No way. Even Vito himself had to admit, "I thought Santino was a bad don, rest in peace."

You could make the case that, in some ways, Sonny represented a throwback to an earlier time, to the era of the Mustache Petes, when muscle meant everything, and violence for the sake of violence was a commonplace occurrence.

Michael, on the other hand, represented the future of organized crime, a modern era which required - and rewarded - a much more sophisticated, educated, strategic approach. Underlying it all, of course, was the constant potential and threat of violence. But violence chiefly as a means of enforcing boundaries and maintaining order, discipline and balance within the mob community - not so much as a means of expanding territory and influence, and accumulating wealth and power.