Does anyone have any information on Lucky Luciano and the National Crime Syndicate? If Lucky was incharge of the National Crime Sydnciate, who was second-in-command, etc.?

The first chairman of the Syndicate was Al Capone, if I'm not mistaken. But probably I am.

Actually Luciano was the "acting" boss of bosses . Luciano became the Chairman of a board of directors, or "de facto" Capo Di Tutti Capi, of what became known as the "Commission." The board of directors included such prominent mobsters as Meyer Lansky, Joseph Bonnano, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Vincent Mangano, Joseph Profaci, Thomas Gagliano, Stefano Magaddino and Frank Nitti. Meyer Lansky was probably the unofficial "2nd in command," because according to the way that the commission was set up, there was not supposed to be anyone more powerful than any other member of the commission.

Luciano organized a decentralized structure in which the major crime families divided up territories and spheres of activities and met, when necessary, to mediate differences between the various families.

The heads of the various crime families would meet to decide who had the rights to various territories. This meant that, rather than the families starting wars against each other, they could concentrate on business. When a new business came along, or if another family wanted a particular territory, the families would meet to negotiate a deal.

By spelling out who had the rights to which territory, if one family grew ambitious and over-stepped their authority, they would not just declare war on one, but rather all the other families—a very dangerous proposition. Similarly, an outsider encroaching on the turf of one of the families would be declaring war on the entire syndicate.


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Wasn't Al Capone in the commision for a while?

Remember that the Castellemmarese War of 1930-31 was fought by Joe (the Boss) Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano over who would be Capo di Tutti Capi. Luciano had both of them whacked (using hit squads put together by Meyer Lansky) because he regarded them as "Moustache Petes." After the war, Luciano formed the Commission, which consisted of the five New York families and four out-of-town families on a rotating basis.
Although born in Sicily, Luciano was a thoroughly American Mob guy, and a practical businessman. He took help wherever he could get it, including non-Italians, such as Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, as well as Dutch Schultz (who he eventually ordered killed). He was also smart enough to recognize that he didn't need to declare himself Capo di Tutti Capi and risk the resentment of others--he already had earned enough respect from others without having to "crown" himself.
So, Luciano cleverly appointed Al Capone as the initial chairman of the Commission. Capone was neither a Sicilian nor a Mafia guy. Luciano wante him as "chairman" because it was a ceremonial post, without real power (Luciano wielded the real power). It was a way to bring Capone, whose wild excesses were harming other organized crime outfits, into the fold, and to help control him. Similarly, Luciano appointed Joe Bonanno as "secretary" of the Commission--another way to keep a loose cannon in the fold (Bonanno had resisted efforts to cooperate with others).
Luciano was really smart and clever in those moves. But he wasn't smart enough to stay away from two relatively high-profile criminal activities: large-scale prostitution and drugs. He also maintained a higher profile than some other Mob figures. That's what brought him to the attention of Thomas E. Dewey, NY State special prosecutor (later GOP candidate for President in '44 and '48; later Governor of NY). Dewey convicted him of Mann Act ("White Slavery") violations, sent him to prison for 35 years, and then deported him to Italy in '46.

National Crime Syndicate was the name given to an organized crime syndicate, set up in the 1930's, by Charles "Lucky" Luciano and based out of New York City.

After the Castellamarese war and the death of Salvatore Maranzano, Luciano found himself to be a dominant figure in the shady world of the Cosa Nostra. Rather than make himself a prominent public figure like Al Capone, or an underworld emperor like Maranzano sought to do, Luciano would instead seek to get the bosses of America's five biggest organized crime families together. This governing body, which was dubbed, "The Commission," was set up to rule all La Cosa Nostra activities in the United States. [1]

While the era of Prohibition was coming to a close, there were still many lucrative illegal activities for the five families to divide up, including prostitution, racketeering, and gambling. Rather than risk turf wars over these, Luciano decided to establish a territory system. Under the territory system Luciano created, the activities the various crime families were responsible for were spelled out, as well as where they could pursue them.

The heads of the various crime families would meet to decide who had the rights to the various territories. This meant that, rather than the families starting wars against each other, they could concentrate on business. When a new business came along, or if another family wanted a particular territory, the families would meet to negotiate a deal.

By spelling out who had the rights to which territory, if one family grew ambitious and over-stepped their authority, they would not just declare war on one, but rather all the other families—a very dangerous proposition. Similarly, an outsider encroaching on the turf of one of the families would be declaring war on the entire syndicate.

Luciano's National Crime Syndicate saw the American mob get further entrenched in the post-prohibition era.

Dominic, the source that you copied your post from greatly exaggerates the role of the Commission under Luciano:

The Commission never assigned or divided up territories or activities for various Families--that's a myth. The territories and activities were already established by the time Luciano formed the Commission ca. 1931.
In general, the only things Mafia families have in common are greed, and distrust of each other. The only power the Commission had, and still has, is that which members are willing to share with each other through the Commission--usually not much.

To give Luciano credit where due, his major contribution was to establish a forum where they could occasionally get together to discuss mutual opportunities that might cross existing territorial lines (like the "Concrete Club" that emerged later), and to talk about resolving common problems (like Dutch Schultz's threat to whack special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey). The only inter-family disputes that the Commission resolved were those that members were willing to submit to the Commission. Most of the time, they chose not to.

Also to give Luciano credit where due: he was smart enough not to declare himself capo di tutti capi (the reason he had Maranzano whacked); and to arrange for Capone to be "chairman" and Bonanno to be "secretary" of the Commission. These were figurehead positions that he arranged to bring them into the fold and evince a modicum of cooperation from them; everyone knew that Lucky was the real power. Another of his contributions was to seek advice and cooperation from non-Italians like Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Longy Zwillman.

That Luciano was able to establish the Commission at all is a tribute to his personal force and prestige. But its overall impact, and his impact on the Commission, should not be exaggerated. He also maintained a rather higher profile than some other Commission members--he was a dedicated night-clubber who liked to be photographed with hot-looking women. Some historians think that his high profile (coupled with his activities in prostitution and drugs) caught the attention of Dewey and led to his imprisonment and exile.

The Commission attempted only three major moves after Luciano was deported:
The first was in 1946-47, when Luciano called a meeting in Havana to discuss the rubout of Bugsy Siegel and the disposition of the Flamingo Hotel in Vegas. But the major business of that meeting--Luciano's attempt to reinstate himself as chairman by re-entering the US--was thwarted when the Justice Dept. found out that he was in Cuba, and leaned on the Cuban government to deport him. (Some think that Vito Genovese ratted him out.)
The second was in 1957--the aborted Apalachin, NY, meeting where Genovese attempted to declare himself capo di tutti capi and to legitimize drug trafficking. As you know, it was broken up by the police.
The third, around 1964, was an attempt by the Commission to remove Joe Bonanno from his Donship after his plot to whack Gambino and Lucchese was ratted out. The attempt to remove him and replace him with Gaspar DiGregorio failed, setting off a long, destructive war from which the Bonannos never really recovered. The Commission hasn't done much since.

yeah - thanks i knew all of that already.

Dominic, please see the PM that I sent you.


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