Black Hand Print Mafia interviews Michael DiLeonardo about John Gotti

[Angelo Santino]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcMfiBNacxg

[Angelo Santino]

I've been sick, have not been doing any research or work but I can rant...
Uhh, actually I can't, I have no energy and my brain is mush. Just to say John Gotti needs to be reexplored and reevaluated now that 20 years have passed.

[Wiseguy]

Just to say John Gotti needs to be reexplored and reevaluated now that 20 years have passed.

He does?

[CabriniGreen]

Just to say John Gotti needs to be reexplored and reevaluated now that 20 years have passed.

He does?

I'm saying... like really? Lol

[PolackTony]

John Gotti, Sr, and his role in the American mafia, has remained under-appreciated for far too long. I’m glad that people are starting to turn their attention to some of these lesser-known and poorly documented figures.

[TommyGambino]

That guy is unbearable

[Ravens410]

What am I missing here? This is a joke, right?

[Angelo Santino]

Yes he does. Because Gotti has fallen into the category of members like Luciano and Capone where you have the man himself and the legend he left behind.

One myth is that Gotti's high profile led to his downfall, it didn't. Wiretaps did. Compare him to the other bosses from that era such as Amuso/Casso who received far less media coverage, the outcome was the same. And it's not like Gotti called a press conference.

One thing that goes unappreciated is just how politically savvy he was in that world. His exchange with Joe N Gallo on how he could legally remove him from consigliere exemplifies that. I never had much of an interest in Gotti, still don't. But Michael has shared with me some of his thoughts on Gotti's Machiavellianism and it's interesting. It's not for me to go into, he and BHPM will explore these stories in the episodes that will come. But it should lead to some interesting discussions here.

[Shellackhead]

I think John Gotti is the most popular mafia figure in the world. To this day, even songs that are in other languages mention his name or make references as the top Most powerful mobster/legendary figure, Al Capone is the other

[nizarsoccer]

Yes he does. Because Gotti has fallen into the category of members like Luciano and Capone where you have the man himself and the legend he left behind.

One myth is that Gotti's high profile led to his downfall, it didn't. Wiretaps did. Compare him to the other bosses from that era such as Amuso/Casso who received far less media coverage, the outcome was the same. And it's not like Gotti called a press conference.

One thing that goes unappreciated is just how politically savvy he was in that world. His exchange with Joe N Gallo on how he could legally remove him from consigliere exemplifies that. I never had much of an interest in Gotti, still don't. But Michael has shared with me some of his thoughts on Gotti's Machiavellianism and it's interesting. It's not for me to go into, he and BHPM will explore these stories in the episodes that will come. But it should lead to some interesting discussions here.

Technically speaking, Amuso was not caught on any wiretaps. He got sunk by informants.

[dave]

Definitely looking forward to hearing more from DiLeonardo on this channel.

[Little_Al1991]

Sammy said in his interview with Diane Sawyer “Oh he’s smart, he knows how to run things.” Now a lot of what he says about Gotti is trying to degrade him in many ways.
Though he never was a good boss, he invited all of his Capo’s to the Ravenite and exposed them.He got caught in a ridiculous way.He decided to speak about murder in a place where he knew the FBI was watching him day and night.His leadership damaged the Gambino’s.

[PolackTony]

Yes he does. Because Gotti has fallen into the category of members like Luciano and Capone where you have the man himself and the legend he left behind.

One myth is that Gotti's high profile led to his downfall, it didn't. Wiretaps did. Compare him to the other bosses from that era such as Amuso/Casso who received far less media coverage, the outcome was the same. And it's not like Gotti called a press conference.

One thing that goes unappreciated is just how politically savvy he was in that world. His exchange with Joe N Gallo on how he could legally remove him from consigliere exemplifies that. I never had much of an interest in Gotti, still don't. But Michael has shared with me some of his thoughts on Gotti's Machiavellianism and it's interesting. It's not for me to go into, he and BHPM will explore these stories in the episodes that will come. But it should lead to some interesting discussions here.

To be clear, my above comment was just for ball-busting purposes. I 100% agree here. Like Capone and Luciano, Gotti has been so iconized that our understanding of him and his role in LCN is obscured by layers of myth and sensationalism that have been built up and repeated for years. It’s hard to really approach and grasp figures like this, when our picture of them (as people and as mafia figures) has been so strongly predetermined. What’s left to know, when we already know everything about them, whatever there is to learn about LCN from them is already known, etc.? There can be a lot of value in revisiting such a mythologized figure as Gotti, with a fresh set of perspectives, informed by different ways of thinking about the mafia that emerge from discussion in this forum and ongoing research. Especially with a well-informed and articulate primary source like DiLeonardo.

BTW, my personal favorite Gotti factoid has to be that a guy who was basically a Neapolitan-American street hoodlum forced the clannish admin of the DeCavs to re-induct their members for not adhering to the induction ceremony tradition. Not just because, at face value, it seems counterintuitive or ironic, but because of what it suggests about the psychology and culture of the mafia. And even then, Gotti’s motivations may be complicated. How much if it was the boss of a powerful family finding a justification to flex on a subordinate family for not adhering to the letter of the law? How much of it was Gotti doubling down on the symbolic capital of LCN traditions, whereas for the DeCavs this was less important to them as they had strong lineage links to the mafia tradition and could afford to be less hung-up on the formal trappings as a source of legitimacy? I’m sure there are plenty of other angles from which to re-explore a guy like Gotti that can provide new windows not just on to him as a person, but (and to me more importantly) on to the dynamics of the mafia.

[CabriniGreen]

He reportedly read a lot of Machiavelli, from the moves he made, I believe he did.

I use Machiavelli as one of my tools to evaluate gangsters all the time. I did one on here about Montagna, Wiseguy thought I was somebody called Little Joe Shots, lmao... apparently he went on Machiavelli rants a lot...

[jimmyb]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcMfiBNacxg

Great job Angelo. I subscribed.