Bilotti was not the underboss, he may have been Castellano's driver and gopher, and may have even filled in briefly after Neil died, but he certainly was not going to be Big Paul's second in command for the long term future.
Who knows if Bilotti would have been the long term underboss, but he replaced Dellacroce in that position, didn't he? The main reason it was brief was because he was whacked.
I think that Paul wanted to make Bilotti the permanent Underboss,partly because of how clueless and stupid that he (Paulie) was.Remember,if it wasn't for cousin Carlo,Paul would never have been Boss.
In his mind,he saw the parallel between him and Carlo as follows:
Carlo had a tough,feared,and respected guy as his Underboss,so I'll get me one,too.That way,I can keep the Gotti bunch in line.
Trouble was,Paul had no idea how little Bilotti was respected or feared by Gotti,(and many other Gambino guys as well).
Paul was still back in the old days when the Boss is the Boss,and made guys accepted whatever he said. The mafia at large was changing,not just the Gambinos,and as the older guys were fading away,so was the "Family comes first" mentality. The younger guys could give a sh*t about Carlo Gambino,and Omerta,and the "Sacred Oath". It became all about how much money they could make and how they could make it.
If Paul would have had a brain and a pair of b*lls,he would have whacked the Gotti crew,put a guy like Sammy G. in as underboss,and sat back with his silk robe,hideous mistress,and bags of money.
