Hmmmmm. While I agree that Charlie Lucky was indeed an entrepreneur in the underworld who, as you correctly point out, 'modernized' the mafia and organized a board of directors, if you will, that incorporated not only mafia leaders from around the country but also non Sicilians and non Italians, I have to respectfully disagree with you about his being the GREATEST Don..
No question that Luciano was the Bill Gates of the mob who had the ability to partner up with a genius like Meyer Lansky and construct a 'corportion' of sorts. But to me what makes Luciano fall short of being the GREATEST Don is the fact that he liked to live the lavish life which eventually contributed histo his demise.
In my humble opinion if not for Lansky, Charlie Lucky wouldn't have ever risen to the position that he did.
I wonder this sometimes too. And the same counts for Costello. Luciano and Costello were more "business men" than crime bosses.
For a real "Don" type I would rather go for guys like Gambino, Gigante, etc. Guys like that would probably not risen high in the legitimate world as they were born to be gangsters.
