The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
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ask the advice of their friend Don Corleone, their Godfather. And so he became a 
political power to be consulted by practical party chiefs. He consolidated this power with 
a far-seeing statesmanlike intelligence; by helping brilliant boys from poor Italian families 
through college, boys who would later become lawyers, assistant district attorneys, and 
even judges. He planned for the future of his empire with all the foresight of a great 
national leader. 
The repeal of Prohibition dealt this empire a crippling blow but again he had taken his 
precautions. In 1933 he sent emissaries to the man who controlled all the gambling 
activities of Manhattan, the crap games on the docks, the shylocking that went with it as 
hot dogs go with baseball games, the bookmaking on sports and horses, the illicit 
gambling houses that ran poker games, the policy or numbers racket of Harlem. This 
man’s name was Salvatore Maranzano and he was one of the acknowledged 
pezzonovante,.90 calibers, or big shots of the New York underworld. The Corleone 
emissaries proposed to Maranzano an equal partnership beneficial to both parties. Vito 
Corleone with his organization, his police and political contacts, could give the 
Maranzano operations a stout umbrella and the new strength to expand into Brooklyn 
and the Bronx. But Maranzano was a short-sighted man and spurned the Corleone offer 
with contempt. The great Al Capone was Maranzano’s friend and he had his own 
organization, his own men, plus a huge war chest. He would not brook this upstart 
whose reputation was more that of a Parliamentary debater than a true Mafioso. 
Maranzano’s refusal touched off the great war of 1933 which was to change the whole 
structure of the underworld in New York City. 
At first glance it seemed an uneven match. Salvatore Maranzano had a powerful 
organization with strong enforcers. He had a friendship with Capone in Chicago and 
could call on help in that quarter. He also had a good relationship with the Tattaglia 
Family, which controlled prostitution in the city and what there was of the thin drug traffic 
at that time. He also had political contacts with powerful business leaders who used his 
enforcers to terrorize the Jewish unionists in the garment center and the Italian anarchist 
syndicates in the building trades. 
Against this, Don Corleone could throw two small but superbly organized regimes led by 
Clemenza and Tessio. His political and police contacts were negated by the business 
leaders who would support Maranzano. But in his favor was the enemy’s lack of 
intelligence about his organization. The underworld did not know the true strength of his 
soldiers and even were deceived that Tessio in Brooklyn was a separate and 

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