Think of this scenario for a second or two. If the Gambinos make Neil boss instead of Paul, where would the Gambino family be today?

Would Gotti have been the same guy he ended up being? Would the Gambinos be more powerful today than they currently are?

Discuss your thoughts and explain your reasoning behind them.

They would've lost power if Neil had become the boss. He was too much of a neanderthal. In contrast, Paul was well-read, articulate, and adept at engaging with the upper echelons of society. Neil could hardly finish a sentence without saying motherfucker

lol

The only way Dellacroce would have became boss was if he made a move and took it by force.

I don't think he had the overall support of the Family. And I am convinced Carlo Gambino would have never made him his successor.

It's not just because Big Paul was his cousin. Neil was an Anastasia guy and there's no chance Carlo would have chosen him. Carlo Gambino made him his underboss because he knew he had to put an Anastasia guy in that position in order to keep the Family's unity and Dellacroce was one of the few Anastasia guys he could deal with.

So underboss was where he was best suited for the family?

Carlo Gambino didn't choose anyone. Paul Castellano was elected by the Family to become boss.

I may be wrong but my understanding is that Paul Castellano was designated as the Boss and no vote took place. Carlo Gambino let it be known that he wanted Big Paul to succeed him and the Family went along with it when he died.

I have never read anything about a vote to elect Big Paul.

From my understanding nobody on the streets wanted Paul as boss. They wanted to work for Neil.

If Neil becomes boss we may never have had John Gotti the way he ended up being.

I guess so. We tend to underestimate the politics that takes place in a Mafia Family.

When chosing an underboss and a consigliere, the Boss has to consider the inner politics in his Family. You don't want to antagonize a powerful faction of your family because they can turn against you.

That is something that is still going on today. The Lucchese for example. The acting boss and the underboss are from the Brooklyn faction and they appointed a consigliere from the Bronx faction so the two main factions of the Family are represented at an Administration level. Same dynamics with the Philly Family who appointed a consigliere from their Jersey faction.

The Gambino also had to deal with that. Wiretaps in the Campos crew case showed that the Bronx faction of the Family was not happy with their influence within the family's leadership. That's why some of their members thought that the killing of Franck Cali was a good thing as it undermined the Zips faction.

Remember that Dellacroce and Castellano had a sit down in Brooklyn at Nino Gaggi's bunker like house in Bensonhurst. Castellano conveyed to Dellacroce what Carlo's wishes were and Dellacroce went along. If Dellacroce had been nominated by Gambino and succeeded him, he still would have died of cancer when he did, and Castellano still would have been next in line. It might have changed the whole dynamic that made Paul so unpopular with rank and file soldiers, as they wouldn't have found out about his affair with the maid, and his prosthetic implant until much later than they did originally.

Both roads lead to gotti and he would’ve been the same person either way

That was in 1976 and attended by Paul Castellano Neil Dellacroce Joe Gallo and the captains. It was where Paul Castellano was elected. Carlo Gambino didn't pick anyone like widely believed.

Carlo Gambino was old school Sicilian he would prefer a Sicilian not a Neapolitan.

I pulled Murder Machine out from under my pillow and turned to pages 129-133 where the meeting is described by Dominick Montiglio, who is the only witness to ever discuss it in print. Gambino let it be known that he wanted Castellano to take over after he died. When he croaked, the capos voted and elected Paul, but some wanted to wait for Dellacroce to get out of prison. Which he did on Thanksgiving Day 1976. A few weeks later, he agreed to meet with Castellano. At the meeting were Castellano, Gaggi, Joe Gallo, Tommy Billotti and Dominick Montiglio. Dellacroce attended with 3 other, unidentified men, one who remained in the car, and 2 men who entered Gaggi's house with Dellacroce. According to Montiglio, Gaggi stated that Dellacroce agreed to go along, rather than risk a fight and in accordance with the deal Gambino struck to become boss, after Anastasia was whacked.

Hadn't Paul been acting boss (more or less) since the late 1960's because the cops were up Gambino's ass and he was mostly sick ?