The meeting where Michael is moving up to Don- he tells Tom, he's out as consiglieri. He explains that he's not a wartime consiglieri - but isn't he? I mean he was around when Don Vito was sick - he helped Santino when he went out and was shooting everyone. He was there after Michael shot up Solozzo and the police chief - was that wartime?

I think as much as anything, that was a performance put on by Michael and Vito for the benefit of Carlo.

Think about it - Carlo was kind of a flunky slapD##k in the NYC operation, (but he was originally from Las Vegas, as we know from the GF novel), yet Michael is planning to make Carlo his "right-hand man" (i.e. consigliere) when the family makes the move to Vegas? Makes no sense.

Michael and Vito have to make it convincing for everyone, that they think they need to move Tom out of the consigliere position, so they put on this performance, which lulls Carlo into thinking he is moving up in the family.

Michael and Vito know all along that Carlo is dead meat.

Yea Enzo pretty much sumz it up

Yet again another subtle theme that doesn't come to light after multiple viewings -- just like the Hagen/Neri/Rocco struggle for Michael's good graces.

Yes, part of it was a charade to lull Carlo into thinking he was going to be Michael's "right-hand man" in Nevada (but notice how Carlo thanks Vito as he leaves the office). But, even after Carlo leaves, Michael tells Tom, "You're out, Tom...you're not a wartime consigliere. Things could get rough with the move..." And he means it.
Tom was totally loyal but he wasn't a wartime consigliere. He lacked the "Sicilian cunning" that Puzo wrote about in the novel. In the scene in the novel where he learns that Sonny's been killed, Tom berates himself for not being a "fit wartime consigliere...old Genco would have smelled a rat." His harsh self-assessment was brutally honest. A Sicilian would have figured that, after he was beaten and publicly humiliated by Sonny, Carlo would have thirsted for vengeance, and would be a likely candidate to set Sonny up--especially since Carlo had once before beaten up Connie. Tom missed it. (Yes, I know you're going to say that Tom tried to stop Sonny from driving out of the compound and sent men after him. I'm saying that Tom should have warned Sonny in advance to look for more tricks from Carlo.)
Bear in mind that Tom was Vito's choice for consigliere, not Michael's. Sonny brought him home as a brother, not Michael. And, while this is a guess on my part, I think Michael resented Tom because if Tom had warned Sonny of Carlo's perfidy and Sonny had lived, Michael might have been able to return to the US and lived a "normal," non-Mob life instead of being forced to be the Don.
BTW: Another subtlety in that scene:
We see a sign of Tessio's coming betrayal when the Don asked, "Do you trust my judgment?" and Clemenza said, "Always, Godfather," while Tessio barely squeezed out a "yes" between clenched teeth. Take another look: When Michael and the Don dismiss Carlo, Clemenza and Tessio, the Don shakes Clemenza's hand. But he doesn't shake Tessio's hand. And Tessio shakes Michael's hand--with his left hand! Oh-oh...

Sonny, being Sonny, would have still ignored any forewarning from Tom about heading back to Carlo's however.

No matter how clearly Tom might have suggested it was a trap, Sonny would have still seen the red mist descend and fly out the house to go and sort Carlo out.

Everyone else involved in the family should take their share of the blame for not realising Carlo would want revenge. It was not just up to Tom.

Yes Turnbull- good points - I always wondered about that handshake by Tessio. He goes to shake Michael's hand, and Mike looks at him like, what? - then he shakes uses his left hand to shake. Clemenza just leaves like in a huff. I always thought Clemenza was smarter, how is Tessio smarter?

Not smart enough to figure out who the winner would be.

It's referenced in the book that even Tom realizes he is NOT a wartime consligieri. He comes to this conclusion after Vito was shot and not being able to anticipate this turn of events. The book goes into much more detail about Tom's inability to be a wartime consligieri. The other Families all snicked behind the decision to make Tom, an Irishman, the #2 man in the Corleone Family. I think they were even referred to as "The Irish Family."

But even in the movie, Sonny says "Will you just do what I tell you to do! Goddamn it! If I had a wartime consiglieri -- a

Sicilian -- I wouldn't be in this shape! Pop had Genco -- look what I got.

Goombah~

Your reference to Tom admitting he is not a wartime consigliere is taken out of context. Tom says this immediately following Sonny's death. Tom was closer to Sonny than anyone else so it was expected for him to feel guilt over his best friends death. The truth is that Tom did realize Sonny was in danger, that is why he sent the car after him. No one could have stopped Sonny, and Sonny should have known better anyway. But Tom expressing regrets over his mistakes does not make him a bad consigliere. Even Don Vito stated that Tom was not a bad consigliere, but that Sonny (may he rest in peace) was a bad Don.

Tom also believed that Sonny was too irrational to make a Don and that he was not looking forward to being Sonny's consigliere because he knew (as much as he loved Sonny) it would be alot more trouble for him than Don Vito was.

Wow, great points by both Enzo and Turnbull. Mike did lure Carlo into his trap there when he dismissed Tom.

My whole take on this was that Michael and Vito had decided to take the family to a whole new level, and part of that was severing old ties to consolodate Mike's power, show by example Mike was "the one" and there was no going around him, isolate the decision making (at the time, there was still a rat), and the need to have a muscle guy to the advising (Vito) instead of having a legal guy (Tom).

And I think that if anything did go wrong with what they were trying to do, Vito needed someone to hold things together, and that would have to be Tom. He did say that it was important that Tom "not be a part of what was going to happen."

Of course, this does not explain how badly Mike treated Tom, even well into Part II.

Going into Part II (and repeating what I posted earlier): Fairly or not, Michael may have blamed Tom at least partly for Sonny's death and held it against him because if Sonny had lived, Michael wouldn't have had to assume the Donship. And again, Tom was Vito's choice as consigliere, not Michael's; and Sonny, not Michael, brought him home to be his brother.
In Part II, Tom screwed up big time by not finding out that Pentangeli had survived the Rosato brothers' rubout attempt. Thinking Frankie dead, Tom advised Michael to lie under oath. Tom told Michael, "Our people with the NY detectives said he [Frankie] was half dead, talking out loud about how you betrayed him..." DUH, Tom: where were your people with the NY detectives before you advised your client to commit five counts of perjury, which very nearly landed him five consecutive five-year prison sentences? Michael also may have blamed Tom for Kay's abortion. Yes, I know that she arranged it, but it happened on Tom's watch, when Michael had charged him with keeping her and the kids under lock and key.
No one was more loyal to Michael than Tom. I believe Michael treated Tom badly. But Tom was less than a great consigliere.

Thanks Krela. I just came across the scene you referred to in the book last night, after I made my post.

Of course I am biased, but I still don't think Tom was a "bad" consiglieri. He made mistakes, but he was very good for the family at the stage of development they were in.

Tom did urge Vito to deal with Sollozzo.......it was Vito who didn't want to do business with him. Genco probably would have sensed more trouble by turning Sollozzo away, but Tom was right initially.

Tom was the first to get after Sonny, even though Sonny was uncontrollable. I get the sense he had to pick his battles with Sonny. I would have to concede Genco probably would have seen trouble with Carlo though.

Tom was the first to approve Mike's idea to wipe out a police captain and Sollozzo.

But here is why Tom made the Corleones what they were (and I give Vito all the credit): Tom was a lawyer with street smarts. Vito knew that as the families grew, the strongest would survive, but the smartest would prosper. I think that is why he advised Micheal to keep Tom around legally for the Vegas expansion.

Despite the Pentangelli thing, Tom kept Mike out of trouble with the Senate with the information he had. Tom made sure they had an ace in the hole with Geary. And whether Pentangelli was his fault or not, he found a way to silence him in the end.

All-in-all, I think Tom saw to it Micheal's plans were carried out like nobody else could. Genco was great for the streets, but Hagen was definitely the man for hearings, expansions, and legal protection for the family.

Maybe Micheal finally saw that with Hagen gone in Part III when he said he needed more lawyers and less tough guys.

I don't think Tom's being replaced was any indication he was a bad consigliere; I believe that Michael truly needed him to perform his services to the family as an attorney and that's why he was replaced, though at the same time, he was keeping as bible that family motto: "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" and that applied to Carlo in many ways. And besides, Tom was advising Michael though not in that capacity (hint: the scene during the Vito's funeral).