I always thought it funny that neither Clemenza nor Tessio were even considered to lead in the interim of Vito's sickness. Isn't this how it works usually (although i'm not well-versed in this sort of thing, I believe this is how Gotti took over as don of his Family)?
As long as Sonny was in charge, and Vito was alive, T&C had to treat Sonny as acting boss. One or the other
might have made a move for the Donship after Sonny died, rather than see Tom as acting boss--which might have caused a huge, destructive rift in the family. That may have been another reason why Vito got off his sick bed as soon as Tom told him the bad news.
Gotti engineered the assassination of his predecessor, Paul Castellano. He did it by first lining up support from fellow members of the Gambino hierarchy who were also fed up with Big Paul. He also selectively shmoozed bosses of other Mob families before and after the assassination.
bottom line... regardless of the reasoning behind it... Tom just wasn't "built for it".
I agree.
