Here's the thing that makes me wonder. He killed Castellano which in my view was wrong, although I do understand the view he was more of a business man than a mob boss. But the real thing was the heat he brought onto the mob, La Costra Nostra is a secret society and John Gotti flaunted it around the whole of New York and was really careless. Despite the money he made and the way he made sure the soldiers got there piece of the action, I believe he was the one who actually ruined the mob and made it something it was never supposed to be. Casso tried to kill him a few times but was unsuccessful in doing so because of the camera's and heat he had on him. So would Casso of managed to kill him if he ran it normal? And did he infact ruin organised crime?

Gotti definitely caused a lot of damage to the Gambinos, but i wouldn't say that he ruined the Mob. The Families had been in a steady decline thanks to RICO,more funding for law enforcement,the diminishing quality of the members themselves,and the abandonment of the "old school" ideals of loyalty and respect.
As far as the Gambinos go,Gotti absolutely was in over his head as Boss. He was Capo material at best.I would agree with you that the element that hurt the Gambinos the most was Gotti's runaway ego.

Gotti had an innate ability to lead guys, many of whom were more capable than he was. He wasn't stupid. But he wasn't qualified to run the entire Gambino family. A blue collar captain, but not boss. And his ego made things even worse.

Ivy, agreed... EGO was his main problem.

He was a born leader imo, and very loyal, despite what people say about being loyal to your boss, Castellano would have killed him and Ruggiero, his best friend... He was more loyal to his crew than he was a guy who hated him originally.

The answer to your question is answered firstly by another question: what constitutes a good mob boss?

As Ivy said, Gotti was a leader. He had balls the size of watermelons and he would die 1000 deaths for his belief in La Cosa Nostra. He was completely ruthless and, eventually, with Sammy beside him they became so unmerciful that it ultimately led to the downfall of both men.

gotti broke just about every cosa nostra rule except ratting, which he done a great job at blabbing on tape. he was not coda rostra ,he was a ego maniac

A good capo but did not know how to run the family.Everything was in the eye of the public,from having weekly meeting to his big ass ego.He may be one of the worst boss ever.

personally i dont think he was even a good capo. I mean his crew had a lot of idiots that he couldnt control. Angelo gene cause of alot of trouble with their heroin dealing and getting caught on wiretaps. Gotti wasnt too bright but he had to know they were dealing and he had to know angelo was a blabbermouth

I think you can judge a boss by what he leaves behind when he is sent to prison or dies. Gotti left behind a family in shambles with a dozen capos headed to prison. The family was much weaker than what he had inherited. Gigante left his family strong and pretty much in the same condition as when he took over. Amuso and Casso did more damage to their family than Gotti did to his.

carlo Gambino was a good boss that would be my answer

I also agree he should of been a capo only, just that ego of his I guess lol.

Everything was in the eye of the public ?

I think he done this because he was in fear of a hit on him over Big Paul the more tv reports, feds about the harder it was to hit him. balls like King Kong he had for sure. he was not a good boss but loyal to his men to the end and never did a deal not like other scumbag rats like Casso Sammy the bull.

He was a terrible Boss, Bosses can't love the camera..

Good Point. Gotti liked to act like he was the toughest guy on the block. Its common Knowledge that he was absolutely terrified of roy demeo. he also was afraid of Anthony Casso and Vic Amuso. i mean they blew up Frankie decicco who was his underboss and gotti didnt he even attempt to fight them because he was scared of them

he was very tough, but how good a guy was he screwing a made man's wife while he was in the can?/ what a scumbag..gotti cared for gotti..forget the hype

I agree you are refering to Sandy Grillo the wife of Ernie Grillo.

yes

Haha I bet gotti thought he was a good boss.he was well liked because he wasn't greedy and because he was considered a blue collar kinda guy who came up the hard way.he also did alot of dumb shit tho.making every1show up at his club every week.jus hand the feds a list of names and a photo.and ud think he would b more careful about talking but no he was a cocky bastard who forgot he only won his trials because of payoffs. Chin was a good boss.gotti not so much

Wsan't she the daughter of Gotti's mentor, Neil Dellacroce?

Exactly. I spoke about this in another thread. Sandy and Gotti had a illegitimate daughter named meagan. I actually met her once back in 2006 in a club in the city(we are around the same age)

One thing Gotti had and that was charisma. He was a very likeable guy and gained followers easily because he had the reputation of being a tough guy and an earner. I think he was a loyal person once he felt he could trust you. He wasn't no Scarfo who could turn on you in a second without thinking.

That being said, as other people here have stated, he was no boss material. Capo material at best. Sure he could lead guys, but I don't think he was that smart really. His toughness is what made him what he was, not his brains. A boss strutting around like King Louis XIV is ridiculous and he was too dumb to even realize what he did would backfire tremendously on not only him but the entire Gambino family. I'd go as far as calling him one of the biggest jokes ever in LCN history.

Nope - the Gambinp's were worse condition after his "reign". As others have said, Gotti was too public, mandated weekly meetings at the Ravenite to expose all the leaders in the family, and thumbed his nose at the G.

As far as i know, Gotti did not grow the families business interests - he did not create any new enriching scams.

When viewed in the same light as a CEO of a legit corporation, Gotti was a disaster, IMHO

The Gambinos have just now started to recover from Gotti's influence, taking a page out of the Genoveses book by becoming less noticeable by the feds and law enforcement - the exact opposite of how Gotti wanted to be seen. Gotti was a gangster through and through but he was just too careless to be the boss of an entire family.

Succinctly said. No argument here.

I agree about them taking more of a Genovese route in rebuilding but they also took some notes from the other side. Their boss is a zip and most of their upper echelons are zips. The Genoveses, being in essence the Lucianos, have always been the most Americanized of the families. So if they are working that combination in their rebuilding, it should be interesting to watch them develop. It might work great, it might not.

As far as Gotti being a good boss, he obviously wasn't. The repercussions of his rule are still being felt. But the worst boss? There were definitely worse. Scarfo for one. Like a few of you said, Gotti looked out for his guys. Scarfo whacked a bunch of his best guys. Savlie Testa. Scarfo was flamboyant like Gotti and vicious like Casso.

gotti was one of the top 5 worst bosses on the eastcoast

throw brother pete in also,and go coast to coast..

Off the top of my head i would say top 4 along with Amuso,Persico and Genovese unless i'm forgetting somebody.

What made Genovese a bad boss?

I'd add Scarfo