It sounds to me like they were fearsome people, albeit lacking in acumen, albeit morons who would kill someone in a room full of witnesses - hence why they spent the majority of their lives locked up.
They were a brand. Their reputation is far greater than the reality.
They had no long-term perspective.
It was just all brawn and no brains.
You would swear they were the Carlo Gambino or Meyer Lansky of the East End.