Originally Posted By: jrp316
By waiting until after Vito's passing, Michael ensured that his father could be held blameless for his son's actions.


I'd have to delve a bit into the dialogue to be sure, but I don't think that it was part of the plan to wait until Vito was dead. It was, in fact, an untimely death for execution of the plan, as Vito had not yet finished fully wiring Michael into his political network.

"All of these men were good listeners; patient men."