IMO, this is an important post when talking about the position of consigliere. Everything I've read indicates that the function of consigliere was different in Chicago. At different times the consigliere was more involved than other times, depending on the era. Again, IMO, this is one of the major reasons The Outfit was so successful; a lot of input and discussion relative to important decisions. The active boss could make the decision, but generally there seemed to be a lot of discussion beforehand.

OC writers / authors generally refer to Ricca and Accardo as two of the best consigliere s.
Both were very smart, shrewd, conniving, treacherous and powerful.

Just a couple of additional points from what I've read:

- Accardo never aspired to the position of active boss. He apparently was the defacto boss at different times, but he always denied it (surprise, surprise). But he also denied it privately. He maintained that Paul Ricca was in charge.

- Accardo's wife and family wanted him to retire in the mid 50's. Ricca wanted him to stay. A lot of govt. scrutiny was causing problems for Ricca, Accardo and later, Giancana.

- There was a lack of capable leaders after Ricca, Accardo and Giancana. Aiuppa was one of the last old-time, hardcore bosses. Aiuppa was a really mean old man. He would kill anybody for just about any reason. He would also kill your pets and probably the grass on your lawn ( a little exaggeration here ).