This raises another point:
Michael was frantic to get Fredo on that plane out of Cuba. Obviously he wasn't motivated by brotherly love at that point--he wanted Fredo to pump him for more info about the Tahoe shooting plot. And, when Michael arrives back in Nevada (probably less than 48 hours later since he's wearing the same clothes as in Havana, and is exhausted), the first thing he asks Tom is, "Where's my brother?" Tom obviously knows where Fredo is, because he says, "I think he must be in New York." Michael knows Tom knows where Fredo is because he tells Tom, "I want you to get word to Fredo...I know Roth misled him..."
I had never really contemplated the degree to which Tom was working with Fredo (i.e. knowledge of Fredo's whereabouts after Havana). Obviously, Tom was not in on the Tahoe plot. But now I am wondering - if Michael knew (or just as problematic -
believed) that Tom was helping Fredo, was Tom in serious jeopardy himself? Particularly after the obvious sense of betrayal Michael felt after discovering the truth about Fredo's involvement.
My guess for the short-term is "no," Tom would not have been killed, if for no other reason than because Michael needed Tom's legal skills. But if Tom was aligning himself more with Fredo than Michael liked, could anybody else here think that Tom was just as likely to be whacked? More than anyone in GF II, Michael manipulated Tom Hagen. While he would not have been as easy to mislead as Fredo, I think that ultimately Tom could have been lured into a false sense of security by Michael. Tom's problem centered around guilt: 1) not being a wartime consiglieri and allowing Sonny to be killed, 2) allowing Kay to sneak off and have an abortion while Michael was away, 3) Tom's perceived inability to live up to any of Michael's expectations.
