Well considering Mike never forgives anybody for anything I wouldn't put it past mike to hold a grudge on Tom. I just think taking tom out of the loop turned out to be a bad move. tom was not a sicilian but he was a smart guy and considering how Roth played Mike like a fiddle I think Tom might have counseled mike on it. I'm not sure if he would have but we'll never know

I don't believe that Tom would have figured out Roth's plan - he never figured out Sol/Tatt/Barz schemes.

Ya ur right vito did

TB is one of the oldest and brightest Board members. So, his opinion can be highly respected.

I would add that Michael saw Tom, overall, as failing to protect the family. Afterall, that failure did not result only in Sonny's death, but Vito's near death. It's pretty common for peole in leadership positions to view someone with skepticism once that someone has made a mistake. A death and a near death would alter Michael's view of Tom in that way.

I'm not sure I agree, but if Micheal did see Tom as having failed to protect the family, then I'd say it was an unjust view. Personally, I would have blamed Sonny and Fredo a lot more for Vito's near death, and concluded that Sonny's death was caused by Sonny's own weaknesses.

Would you agree that it was unfair for Micheal to blame Tom?

Well, only in the sense that negative outcomes are usually the result of several variables or people, not just one. But, as the novel states, Tom reproached himself for Sonny's death: "He would have to tell the man he most loved in the world that he had failed him, that he had failed to guard his domain and the life of his oldest son."

That's an interesting perspective, TB.

In this instance I believe some of the other variables were far more telling.

Its only natural that Tom would blame himself in some way, but that doesn't mean its right. Vito probably blamed himself for Sonny's death too.

I think even Michael could have blamed himself for Sonny's death. It was his idea of killing Sollozzo and a police captain which set the sage for a war in which Sonny was killed. If he didn't go to Sicily, he could also have talked some sense into his brother.

I don't know about Mike blaming himself. Vito and Tom I could see because Vito brought him into the mob life and Tom couldn't stop him from driving to his death. Like I said before its hard to see Mike take responsibility for any of his mistakes

Exactly, any one of them could have found reasons to blame themselves but it wouldn't neccessarily be true.

Michael was a sociopath. He probably did blame Tom for the Corelone's downfall. Michael thought he was a genius.

I agree, in II he is a bad Consiglieri he is not on top of things as he should be : he has to learn from the papers the news about Roth extradition and Pentangelli betrayal goes unnoticed below his radar until it is almost too late. Had the Senate kept quiet about the surprise witness Michael would have fallen big time.

Tom was a fair analyst but a bad forecaster, and my take is what Michael resent is his actual performance (Rocco and Neri have to fill in some gaps) and because of this Mike no longer mantains a minimal courtesy and treats him like a lackey. He even remembers him as an antagonist in the final flashback.

Michael never blamed himself for anything. It wa all someone else's fault. Even his life of crime he tells Kay in III was merely the result of his trying to "protect my family from the horrors of this world."

I don't see any evidence in the film that he blamed Tom for Sonny's death. in III he tells Vincent that Sonny's temper clouded his judgment, so maybe he blamed Sonny for Sonny's death.

I think Mike was a little peeved that Tom knew about the abortion and thought that Kay and Tom could have possibly been in cahoots. After all, Tom did have someone on the side.