Here's, what I think. Probably you've read his book and watched his interview, he was always for the old ways of making business. He was strong, ruthless, killer, major money maker, not in the spotlights, careful and so on... till John Gotti comes as a boss. For me John Gotti being the boss, was the beginning of the end of the Gambino family then.

If Gravano and Frank DeCicco had been in charge, none of this would happen. John Gotti talked about "public" while Gravano said - "We have no public, we are a secret society". John Gotti loved cameras, Gravano avoided them. So I think the decision to become a rat was right, not only to protect himself, but because that is not the Cosa Nostra he once swore to. As we all know he never maked excuses for his life, and even now he is serving sentence, which meant, that as a rat he betrayed the people who no longer believed in the old ways, and the old rules. So for me that makes Gravano not a rat, but a man of dignity who live the life of a gangster, as he is meant to be lived. That's why I think he is the face of the old Cosa Nostra, before it's downfall. I'm not saying Gravano is good, I'm just saying he is the face of Cosa Nostra for me.