Lockup. " I got Stripes, I got several."

If I had to replace Massino if that doesn't count then I would say

Carmine "E.T." Galante

1. Carlo Gambino
2. Anthony Accardo
3. Tommy Lucchese
4. Joe Zerilli
5. Santo Trafficante
6. Joe Profaci

The main factors are stability, longevity, and dying in your own bed - not prison.

1. Carlo Gambino
2. Anthony Accardo
3. Tommy Lucchese
4. Joe Zerilli
5. Santo Trafficante
6. Joe Profaci

The main factors are stability, longevity, and dying in your own bed - not prison.

It really depends. I would say The Chin.

I'd agree with that.

I would agree with SilentPartnerz but add a few more qualifying factors: treachery, cunning, deceitful, lots of street smarts, and the ability to stay below the radar.

Same names.

Profaci in my opinion wasn't that good as a boss, considering the Gallo situation. Too greedy.

Many ppl think that Accardo was the real deal,but my opinion is that Joey B. couldnt lift a finger without Riccas permission.Many say that Riccas reign was from 1943 to 1947...wrong,he was the boss till his death in 1972 i think....You see after Riccas death Accardo,again,wasnt the real boss of the Chi outfit,cuz where you gonna put Joey Aiuppa than?!Cuz after Riccas death,many of his underlings such as Giancana or Mad Sam went "cold".Accardo was always more of a acting boss or consigliere for the ruling panel...but hands down,the dude was pure hardcore

Accardo always said Ricca was in charge. But Ricca and Accardo made most of the the big decisions. Ricca had to be careful because he was forbidden to associate with known criminals (RIGHT !). But he did have to use caution and as a result pushed Accardo to "announce" decisions to outfit members. Ricca and Accardo established the position of "Boss of The Outfit." They (Accardo&Ricca) remained in the background with final say on important matters. By doing this they were insulated (to some degree) from possible criminal charges and prosecution.

From my readings it didn't seem to matter who the day-to-day boss was because Accardo assumed a role similar to Ricca. Accardo never sought the position of "Boss" of the Outfit, even though he took charge when Ricca went to prison. But there were times when he was the interim boss. He tried several times to retire but Ricca told him "The Outfit needs you." So Accardo acted more as an adviser or consigliere than the boss. But his power was enormous and he made most major decisions, or at least had the final say. He used other members such as Gus Alex, Murray Humphreys, et. al. In the decision-making process. But it was common knowledge by all govt. anti-crime agencies that Tony Accardo was at the top echelon of The Chicago Outfit. The exact title Accardo assumed depends on different agencies, newspapers, etc. Some referred to him as Chairman or Boss of Bosses, or simply as consigliere.

There will always be controversy about Accardo and his status within The Outfit. My suggestion would be to read all the information available on the Internet including FBI files, newspaper articles, books by John Binder, Gus Russo, Richard Lindberg and Bill Roemer (I know, Romer kinda gets carried away with Roemer). Also read some stories by former FBI agents Wayne Johnson, James Wagner and Lee Flosi. There are many more but these guys are well-informed about Accardo.

Finally, don't take my word or anybody's word about Accardo; just do some research and I believe you will develop a picture of his role and status within The Chicago Outfit."

Sorry for the long post.

No one has said Johnny Torrio from Chicago he helped form the LCN as well and the structure behind it.

Also they must of thought very highly of him after he left Chicago he went to Italy for awhile then he went back to N.Y to consult with the 5 families.

Very intelligent and crafty and well respected man.

Although Charlie Luciano comes close because he founded the Commission, I go with Frank Costello. His contribution was to make the Mafia a political powerhouse. Previously, the Irish dominated urban political machines and rented their services, often grudgingly, to Mafia families. Costello stepped in and, through money and sophistication, turned the tables. He was smart enough to maintain Irish ward heelers and officeholders because he knew the public at that time distrusted Italian names in politics. But they were subordinate to him. He made judges and district leaders whenever he needed to, and even elected two mayors of NYC. That's how he earned his nickname, "The Prime Minister of the Underworld."

nobody has mentioned scarfo

Now that's funny, lol...

Gambino in my book-

Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino
50 years on top

in all honesty has to be trafficante the man is given credit for whacking the president, plus i might be a little bias since im from central florida

You are so correct. An oversight on my part. I should have typed it this way:

Accardo/Ricca

I'll mention the Gentle Don - Bruno in the top 5 at least. Ran Philly for 2 decades and after he was removed the family crumbled. IMO he knew how to handle the crews and who to banish (scarfo) knowing they were trouble. Those days are long gone though

Chin Gigante. The whole "crazy" act was the exact opposite of Gotti's routine during the same era. The genovese remained a mystery during that time, while the gambinos met openly on mulberry street, the colombos had a war and casso killed anything that moved.

Accardo

paul ricca, tony accardo, lucky luciano

i might be a little bias but ray patriarca sr was the man from mid 50's until his death in 84 he was in the commision had casino's both in vegas and a.c. and dealt real closely withb meyer in havana .....had all the killers under his belt real closely dealt with politicions hands on and was deep in his pockets never was there an attempt on his life was a pure killer and great business man ...helped profaci by sending j.r. russo nicky bianco pop werner mad dog nazarene and more men to profaci for the colombo's war he was a man's man and he came with phrase of " love for your family is one thing but Love for this family is a deeper different type of love " and besides all i said and more excelling facts and information unsaid he did die in his bed peacefully ....in my opinion a strong argument for the greatest mob boss

How many times has this same thread been posted lol? I'd say Accardo or Gambino.

" love for your family is one thing but Love for this family is a deeper different type of love " = he deserved a good slap for that retarded comment if he even said it.

oh he said it alright it was caught on a bug an illegal bug they had in his office the feds put in there in the early 60's look it up

I've seen other people post that quote, that wasn't my point.

I go with a tie between Carlo Gambino and Angelo Bruno

Bruno...failing to help his family capitalize on Atlantic City gambling has got to be a point against him.

What exactly did he do anyway? I remember the Crime Inc documentaries more or less said he single-handedly destroyed the economy of Newark, which is something I guess, but can someone explain it to me?

Angelo Bruno was great! He stayed out of the drug world and basically liked typical rackets n bookmaking. It was smart of him not to get involved in the drug world n attract the DEA s attention. Buy establishing Atlantic City as "open territory" he made sure the Philly Mob didnt get into war w/ the Gambinios or other NY factions. RIP Bruno.

Chin,Carlo

In Sicily - Toto Riina, no doubt. In the US, probably Gambino.

Toto' Riina may have been great at conducting mafia wars, but in my opinion he sucked at maintaining contacts with politicians. He just wanted them to be his pet dogs. If they disobeyed, he killed them (see Salvo Lima).

+1 on that,there were much smarter bosses in Sicily than Toto Riina,he wanted to kill everybody who went against him,or disobeyed.That's not way mafia should operate,after Toto Riina's violence state went in battle against them which led to a lot of bosses being arrested etc.

For Sicily i would say Calogero Vizzini.

All true, sorry. Think somewhere between reading the replies and actually posting I forgot this was originally a "greatest" mob boss discussion and posted thinking it were "most powerful".

In terms of military power, I agree though Riina was the strongest. If Vizzini had been still alive in the 80s, he would probably have been whacked.

Yes,i agree,Vizzini is no difference,Riina managed to outplay whole Palermo Mafia.

Accardo has dry snitch written all over him. Seems odd that for years that the feds were able to nail everyone under but him. In Roemer's first book he had several high placed CIs that he refused to name, the way Roemer had a man crush on Accardo, stands to reason Accardo could have been one of them. Or his importance was overblown, a respected elder but far from the Outfit bogeyman he was made out to be.

With that being said Phil Lombardo, under the radar boss, retired to Florida unindicted and passed away at home.

Carlo Gambino run 4 out of five families with no jail time after become boss.

He only ran his own family he had allies as bosses of the Colombos (Colombo,Persico) and Luccheses (Lucchesse,Corralo). While he wasn't allies with the Bonnano's after Galante took over and supposedly from the early 60's when Bonnano was in charge. I've never heard of his relationship with Benny Squint i'm guessing he didn't know he was boss while he was Tieri's ally. I think it's highly exaggerated how powerful Carlo actually was he certainly didn't run any family other than his own.

From what i have read Carlos control 4 out of 5 families at some point but like i sadi its my opinion

After reading the link in another thread earlier this morning, I change my vote to: Carlo Caputo of Madison, Wisconsin

Was he a capo out of Chicago?

I don't think he ran other families, but he could probably count on their vote on the commission if he needed them. This would make Carlo a defacto boss of bosses of sorts, to the extent he could control the majority vote. If he could count on Tommy Lucchese, Angelo Bruno and Joe Colombo to vote his way, this would give him an easy majority control of the commission.

F White, I was referring to this link. If it is factually sound, then it is good stuff. This is where I got the idea to put up Caputo for best boss. I was really just joking. But who knows. Read it and see what you think.

http://www.reocities.com/ocsmidwestmafia/madison.html

there's a reason accardo was around the top of the syndicate for damn near 50 years and I highly doubt it was because he's a snitch

paul ricca and tony accardo were problem the best tandem in mafia history

both died at home in their beds without serving significant jail time

CookCounty:

My sentiments exactly about Ricca & Accardo. I don't believe anyone could hang around for 60 plus years and be a snitch. These guys along with Humphreys, Giancana, Aiuppa, Cerone and Alex were some tough hombres. Humphrey and Alex were non-Italian and could not move to the top, but they sure contributed to The Outfit's success in organized crime.

Ricca, Accardo, Giancana and Aiuppa were four of the most hard-core ever.

But everyone has a right to his or her opinion.

Yeah, while Gambino may have been the first among equals, and had a certain degree of influence over some of the other bosses, it's very much an exaggeration to say he "controlled" or "ran" the other families.

Do you know if any of the other bosses knew that Benny Squint was boss? If not do you think they just believed Eboli,Tieri and Salerno were official boss?

That have to be the best keep secert in mob history,I think the other bosses had to know to some degree that those guy was not the power.Was it Vincent "Fish" Cafaro who told that story?

I think so. At least some of them had to know. After all, as we saw in recorded conversations later on, members of other families knew Chin was the boss.



Yeah, it was Cafaro who first revealed it.

[quote=southend]Chin,Carlo [/quote Agreed

yea Bruno was great and had a super long run. Ran the Philly Mob like a well oiled machine from the mid 50's all the way up to 1980. Made millions, ran the city, stayed out of the drug scene, the streets of Philly were actually safe, the mob back then was liked by your average person living in Philly. The Philly Mob will never run as good as it did when Bruno was running things. A lot of people believe that the Philly Mayor at the Time Frank Rizzo even supported the mob or at least turned a blind eye to their doings

it would have to be someone from new york, the other cities only have one family..,the boss would only have to deal with his guys only..in ny, you have so many deals and beefs going on between four others in ny and the other in nj/.. they always have to worry about plots from other bosses..so my pick is without question carlo..and before he was boss he also was in the admin, for a while.also did not get killed by albert, speaks volumes

Agree 100% about it having to be a ny boss. I would say between Ben Squint and Carlo.

And bronx u have a pm.... (The flashing red envelope in the top left hand side of the screen next to "my stuff".

Longevity, Carlo Gambino or Tony Accardo. Not counting longevity, the most powerful and influencial Boss in the Entire History of the American Mafia was Sam Giancana. He did more for the Outfit during his reign than anyone else including electing a President of the United States, some guy named John Kennedy. In addition, he owned Chicago during his reign like no other Boss in any other city in America.