If things had gone differently,would Neri have made a good Boss of the Corleones? Let's assume that there was no Vincent Mancini,no Part III,and after the events in Part II, The Corleones still are a power,but Michael has either died or retired.
Neri becomes the new Don. Would he have been able to keep the Family going? On the pro side,Neri was loyal,ruthless,and a cold and efficient killer.His devotion to Mike was never in question. He even did the job on Fredo,even though I personally think it disgusted him.From being so close to the top,he undoubtedly picked up a lot of info over the years that would give him some pretty good insight into managing the Family's affairs.
On the con side,I don't know how well known he was outside of the Corleone's,hence his acceptance by the other Dons.They might view him as an easy target,who once eliminated,would leave the Corleone's business to be divvied up as spoils of war.On the other hand,they might know his reputation,and leave things as they were.
Just for fun,what do you guys(and gals) think? Would Neri be a Boss or a loss?

I think Neri lacked the ability to know when to hold back and when to attack, same as Michael. I think this would come back to bite him, and if he had a setback I don't know if the capo regimes would stay loyal to him. He would not be the worst choice for Don, but not the best either. Also what you do not raise is the fact that Neri was getting on in years and would have been a short term interim Don with no heir apparent. As I said elsewhere once Mary died and Michael stopped running things its my guess Neri retired.

Good point about age,but I was thinking more along the lines of Mike leaving at the end of GF II,when he and Neri were still relatively young. I wonder if Neri,on his own would have shown any discretionary abilities when it came to diplomacy. The only stuff we see him do is on Mike's orders,although ,according to the novel,Neri was pretty much a thug with a badge when left to his own devices. He may have surprised us and turned out to be the Gambino of the Corleones. Of course he could also have been the Gotti of the Corleones.Thanks for the reply,I always appreciate your perspective on topics.

I don't think Neri's age was a factor. He was five years younger than Michael and in real life mafiosi often stay active until they die. At the time Mary was killed and Vincent took over, Neri would have been in his late 50s and still capable to stay on as caporegime/underboss.

Also, I think Neri's background as a cop prevented him from ever becoming a boss.

I think you have to count Roth in on this fantasy, Lou:

In his plan to have Michael whacked, either in Tahoe or in Havana, Roth had to worry about succession in the Corleone Family for his own safety, since he'd be a suspect sooner or later. If Tahoe had succeeded, Pentangeli would be the fall guy and would be on the run. The Rosatos would take over NYC. Back in Nevada, Fredo would be the logical heir-apparent, and Tom would have supported him out of friendship and family loyalty. But I doubt that Neri and Rocco would have accepted him. A war would have broken out--just what Roth wanted to divert and split the family. Given enough chaos, the Nevada Gaming Commission, with Roth's prodding, would have yanked the Corleones' licenses. Guess who would have picked them up?

Had Michael died of natural causes or retired, Neri would have been the logical successor. He, not Rocco or Fredo or Tom, was Michael's choice. In a deleted scene, it's pretty clear that Michael gave him a piece of the Tropigala(?) that he took from Klingman. But, while Neri had force, I saw no indication that he had Michael's business or political acumen--or that Michael ever groomed him as a successor. The other families might have been forced to accept him, but the Corleone empire was based on Michae's plans for "legitimacy," not Neri's force. It would have withered under Neri.

I wouldn't say Neri was an unknown either. Neri and Rocco were acting as skippers in the novel (if my old mind remembers right) but were acting secretly until Tom noticed it before their move to Nevada. Then once he got a piece of the casino he definitely had to be known to the underworld.

As for a boss who knows? He had a ton of Corleone trust, that's for sure.

By the time GF II ended,Fredo,Roth and Pentangeli were all dead. My scenario was that, after the events of Part II,Mike had died or retired,thus opening the door to a successor.