What facts are there about Lucky Luciano?

Answer 1

Let me clarify a couple of things.

First, Al Capone did NOT work for Luciano, nor did Luciano work for Capone. Lucky had absolutely no money coming to him from The Chicago Outfit's rackets, and vice versa - with Capone having zip headed his way from NYC. Furthermore, neither had the power to tell the other one what to do, nor would either even consider doing so. When you're talking about the likes of Capone, Luciano, Genovese, Trafficante and Gambino - you are talking about guys who were respected by everyone in Cosa Nostra, and nothing would be more disrespectful than to attempt to assert any kind of control over the other's rackets. The idea of the comission was for these powerful bosses to come together and discuss - as equals - what should be done about problems they had, or opportunities that may present themselves. Nobody's vote meant more than anyone else's, and if more people disagreed with Luciano than not, he didnt get his way. It was made to keep the peace, bloodshed is bad for business and Lucky knew that. Be it Capone, Luciano, or Gambino...they were all smart enough to realize that conceeding a little here and there goes a long way, and they were all there to come to resolutions together. Nobody's opinion was weighed more heavily than anyone else's.

Second, as far as the commission goes, yes - Luciano was the CHAIRMAN of the commission, but thats not capo di tutto capi(boss of bosses) at all. Its not different than hosting a meeting today with several large companies, and inviting CEO's from several Fortune 500 firms. The fact that you organize and speak at the MEETING (i.e. topics to discuss, location, endorsements for people to get promotions, etc) does not mean you control the PEOPLE at the meeting. Its no different than presidents from different nations having a meeting to decide what is the best way to help everyone, because they all know that telling them 'Im the boss here, we do it my way' makes more enemies than not, and leads you to resentments, which in Cosa Nostra - leads to bodies. Luciano was a ruthless killer who would not hesitate to have anyone whacked whom he saw fit, but he also picked his battles, and realized that it hurt EVERYBODY'S income and caused a lot of unwanted attention. Basically, the comission was there to ensure that everybody was respected and treated as an equal member, whose opions mattered just as much as the next guy. Im Italian, and let me tell you, the last thing you would ever do is pretend to have a meeting where everyone gets to have a say, then telling them too bad we're doing it my way, or my vote means more. Might as well whack yourself at that point.

Luciano himself did away with the capo di tutti cappi title (basically, 'Don' for you Godfather fans), because it was risky, unnecesary, and lead to a lot of unhappy mafioso who could dime you out because they wanted it or thought someone else deserved it more. Lucky knew very early on that any in-fighing or bloodshed between the commission was bad for business and took years to resolve, and the best way to accomplish a long standing peace was to ensure everyone came to the table as unquestioned equals.

Carlo Gambino was the last person in the American Cosa Nostra to be regarded as the 'boss of all bosses', but that was mainly due to the fact that the Gambino family was the largest and most powerful for many years, (basically until Gambino 'retired' before passing). People may be confusing the fact that Lucky and Gambino had the most widespread rackets as them having the most pull with the other families, which is not true. Nobody can intrude on another families turf, racket, soilder, etc with permission from the ENTIRE comission. If Lucky or Gambino gave you permission to whack Genovese, but you didnt ask everyone else on the comission as well and went through with it, you would be taken out, no questions, and Luciano and Gambino would have to explain themselves to everyone else or face a death sentence as well.

The point Im making in all this rambling is that the reason Luciano did away with the capo di tutti cappi title in the first place, and instituted the comission, is so that no one head of a family held more power, or more accurately - respect, than another. He knew cappo di tutti cappi was going to be what every boss wanted, and that it would result in a lot of killing of the top guys, which is bad for business, and risky with law enforcement. An unknown associate/made guy at the bottom of the ladder is killed? Back page news, likely unnoticed, nobody knows who the guy was or even how involved in 'this thing of ours' he was. Lucky Luciano or Carlo Gambino killed? BAD for everyone, HUGE in your face reminder that the Mafia is out there. The best thing for them all was to keep things as secret and peaceful as possible (note: as POSSIBLE; people still needed to be whacked, and business still ran as usual, but high profile murder = money out of their pockets). Cops, FBI Agents and Judges on their payrolls are going to run the other way if theyre now dealing with people leaving high profile bodies, not to mention - with the amount of rats that have polluted the last couple of decades, who wants to stand out that much? "Oh, HEY FBI - GET ME, GET ME! I'M NOT JUST ANY BOSS RUNNING A CRIMINAL SYNDICATE, I'M THE BOSS OF ALL BOSSES!" Might as well just turn yourself in now...

As an example of what a high profile mob boss' untimely death can cause, John Gotti's hostile takeover ultimately put him right in the FBI's sights, and they were onto all his rackets, bugged everwhere they could, and he was arrested and charged a BUNCH of times during is 7 year reign before being sent away for life. He beat a few cases, and yes the punk piece of s*** rate Gravanno dimed him out (though Gotti is a scum for trying to dump his charges off on Sammy, too), but he walked around like he could do no wrong and didnt care who saw it. He's lucky Chin or several other bosses who had a $$$ on his head didnt get to him first, but once he got Big Paulie whacked, his days were numbered. You dont want to be THE guy, you want to be no more important or noticable than any number of guys. The Feds are always looking to take down THE guy, he's the biggest prize there is, but he doesnt make any more money than anyone else. Trust me, Capone, Gambino and Genovesse never kicked up to Luciano...