By the time Aiuppa took over, Accardo was basically semi-retired and acting almost strictly in an advisory capacity. Aiuppa, along with Jack Cerone, ran the show but more than likely sought Accardo's advice or blessing on major decisions, although Accardo probably let Aiuppa run the show and rarely gave conflicting opinions on his decisions. Aiuppa was a ruthless guy and had no qualms about killing in order to get a message across.
I've researched this era (Ricca, Accardo and Giancana) for over a year and basically what you stated here is what I've been told. Actually, according to a lot of people, Accardo was ready to retire in 1957 ! He stayed on because of Ricca and Giancana. I'm sure there may have been other reasons, but he was not hurting for money. Some things I found did surprise me. I'm not saying the info is factual, but to me it was interesting. Here are a few:
- Ricca's deportation problems started in the late forties. He was under immense pressure from the govt for both deportation and tax issues. He pushed Accardo to do more and more.
- Ricca was furious with Giancana because of Phyllis McGuire. He took out his anger on Accardo, who, apparently had something to do with Giancana's ascension to the position of boss. Don't have anything else on this. Murray Humphrey also complained about Giancana's high profile life style.
- Giancana gave Ricca and Accardo lots of headaches. The problem was both Ricca and Accardo were tied up in court with IRS problems. Ricca subsequently went away in '59 and Accardo's conviction was reversed in early Oct. '62. Two other points here. Accardo was on sabbatical or semi-retired ( not sure what) and Giancana had pretty much a free hand to do whatever. He also had a very strong power base. Giancana could not have taken over at a worse time. Law enforcement scrutiny had begun and the old ways of doing things were about to change.
- problems with Giancana started to increase sometime in 1962. Once Ricca and Accardo's legal problems were resolved, the beginning of the end was in sight. Giancana was, for the most part, AWOL far too much. His absence and newspaper and magazine articles with his picture, etc., did not set well with The Outfit rank in file or Ricca and Accardo. I think everyone knows about Castro, the Kennedy's, Sinatra, etc., etc. Sam Giancana became a famous celebrity gangster. Powerful ? You bet. Giancana had connections at home and in other countries. He was a money- making son-of- a- gun. He also had Chicago in his pocket.
- What happened ? Giancana's high profile lifestyle drew lots of attention and caused dissention within The Outfit. Something had to be done. Murray Hemphreys told Accardo and Ricca that The Outfit was "leaderless." A meeting of top echelon Outfit members was held in Dec.'63 and was reported by newspapers in Jan.that a change in Outfit leadership was imminent. It was another couple years before Giancana was replaced.
- I do believe it was Accardo who met with Giancana and probably told him that for his own safety he should get out of Chicago. I do not believe Ricca or Accardo wanted Giancana killed. I think both men would have been perfectly content to have Giancana go to Mexico and continue making lots of money, which, of course, would be shared with The Outfit. Well, one out of two ain't bad. Giancana went to Mexico and continued making money but, being the stubborn man he was, refused to share any funds with The Outfit. Authorities eventually "kicked" Giancana out of Mexico and he returned to Chicago. Lots of legal matters followed with the govt determined to make Giancana talk or go to jail. Of course this caused concern within The Outfit. Giancana was eventually murdered in June 1975. Everyone with whom I talked said the hit on Giancana could only have taken place with Accardo's approval. Some folks said Accardo was the last holdout.
- in Giancana's absence, Accardo once again became interim boss. He stayed only long enough to find a qualified replacement. Sam Battaglia was next followed by several others who didn't last very long. It appears Accardo hung around as Chairman but had others handling the day-to- day operations. At some point in the 60's Ricca began having serious health problems (maybe dementia) and Accardo began calling the shots. He quickly formed some type of top echelon Committe that included himself, Gus Alex and Joey Aiuppa. Accardo stayed around long enough to help Aiuppa, and then went into semi-retirement, coming out when necessary or when his expertise was needed. He basically stayed well-insulated behind the scenes, but retained lots of power and influence. He continued to receive money from The Outfit well into the late 80's and possibly the 90's.
There are lots of gaps about particular matters, but this is basically what I've found about this era.
