And eventually he would have lost. He could not keep the drug trade out forever. So he either negotiates after the war, or says bye-bye to the whole thing and takes his business elsewhere(Nevada).

Eventually, he lost anyway.

Having stopped the war himself after the death of Sonny (who could never have been outfought by Tattaglia the pimp).

And being able to bringing Michael home...whose job it then was to bring the Corleone Family back.

So...as many have responded to the original question, things would've gone pretty much the same had Vito NOT been injured in the Solozzo hit. Different players, different tactics, different timeframes, maybe.

But same results.

Sonny went to war and Vito thought him a bad don for it no???

'Your father wouldn't want to hear this! This is business not personal Sonny....Even the shooting of your father was business, not personal Sonny.'

I'm not so sure Vito goes to war.

You mean he still whacks the heads of the five families and the Corleone's move out West?

Like I said...different players, different timeframes, different tactics.

Same result in terms of war/narcotics trade.

Apple

What would Vito have done different than Santino?

I think that Vito does go to war. However I don't believe that he neccesarily takes out the five families.

Perhaps he goes to war at first and then convinces the other families that the war is costly, and that Sollozo has got to go in order to make the peace. Something on the lines of what Turnbull posted. But I do believe that a war had to take place after an attempt on his life.

Let's not forget that being that Vito was unable to direct the family due to his being shot, Sonny had to step in as Don and eventually was killed as an indirect result of being the acting Don and because of his bad judgement. And Michael also had to step in to take out Sollozo, go into hiding and then return to save the family.

But if Vito had NOT actually been shot in the attempt on his life, Vito is still in charge calling the shots and I don't believe that Sonny is put in a position which results in his death, and Michael definitely wouldn't have been the one to take out Sollozo.

Let's not forget that the decision by Vito and Michael to take out the heads of the five families was one partially based on revenge for the death of Sonny and the death of Appolonia. (Deleted Scenes)

Those two deaths probably don't happen if Vito is not shot and therefore the removal of the heads of the families probably does not take place either.

But I do believe that the initial reaction would have had to be one of declaring war on those who attempted to take the life of the most powerful Don in New York.



Don Cardi

Except for the fact that unlike Sonny he would NEVER have allowed Michael to become involved ... I don't really know, others can speculate those details.

But if you are Vito Corleone and an attempt has been made on your life because you've refused on principle to cooperate in a narcotics deal...you don't just lie down and give everybody what they want so that you'll be left alone.

I don't think Vito came as far as he did, built up the empire he did...to bother to negotiate after having his life threatened. Even with the knowledge that he was protected by a NYC police captain...Vito would still have found a way to eliminate Solozzo and yes, taken his chances on a war.

Remember also that he had not figured out at this point that Barzini, not Tattaglia ... was behind everything.

Apple

Yep! When Vito asked "where's Michael" and Tom tells him it was Michael who killed Solozzo.... he is CLEARLY disgusted(you could go into GF3 and take Michael's "IT WAS NOT WHAT I WANTED" and use that in GF history for Vito.... he didnt want Michael involved. No way.

If his attempts failed then Vito would surely be annoyed and fight a war, because he just knew Tattaglia was behind it then, who was easy to deal with. Then all the other families would unite to fight against Corleone. Then the Corleone family is over.