Cesare Borgia was a failure, but he was very close.
John Gotti started out brilliantly, but ultimately he was a failure as well. In Machiavelli's work The Prince both men were
highly unstable characters and led themselves into their own political graves. Cesare Borgia, the murderous son of Pope Alexander
tried to bring order to Romagna by using unabashed cruelty upon his people as a leader in
Machiavelli's sixteenth century. In the
twentieth century, John Gotti proved the effectiveness of the tenets of Machiavelli by
certain actions, part of the reason why he was called the Teflon Don. However, the entrance of Fortune again would play
a large part in the success of Gotti. Niccolo
Machiavelli's reputation and his writings in the Prince and the Discourses have validity
in contemporary twentieth century organized crime in the United States and is actually
dependent on them for success.
Generally, the ideals of the mafia do follow the doctrines of the prince according
to sociologist Robert T. Anderson. The main
regulations include:
1.
help
one another and avenge every injury of a fellow member;
2.
work
with all means for the defense and freeing of any fellow member who had fallen into the
hands of the judiciary;
3.
to
divide the proceeds of thievery, robbery, and extortion with certain considerations for
the needy as determined by the capo (head)
4.
to
keep the oath and maintain secrecy on pain of death within twenty-four hours.
Even
the hierarchical set up is like that of a principality.
Cosa Nostras exist all over the United States and there is a bureaucracy within
each city. In New York City there are
different district managers and at the lowest levels are soldiers. The epitome of the organized crime in the late
twentieth century is John Gotti. It is
important to take into consideration the metaphor for state here will be Cosa Nostra*, or
the Americanized version of the mafia. (Cosa
Nostra and the mafia are virtually the same thing, but there are very strict stipulations
when using these terms. Cosa Nostra is the
very modern term for mafia.)
Specifically,
the reason why Gotti takes on the actions to become the head, come from "An exhortation to liberate Italy
from the barbarians" in The Prince. In
Gotti's case it was to liberate La Cosa Nostra from the disjointed factions of the Cosa
Nostra. La Cosa Nostra, an organization older
than Machiavelli's time has been around since possibly the 9th century and immigrated to
the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.
John Gotti's family, the Gambinos have been a prominent "family" in the
United States. Gotti used Machavelli's
guidelines for leading the Gambino family and has succeeded when following them closely. The fickleness of Fortune always prevails and he
lost a lot of his power after being sent to jail by a trusted adviser betray him.*
(footnote, according to La Cosa Nostra, he technically is the main leader. His son John Gotti Jr. is leading the Gambino
family as we speak today and is in charge of immediate transactions going on.)
The success of carrying out such Machiavellian ideals has lead to the media calling
John Gotti the Teflon Don because of his tactics to keep from getting arrested. Niccolo himself writes in his Prince that in order
to keep the crowd at bay, one needs positive public relations in his entitled chapter
"How a Prince should act to acquire esteem." However, Gotti uses these tactics
earlier to gain power. In order to get rid of
the earlier "barbarian" running his Cosa Nostra, there was series of public
relations campaign to rid them of Paul Castellano. Initially,
it was necessary to rid the Cosa Nostra of Paul Castellano for under his power the Cosa
Nostras around him had become divided and weak. The
Cosa Nostra itself can be considered to be a sort of principality, for it is a body that
acts independently of other powers and is run by one man.
However, it was not only the actions of John Gotti that allowed him to become the
head of the Gambino crime syndicate. The
instability of the Cosa Nostra at the helm of Castellano led Gotti to the top. Instability of the Cosa Nostra is synonymous with
the instability of a nation as a chapter of the Discourses the people are strong
when united but weak as individuals. Castellanos
leadership led the mafia into a weak state that was hesitant in making decisions. Gotti had broken two of the Cosa Nostra
laws and had murdered two influential men in of neighboring organizations, but
was allowed to live because he was supposedly very loyal member. Castellano knew that Gotti could work the seedy
side of the business, but was convinced that Gotti would remain in the shadows of the
business. Castellanos first mistake was
the allowance of two factions to occur in his Family.
Additionally, Gotti hated Castellano because of the lack of street smarts that he
had and aroused the universal hatred that lead to private individuals to
desire revenge (Bondanella 358).
According to the Prince, there are three kinds of danger
involved with a conspiracy and they occur at different stages of a plot: before, during
and after. In the dealings of Cosa Nostra,
when someone wants to get rid of the leader it is imperative to be highly secretive. One does not be obviously adversarial to anyone,
and co-conspirators are not to be asked explicitly if they will aid in the murder of the
boss because if the plot is carried out the ringleader will ultimately be killed. The people that you ask to co-conspirators must
love you more than they care for the present leader.
The three, Gotti, DeCicco and Gravano all participated in the public murder of
Castellano involving a maelstrom of bullets. Thus
the fearlessness of the Fist, the faction run by Gotti
had overcome the second danger of hesitancy to murder Castellano. Gotti made sure to kill all of Castellanos
executive board and made the members of the Fist all executive board members,
eliminating the last of the dangers. There
was no one to pick up where Castellano left off.
Gotti's
first order of business was to make sure that he did not cause a civil war within the Cosa
Nostras surrounding him. Approaching this, he would use Frank DeCicco to make other
families feel safe as their lives were not in danger and he began to form Gotti's image as
a man who cared for the Cosa Nostra among the other family members. DeCicco was from the old school of
Cosa Nostra and his job was to alert the rest of the family that in no way was the death
of Castellano going to mean more death. This
is directly related to the overtaking of a new principality. By allowing the laws of the set up principality to
exist the people would not suffer or rebel, as the Cosa Nostra would not rebel when Gotti
was nominated for head of the Gambino syndicate.
And
one should bear in mind that there is nothing more difficult to execute, nor more dubious
of success, nor more dangerous to administer than to introduce a new system of things: for he who introduces it has all those who profit
from the
old
system as his enemies, and he has only lukewarm
allies
in all those who might profit from the new system (Bondanella 96) The Prince
Gotti
would represent all that was new in the Gambino family.
Despite their suspicion of Gotti killing Castellano, the Cosa Nostra agreed and he
was elected. The reason why DeCicco was so
instrumental in the acceptance of Gotti was what Machiavelli called considering the
subjects (Bondanella 381).
Gotti
secretly became the leader of the Cosa Nostra by murdering Paul Castellano for
the sake of unity. Disunity in the Carlo
Gambino family occurred after the death of Gambino himself and his appointment of Paul
Castellano. Castellano was more of a
businessman liked to work in union rackets instead of the dirty work later associated with
Gotti. Castellanos own insecurity led
to the factions that would later lead to his demise.
Two factions that caused the power of the Gotti
later went on to say to Gravano the reason why the FBI and Justice Office could not jail
him: "They got no f-ckin' cohesion. They got no unity." The necessary harmony that Gotti talks about lead
to the Gambino Family becoming an organized juggernaut of crime and would continue to rule
for several years after the 1985 Castellano Coup. Gotti is a mastermind when working with
the two natures of man. The two natures of
man include those of the fox and lion. The fox represents the cunning while the lion
represents the beastly side of nature. The
nature of the fox dealt with the business side of Cosa Nostra while the lion dealt with
the murders and terrorist tactics.
In almost every case brought up against Gotti in the mid-eighties resulted in an
acquittal. The Teflon Don as was media
nickname, was always thankful to his community and made himself out to be a
"nice" guy by his neighbors as he threw parties for them with free food an
entertainment. Again, more publicity in his
favor and creating an image of himself, despite the terrible things he had done to his own
Cosa Nostra. To answer the Machiavellis
question of is it better to be feared than loved Gottis answer was yes
to both. Again he is generous with the
community by making sure the community knows of his presence and also known of his
impunity with the law. Generosity and
positive public relations in light of jail time disillusion the public. However, putting fear into your people was also
necessary. The ambiguity of
Machiavellis argument of whether being loved or feared is the answer for a good
prince is expertly enacted in Gottis reign of the Gambinos. One case involved a friend of Gotti who insulted
him while serving time. Gotti ordered that
man killed the next day, for any negative things tarnishing an image would ultimately lead
to his downfall, remembering Machiavellis demand of rulers to offend
those who speak lowly of you. Gotti did
remain in power, but not because he was solely loved or feared, but because he avoided
hatred, he persisted. Hatred, leads to murder
by other people including under bosses.
When
Romual Piecyk had come forward and offended Gotti, it is truly then we see Niccolo's words
spewing forth from the "godfather's" action.
Piecyk had Gotti jailed for assaulting him in public one night. In jail Gotti sought out to avenge his self. Gotti's army harassed Piecyk day and night even
cutting his brakes in his car. These scare
tactics made Piecyk come down with "amnesia" and did not want to offend Gotti
anymore because to do so would have meant sure death.
Here Gotti checks his power and makes his reputation well known to any would-be
dissenters. Fear of Gotti made the community
silently obey his wishes to not cross him. Even
as Gotti was imprisoned for the last time in 1992, members of the community cried and
lamented as the Teflon Don was sent to jail because of a betrayal by his trusted advisor
Sammy Gravano. This is how strong the bond of
the community was and how important it is to the Cosa Nostra. If Gotti ever returns to the outside world, there
will be the same kind of reverence that existed before his incarceration. The masses are wiser and more constant than
a prince, according to the Discourses (Bondanella 281). Without support or love, there is no leader.
The downfall of Gotti's leadership was brought upon by mistakes in Gotti's planning
and the work of the Justice Department. Samuel
Gravano had been his underboss since Frank DeCicco was murdered as a response to
Castellano supporters, and was now leading "hits" in order to gain and control
balance in the Gambino family. Of course,
Gotti never worked alone, from day one with his conspirators group known as the
"hand" included the men who played the role of the advisers. The men who were the closest to him were gravano
and DeCicco, yet they were not the exclusive advisers.
Men such as Lasciano were advisers as well. Gotti
put trust into several men, but not into one soul adviser.
Tapes on one of these men would illustrate the reason for having several advisors.
The one that prompted Gravano to betray Gotti included diatribes against him to Lasciano.
Pointing out his shortcomings and his nature as a "mad-dog killer." Gotti checked each adviser he had and had there
not been a wire on someone, he would have had a perfect amount of suspicion on all of his
leaders. A prince is respected when he is a
true friend and a true enemy (151 Bondanella). He
proved that when he spoke almost fatally of Gravano.
The reason why that conversation from Gotti to Losciano was so important was
because it lowered the dignity of Gravano. Any
unhappiness from Gotti would have ended Gravanos life.
Initially, Gotti was doomed at the beginning according to the Discourses. He alone was supposed to obtain the role of
leader, instead he had DeCicco and Gravano alongside them who ultimately died as a result
of his connection to them and in the latter case, betrayed by Gravano. Gotti gained power
in a way that did upset the rest of the Cosa Nostra.
Subsequently, he was jailed and passed his power onto his own son John Gotti, Jr.
In the Discourses, Machiavelli notes that a leader "should be so prudent and
able-minded as not to bequeath the authority he has taken to his heir; for, since men are
more apt to do evil than good, his successor might use for ambitious ends what the founder
had employed virtuously (Bondanella 201)." John
Gotti, Jr. may be power-hungry, but in a loophole according to Machiavelli "a weak
prince can maintain himself when he succeeds an excellent prince; but after a weak prince
one cannot maintain any rule with another weak prince (Bondanella 228)." Since Gotti's "rule" lasted for a good
seven years and he was able to pass it down into his son, as long as Gotti, Jr. is just as
strong as the senior Gotti he can maintain the lead of the Gambino family. Yet, again if Gotti is released there may be a
power struggle between father and son. Gotti
started out right, with his 140 IQ and his spin on the media, but that was not enough to
save him from incriminating testimony of his adviser Gravano.
This
life of ours, this is a wonderful life. If
you can get through life like this and get away with it, hey, thats great. But its very, very unpredictable. Theres
so many ways you can screw it up. Paul
Castellano on Fortune
Unfortunately,
Castellano did screw up. His
unwillingness to be involved in terroristic threatening and the seedy side of Mafioso work
led to his inability to be a truly successful leader.
Technically, Castellano could have kept his power because Carlo Gambino was so
highly revered. Even though the Castellano
was mediocre, he could have held on to his position, but the successor had to be very
strong and charismatic.
Machiavelli
writes of the evil shrew that is accountable for bringing down the greatness of men : Fortune. Fortune
plays tricks on even the greatest of men. Eventually
wires lead to the downfall of the Teflon Don who is currently incarcerated. Machiavelli notes that a prince can prosper today
and come to ruin tomorrow without him changing his character (Bondanella 160). As Gotti reached the pinnacle of his
business career through a supposed plumbing parts business, Fortune took his
Cosa Nostra notoriety away. Machiavelli
writes that a prince should be able to adapt to any sort of situation that occurs. Gotti would agree fortune is the arbiter of
one half of our actions, but that she still leaves the control of the other half, or
almost that, to us (Bondanella 159). Perhaps
Gottis persona led him to disillusionment and his image made him a bit to arrogant
with his career, the second part that he had to control, was lost because of his lack of
virtue. Virtue in the modern sense is the
talent that one has in order to be an effective leader.
Up
until his unfortunate betrayal the Teflon Don was the epitome of a good ruler. Gottis willingness to challenge traditions
is pretty questionable. He would have had to
follow the Cosa Nostras regulations to be an almost benign ruler. However, the
contradictory nature of that last statement needs to be addressed. If Gotti was such a good ruler, then how and why
did he lose all power? Fortune. Why does Fortune have to ruin such a
great man in his prime? There is
no real answer to that question because no one can second-guess Fortune. The FBIs fortune had changed and thus they
had brought Gravano in to betray him. Conversations with Losciano at the time were
probably common and he probably scolded several of his advisers behind their backs, but
had it not been for the wires, he would not have been caught. The admonishments of Gravano
were to serve the purpose of offending him again referring to the Prince. To make sure that members of the government are to
be ruled by you, you must at times offend them. However, Gravano saw this as a betrayal
and could have thought that Gotti was on his way to expulsing him out of the Gambino
Family. Gravano then turned around to offend his own boss turning states evidence against
the former boss. Corresponding to the ideas
of Machiavelli, insults and abuse arouse hatred against those who employ them,
without producing any benefit.
-Though
the Teflon Don vowed to run Cosa Nostra while incarcerated, the New York Family forced his
retirement in 1996. John Gotti Jr. met the
same fate, as he was arrested in 1999. The
blood succession of Gotti to Gotti Jr. was very upsetting to the Teflon Don because the
Cosa Nostra was not to be passed down to a relative. This was the initial reason why Gotti
was mad at Castellano gaining power, but never spoke about it in public because Carlo
Gambino was all-powerful.
*ironically-Gotti
Jr.s lawyer is a woman-takes on the role as consigliere possibly leading to downfall
sexist arguement
-Power of the Gambino Family stretches from NY to LA important to spread out power
to important principalities notably NY and California