Franzese on Tony Accardo-the Real Boss & Genius Who Built Chicago’s Most Powerful Empire

Mirrored from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNwD8neuROU
So he's saying Capone wasn't the real boss, Accardo was. But what if Lansky was the boss behind Accardo?
It's not discussed here but I think the circumstances support GIANCANA being a front boss for Accardo.
"Chicago’s underworld was unlike New York’s five families—it was unified, and no one understood that power better than Tony Accardo, aka “Joe Batters.” In this deep dive, I’ll take you inside the mind of one of the most brilliant and calculated crime bosses America has ever seen.
From his days as a teenage enforcer for Al Capone to becoming the mastermind behind the Chicago Outfit’s expansion into Las Vegas, Accardo wasn’t just another gangster—he was a strategist. He transformed organized crime into a corporate empire, running it like a Fortune 500 company while keeping himself out of the headlines.
But with power comes consequences. Accardo built a legacy of loyalty, fear, and control that shaped organized crime for decades. What made him different? What lessons can be learned from his rise—and his ability to die of old age in a world where few survive?
If you’re fascinated by true crime, mob history, and the strategies of America’s most powerful crime figures, you won’t want to miss this one.
*Tony Accardo: The Genius That Built Chicago’s Most Powerful Empire*
00:01 Capone Wasn’t the Real Boss
00:51 How Did Accardo Stay Untouchable?
01:28 Michael Introduces the Mafia Legends Series
02:12 Who Was Tony Accardo, Really?
03:00 Growing Up in the Streets of Chicago
04:23 Why Accardo Chose the Street Life
05:01 The Traits That Made Accardo Dangerous
07:27 The Story Behind “Joe Batters”
08:49 Accardo’s Rise Under Capone
09:50 Winning Without Violence: Accardo’s Strategy
10:55 How Accardo Took Over the Outfit
12:10 Building Las Vegas: The Outfit’s Expansion
13:20 Running the Outfit Like a Corporation
14:48 Succession Planning: Accardo’s Hidden Genius
15:59 Accardo’s Political Influence Explained
17:22 How He Controlled Everything From the Shadows
18:38 The Lessons Accardo Left Behind
20:44 What We Can Learn from His Legacy "
Auto Transcript:

0:01
when you think of the Chicago underworld who do you think of Al Capone of course he was the face of organized crime in
0:07
America for 100 years his Reign was loud it was violent but it was very short-lived the government made an
0:13
example of him and he died a broken man he died of syphus but here's what most people don't realize while Al Capone
0:19
made the headlines The Man Who Would really Define the Chicago outfit's future was quickly Rising through the
0:25
ranks his name Tony Ardo he wasn't flashy he wasn't Reckless and unlike
0:31
Capone he knew how to survive for over four decades he controlled the outfit with a quiet Authority he outlasted the
0:38
feds he outlasted his enemies and even the Golden Era of the American mob itself when the RICO statute was so
0:45
destructive but how did a man who operated in the shadows keep his grip on power for so long and why despite his
0:51
very brutal reputation did he always seem to be just beyond the government's reach the truth about Tony Ardo isn't
0:57
just a crime story it's a story story of control strategy and a kind of power
1:03
that very few people really ever
1:10
understand hey everyone welcome to another sitdown with Michael Frances hope everybody is doing well all is very
1:16
good very blessed on this end and as always my friends I give all the praise honor glory and Thanksgiving to our God
1:23
for that today we have number two in a series that we're doing on the 50 most
1:28
prominent uh made men of guys in Korra the mafia whatever you want to describe
1:34
it as in America and we have this beautiful tapestry here that you always see behind me we have a great canvas
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where all of these 50 men are uh uh featured prominently and today we're doing number two his name is Tony
1:47
Accardo a very very powerful guy ruled over Chicago he was an underling of Al
1:53
Capone but he ruled the city of Chicago for over 40 years probably the longest boss in the history of organized crime
1:59
here in America at least and for those of you that don't know me uh I'm captivated by all of this because I was
2:05
once a capo Capo deim and the Columbo crime family in New York one of the five New York mafia families I was in that
2:12
life for over 20 years made a decision to walk away been out of the life and now for a number of years but I do tell
2:17
a lot of stories about it and give you my personal insight as to what the life is really all about so uh again this is
2:24
a very significant boss we're going to do all 50 of them we're doing documentary style you're going to love
2:30
these I promise you we put a lot of information in there and it's going to be entertaining and informative so
2:35
without wasting any further time let's get right into Tony
2:41
ardo you know Chicago is different from New York while we had our five families with their separate territories when I
2:48
say separate territories it wasn't geographically separated we just had different areas that we operated in
2:54
Chicago was more unified and no one exemplified this better than the man they called Joe batters and that was
2:59
Anon Ardo he was born Antonio Leonardo Accardo on April 28th 1906 in Chicago's
3:06
near West Side his story represents the ultimate evolution from Street Thug to corporate boss and yes he started out on
3:13
the street he was a tough guy no doubt about it but he became the boss and you can call it a corporate boss because you
3:18
know organized crime it's organized trust me it doesn't run like Corporate America but it has its own system and
3:25
its own policies and it's very organized now he was the son of Sicilian immigrants Franchesco and Maria Accardo
3:31
and uh Tony grew up in a cramped apartment above a storefront on Vernon Park Place he grew up you know very
3:37
simple I would say his F family wasn't wealthy the neighborhood was tough it was a Melting Pot of Italian Irish and
3:43
Jewish immigrants all fighting for the Peace of the American dream back then his father worked as a shoe Shiner he
3:48
saved every penny he could for for an ambitious kid like Tony that legitimate path seemed too slow it was too
3:54
uncertain for him so let me paint you a a picture of Chicago in those days it was the smell of the stock yards it
4:00
carried across the city it mixed with smoke from the steel mills and factories it was a very blue collar Town
4:06
prohibition was coming and with it were opportunities that would reshape not just Chicago but all of America itself
4:12
I've said this many many times it was the government that made the mafia Ken oer strong in America when prohibition
4:19
came in no doubt about it aado was perfectly positioned to ride this wave of Change by the age of 14 aaro he had
4:27
already dropped out of school he was running with a circus gang they called it the circus gang they were a group of
4:32
neighborhood tough guys who would provide muscle for the bigger operations these weren't kids playing games they
4:37
were the farm team for what would become the Chicago outfit there was no outfit back then remember these were a bunch of
4:43
Street guys just doing their best to make a living that's all they were doing there was no organized organized crime
4:48
at that point in time but what set Tony apart early on wasn't just his toughness though he had plenty of that he was a
4:53
tough guy no doubt about it it was his ability to think ahead to see the bigger picture and you know you can't survive
4:59
and prosper in that life if you can't think ahead if you can't see the big picture he understood that violence was
5:05
a tool but it wasn't an end in itself all of the guys that were really successful they were antiv violent it
5:11
was a tool it was used when necessary the guys that always went to violence first none of them ever lasted so Tony
5:19
Ardo understood that this understanding would serve him well in the decades to come hey my friends when I was a Columbo
5:25
family coo we had our guys on the inside to give us valuable information that was one of our ways of staying ahead today
5:32
these cyber criminals they have it easy they simply wait for these big Banks to slip up before making their move Bank of
5:39
America for example just had this big data breach remember and the thing that gets me they kept quiet about it for
5:45
months in my world we call that omera the Code of Silence but they're doing it for the wrong reasons your personal
5:51
information at stake I draw the line at that you know how long these companies typically wait before telling you about
5:57
a breach 2 77 days that's 9 months when I was running the gas scam a 9-month
6:04
head start start would have made me Millions more look with so many attacks these days your social security number
6:11
might as well be posted online if you haven't been hit yet why continue taking the risk that's why I personally use
6:18
Aura believe me people after 8 years in federal prison and years more rebuilding
6:23
my life you think I'm going to let some hacker take everything I work for forget about it Ora tells me immediately my
6:29
information's on the dark web they alert me fast if someone tries hitting my social security number my accounts or my
6:36
emails and they back it with 5 million bucks in identity theft Insurance just in case there is a breach think about it
6:44
some of these companies that are offering free credit monitoring after the breach that's like putting locks on
6:49
your doors after you've already been robbed doesn't make a lot of sense family is number one in my life and
6:54
trust me they won't be left vulnerable to these breaches and you shouldn't be left either go go to aura.com fres for 2
7:02
weeks free that'll give them enough time to find out if any of your valuable data is exposed before one of these companies
7:08
are forced to notify you and that's after 9 months of course I always say it's better to have protection and not
7:14
need it than to need it and not have it so don't miss out on this opportunity today my friends it's really an offer
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you can't afford to refuse but let me tell you how Tony Ardo
7:27
got his famous nickname it it wasn't just handed to him believe me he earned it The Story Goes that in 1926 Al Capone
7:35
himself watched the cardo deal with a group of very disrespectful rival gangsters he used nothing but a baseball
7:41
bat a cardo reportedly hit for the cycle a brutal display of violence that
7:46
impressed even Capone and Capone was a violent guy from that day on he was called Joe batters but see what people
7:52
don't understand is that the nickname wasn't just about violence it represented something much deeper
7:58
reliability eff getting things done when Capone gave you a nickname and it was Al Capone that
8:03
gave him that nickname it wasn't just a name it was a brand and a cardo lived up to his brand you know very very well by
8:10
the late 1920s aard had become one of Capone's most trusted enforcers unlike some of the other muscle aaro was always
8:16
thinking about the bigger picture he didn't just handle problems he prevented them from happening in the first place
8:22
the thing about the Chicago outfit under Capone it was different kind of organization than what most people imagine Antonio cardo understood is
8:29
better than anyone by 1929 he wasn't just another Soldier opponent recognized something very special in him it was a
8:36
combination of brains brutality that combination really set him apart now during the beer Wars of the late 1920s a
8:43
Carter proved himself not just as an enforcer but as a very strategic thinker While others were focused on the
8:49
immediate fight Mardo was building relationships with politicians police and legitimate businessman you know I
8:55
can't tell you how well that serves you in that life networking I talk about it at all the time in the street life it
9:01
worked in legitimate life it works networking you know one of the reasons that I had success in that life because
9:07
I got to know people from the other families I got to know chin gigantti I knew Fat Tony Salo I knew a couple of
9:13
guys that were key guys in some of the other families and I did some favors for them I had a car service I owned a
9:18
couple of dealerships if they needed a car I let them use a car I sent limousines sometime to them if they needed to go out somewhere they needed
9:25
to get picked up you know I was networking in that regard getting people to you know to like me and it's so
9:30
important in that life it's so important in our life now I tell all my people networking is key you got to get to know
9:37
people it's important well Tonio cardo understood something very fundamental violence might win battles but
9:43
relationships might win Wars one particular incident stands out about Tony Ardo in 1930 when the north side
9:50
gang was making a push into Capone territory remember there were a lot of different gangs at that time a Carter didn't just respond with Force he
9:57
orchestrated a very comp Lex operation that involved compromising key officials turning enemy soldiers and ultimately
10:05
securing the territory without the kind of Bloodshed that brought heat from the papers and of course from the police he
10:11
engineered a coup in many many ways he just knew how to do
10:18
it when compone went down for tax evasion in 1931 the outfit faced its
10:24
first real crisis of leadership and this was a period from 1931 through the late
10:29
1940s it would prove very crucial in shaping both a cardo's future and the future of organized crime in Chicago
10:36
Frank Nitti took over as the front boss but the real power was shifting Paul R known as the waiter I think you're
10:41
familiar with him he became the true boss and araro his most trusted advisor was right by his side this was a master
10:48
class in behind the scenes power while other criminal organizations were having Public Power struggles the Chicago
10:55
outfit was quietly restructuring into a very modern criminal Enterprise aado
11:01
understood something very crucial the future wasn't in bootlegging or traditional rackets he knew that would
11:06
come to an end at some point it was in legitimate business in unions in gambling in entertainment you know my
11:12
father always told me he always said Mike you know we can do what we do on the street but you got to go legitimate
11:18
the future is in legitimate business he knew that he was smart enough he passed it on to me my dad wasn't a really a
11:24
good businessman but he understood that the future was in legitimate business ton understood that too he started
11:31
pushing the organization toward these new Ventures always staying one step ahead of law enforcement so important in
11:36
that life you got to be a step ahead of them I got to tell you the reason I was successful in the gas business we were
11:41
always one step ahead of them they couldn't figure out what we were doing we were anticipating what they were going to do to us and we were able to
11:48
beat them at their own game before they even affected Us by 1943 Accardo had become the Alit
11:56
and force of boss and by the 194 7 he was running the entire operation this wasn't just a change in leadership it
12:03
was a complete modernization of how organized crime was going to operate in Chicago under accardo's leadership the
12:10
outfit expanded into Las Vegas we started to build Las Vegas and yes he was one of the key people involved in
12:16
that he revolutionized the gambling industry they didn't just control the casinos they built them the Stardust the
12:21
desert in these weren't just gambling joints they were legitimate business with legitimate owners aado understood
12:27
that the real money wasn't in running the games it was in owning the house how brilliant is that you know so many mob
12:34
guys had they stayed in the legitimate World they would have been very successful some of these guys are very smart like aicardo if they would have
12:40
stayed and said you know what this isn't for me I'm going legitimate Unfortunately they grew up on the streets and this is what they knew they
12:47
had that influence but had they stayed legitimate they would have done very well during this period a cardo also
12:52
revolutionized how organized crime would handle internal disputes he established what we called the office a formal
12:59
system for resolving conflicts without violence this wasn't just about keeping peace it was about running crime like a
13:08
business the 1950s and early 1960s marked what many would consider the
13:13
Golden Age of the Chicago outfit under A's leadership this is when everything came together the legitimate businesses
13:20
the casino operations the union control the political connections all came together what made a cardo different was
13:27
his corporate approach he ran the outfit like a CEO runs a company and yeah it's organized crime remember the reason we
13:34
were able to thrive and prosper for well over 100 years was because we were organized we had a system we had a
13:40
hierarchy we had people that knew their place you know we had political connections we ran it like a company
13:47
without a doubt every operation had its budget its projected returns its risk assessment he wasn't an interested in
13:53
glory or headlines he was interested in profits and sustainability set them apart let me tell tell you something
13:59
about Tony's home life during his period he lived in a massive house in River Forest he had legitimate tax returns he
14:05
belonged to country clubs but unlike some of the bosses flaunted their wealth aado maintained a very low profile he
14:12
understood that real power doesn't need to advertise and again what did he have in common with Carlo Gambino same thing
14:18
worked in the shadows you compare that to some of the guys that were out there you know even Joe Columbo who was out
14:24
there for a good reason he was out there for the Italian-American civil rights League he wanted to help Italian Amer
14:29
Americans you know John Gotti we always have to put that was it a mistake of course it was you can't be that outgoing
14:35
you can't be that much in the public eye you can't thumb your nose in the face of law enforcement they're going to get you
14:40
you got to remain in the shadows as best as you can by the late 1960s and into the 1970s
14:48
Accardo had effectively retired from day-to-day operations but he remained the ultimate Authority what we call the
14:55
chairman of the board this period showed another side of his genius and that was succession planning he knew who he was
15:02
going to put in place once he was gone unlike many other crime families that fell apart during leadership transitions
15:08
aado created a system that could Outlast any individual he understood that the key to longevity wasn't just in making
15:15
money it was in creating systems that can continue making money across Generations isn't that what success is
15:21
really all about you know when you want to pass something on to your your family your kids whatever when you want your
15:27
legacy to live on you have to have a system in place you have to have foresight you have to have Vision
15:33
Antonio cardo in our world and his world he had that during this period he focused on modernizing the outfit's
15:40
operations computer technology Offshore Banking International connections aado
15:46
made sure the organization stayed ahead of the curve he wasn't just adapting to change he was anticipating it and that's
15:52
a quality of any good leader one of aaro's most significant
15:59
achievements was his development of political connections again just like Frank Costello you can't last on the
16:05
street if you don't have political connections people and those that didn't have those connections they didn't last
16:10
unlike some bosses who bought politicians wholesale aado created mutually beneficial relationships that
16:16
stood the test of time he understood that political power wasn't just about having friends in high places it was
16:22
about becoming part of the system itself and under his leadership the outfit didn't just influence politics they they
16:29
became an unofficial branch of government in Chicago let me tell you something even more so than New York or
16:35
in any other city in any other state in the country Chicago was entwined in
16:40
politics the outfit there and aicardo really did it Capone tried to do it but he was buying political help he was
16:46
buying police Accardo he made himself part of the system that they had to rely
16:51
on him and even till today Chicago is a town where there's influence from the street trust me on that the genius was
16:58
in subt campaign contributions legitimate business Partnerships Union support
17:04
everything looked clean on paper but the influence was deep and Lasting even till today you can see the Echoes of systems
17:10
a cardo put in place and he gets the credit for that it wasn't Al Capone it was all a
17:16
cardo Tonio Caro's final years were really a master class in criminal leadership even in uh you know
17:22
semi-retirement he made control without ever appearing to be in charge he lived to see his 86th birthday died peacefully
17:29
in his bed in 1992 something almost unheard of in our world again you look
17:35
at Carlo Gambino he died in 1976 he died peacefully in his home did very very
17:40
little time in prison U not even in prison I think it was just jail time that he did he and a cardo they did it
17:45
right until the end Accardo remained sharp he advised on major decisions he maintained relationship he built over
17:52
the decades his last year shows something very remarkable a criminal leader who managed to stay both Rel
17:58
relevant and Alive through multiple generations of change you got to know how to navigate that life to last to
18:06
live it out to not die in prison you really got to know how to navigate that life and you got to give a guy like aicardo credit whether you like him or
18:12
not whether you call him a mob boss or killer whatever you got to give him credit because he was he was really one of the Kings at what he did and you know
18:19
what's most interesting about accardo's final period is what didn't happened no major prosecutions no internal power
18:26
struggles no dramatic calls from Grace he died as he lived managing everything from behind the scenes and that was
18:32
really really an accomplishment you know when you look at
18:38
his life they are really profound lessons they're both positive and they're cautionary and they apply far
18:43
beyond the criminal world I think Tony showed us that long-term thinking beats short-term gains he was always looking
18:49
ahead he had Vision he was concerned about the family you know going into the future were they going to last and you
18:55
know it's tough you got law enforcement looking at you all the time you got people trying to undermine you so he had
19:01
to look long term if he was going to keep his family in business for any length of time so long-term thinking
19:07
beats short-term gains he had that ideology that philosophy and it worked for him and it works in legitimate
19:13
business too also systems they matter more than individuals remember different people are going to come into power and
19:20
different people are going to come into different positions but if you have a system in place that works and people
19:25
follow that system well then things can move forward and they can last if you have an individual that comes in and
19:31
keeps changing things well then you're going to have a problem you got to have a system in place and I think aado did
19:37
that and that's why he lasted for over 40 years another thing I think he he taught us is that stability comes from
19:43
structure not from Force you know I'll say it again so many guys that thought that violence was the answer they never
19:49
lasted you can't have people obeying you or following orders only because of fear they got to have feeling they got to
19:55
believe in what they're doing they got to have a friendship they got have something that bonds them together and
20:01
fear you know you don't want to make a mistake but that shouldn't be the driving force when you have a business
20:06
you want people to buy into to what this business is all about you want them to care you don't want them to be afraid
20:11
only of getting fired you want them to really be committed to what you have I think another thing uh very evident that
20:17
Accardo taught us is that adaptation is the key to survival he was able to adapt to any situation that he had and you
20:24
know what whether you're on the street where it's most important you got to be able to adapt you got to be able to have vision and see what's going on and then
20:31
adapt to that situation because things changes legitimate business he got involved in Vegas he built casinos he
20:37
ran the house he knew what was going on adaptation key to survival another thing he said very important he shown us
20:44
relationships are more valuable than resources people I can tell you any success that I've had in my life I
20:50
attribute most of it to the relationships that I made very very important you know in my little black
20:56
book that I have I never forget you know I I meet somebody one day may not be able to do anything with him you have a
21:02
friendly conversation you know a little bit about him and that may be the end of it and then 6 months a year two years
21:08
later you know you get involved in something oh I remember I met a guy you get in touch with him again you're left
21:13
off the right way so relationships are very important you know you try not to burn bridges in life uh on the street
21:20
that's key really really key uh but it's it's uh the same thing in real life very
21:25
important you know I think Tony Ardo gave us some good business sites too you know he showed us a couple of things
21:30
like diversification it protects against change you know you got to diversify you
21:36
can't be into one thing and stick with that forever sometimes Market changes you know I always tell people they us
21:42
come to me with a business idea and I used to tell them well what's your plan and they kind of gave me an outline of a
21:48
plan I said no what's your plan why don't you have a business plan write it down look at it understand what it is
21:53
you're going to do and keep to your plan now there's times when you have to change a little bit because you have to
21:59
adapt to certain situations so you diversify a little bit it protects against change you can't be in one thing
22:06
forever you know there was a movie Once other people's money was a great film it was little Danny DeVito you got to watch
22:11
the movie and he talked about you know buying out a company because the company was making a certain things that were
22:17
going to be obsolete were going to be Obsolete and the owner of the company didn't want to change eventually he
22:22
bought out the company and they changed and I remember I remember he said something he said I remember there was a company that made the greatest buggy
22:29
whips in the world they were terrific but what happened when the automobile came in and people didn't drive you know
22:35
ride horses anymore well the buggy whips were Obsolete and the guy goes out of business but if you were Diversified you
22:40
would have been into something else already so that change wouldn't have destroyed you so very important diversification protects against change
22:48
another thing I think he taught us was Innovation must be constant you have to constantly know what's going on be on
22:54
top of things be Innovative have Vision very important another thing taught us was succession planning ensures
23:01
continuity you have to plan for tomorrow you have to plan for who's going to take
23:06
over your job at some point in time who has your vision putting the right people in place you know I'll never forget you
23:12
know in the movie Gotti the original one 1996 with uh Armand deante Anthony Quinn
23:18
brilliant movie John Gotti was very upset when Carlo Gambino died and he made uh Paul castalano the boss instead
23:26
of Neil de la croach and he was ranting and raving and Neil told him listen you know car wanted to take this in a
23:32
different direction I'm old school Paul castalano was more into business he wanted to take us into the future the
23:38
right way he didn't think I was the right guy so in Caro's mind Paul was a business guy and that's the direction
23:44
that the family needed to go into so you know you got to plan for leadership succession very very important if you
23:50
want your company to survive he was a master at that you know even after he retired he was still not calling his
23:57
shots but he still had a lot of influence cuz he put the right person in place and I think another thing he showed us is that reputation management
24:04
is crucial your reputation is important you're as good as your reputation is on the street no doubt about it a cardo
24:10
lasted for 40 plus years cuz he had a great rep and then also corporate structure brings stability he brought
24:16
structure into the family he had a system he had a plan and as a result 40 years the outfit survived and thrived in
24:24
Chicago one family and they thrived under his leadership so he really knew what he was doing you know he was uh he
24:30
was a wise guy also he knew that low profile equals a long life you know unlike some of the other guys don't have
24:36
to mention their names again that they were right out there they were on Front Street they didn't last low profile in
24:42
that life equals a long life he also knew that power doesn't need publicity you don't have to advertise your power
24:48
you have to be subtle about it quiet about it there's something about you that you know there's certain people that you can see that just by their
24:55
presence you know they have power you don't have to be all over the news you don't have to be a narcissist be out there all the time you need to be subtle
25:02
loyalty must be earned and maintained very important in that life you have to earn loyalty you have to show that
25:07
you're loyal you know without loyalty in that life and you know I got to be honest with you that was the breakdown of that life because there was no
25:14
loyalty and I always say this when people started to fear the government because of that RICO Act came in a lot
25:19
of guys turned informance a lot of guys I walked away from the life because I knew the RICO statue was going to
25:25
destroy us so maybe in a way I wasn't loyal to my oath if afterwards but for me it was all about survival afterwards
25:30
so loyalty must be earned and maintained at least for a period of time in that life balance is essential for longevity
25:37
that's important too you know you want to live things you have to have a balance in life it can't be all company
25:42
it can't be all family and no company you got to have a balance of both you know some of the things you need to learn also that Accardo told you is that
25:49
criminal success you know there's a moral cause for that your family is going to suffer you're going to suffer
25:54
in the end listen you can't maintain a criminal lifestyle and live in sin and
25:59
think that morally you're not going to suffer for it you know I believe in the Lord and you can't live a life of sin
26:04
and then believe that afterwards you're going into heaven that's for sure even though you main control of your family
26:10
are you doing the right thing you know I always say that's an evil life why because families are destroyed people
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get hurt and any lifestyle that does that to a family is a bad life you know so remember you want to be in crime
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you're going to have to pay morally for that and you're going to pay dearly violence even controlled it breeds a lot
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of con consquences you know law enforcement people on the street turn against Al Capone a lot of people liked
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him he had a pretty good image in town even though he was paying off the police and he was doing things and he was a bootlegger people didn't care about
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bootlegging they wanted liquor at that point but after the St Valentine's Day Massacre people turned on him they
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didn't want to see that kind of violence and you know it doesn't work in the street people turn against you trust me you got to try to maintain control
26:52
without violence as long as you possibly can illegal gains they carry permanent risks you can't be in that life anymore
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you know it was a different time back then law enforcement wasn't as sophisticated as they are now you can't
27:05
stay in crime right now if you're any type of organized crime you're going down that's the bottom line you know you're in a Criminal Legacy it's going
27:12
to affect your future for Generations you know one of the reasons I left that life I didn't want my sons affected by
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it but if you're in it it's going to resonate through your family you don't want that so I think there was uh some
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good lessons to be learned by his leadership I really mean that Tony cardo's story represents
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something unique in the history of organized crime it really did the complete Evolution from Street Thug to
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corporate boss he wasn't just a criminal leader you know he was a very transformative figure who changed how
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organized crime operated in America in a big way his legacy it's complex it's on
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one hand he built one of the most effective criminal organizations in history on the other hand he corrupted
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systems that affect us to this very day he showed both the heights of organizational genius and also the
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depths of moral conf rise as someone who lived in that world and chose to leave it I can tell you this Tony cardo's
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Story it isn't just about crime it's about power it's about Evolution and the price of success at any cost his methods
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were often wrong but his insights into leadership and organizational management they were undeniably right the true
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lesson of Tonio cardo I think it might be this the same skills that can build a criminal Empire could build a legitimate
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one if we would have chosen the right way to go we would have succeeded a lot of Smart Guys in that life no doubt aaro
28:29
was one of them the choice of how to use those skills that's what defines a legacy you know we can learn a lot from
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Tony aaro's life uh nobody should follow in his footsteps of course but look you got to give him credit he was good at
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what he did he was probably one of the best in the history of organized crime so that's it that's the legacy of Tony
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Ardo so my friends I hope you enjoyed that he really was you know one of the most outstanding figures in organized
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crime and you know it depends what side of the street you're on or what your thoughts are I mean you got to give him credit you know for running the family
29:01
the way he did lasting as long as he did but on the other side we're all criminals and we don't deserve credit
29:07
for that I think there's some lessons to be learned we talked about that uh and hopefully you just enjoyed you know the
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story the history of of a guy that had a major impact in that life and we're going to go through the rest of them
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going to take us a while we got 50 of them on there so now this will be number two Joe Columbo will be coming up next I
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I told you I have a you know a special feeling about Joe Columbo he was a mentor to me after my father went away I
29:30
was very very upset the day he got shot and of course uh you know after he passed away so but hope you're enjoying
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these biographies and uh you know we enjoy bringing them to you so that's it for today my friends how do I always
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leave you same way never going to change be safe be healthy God bless each and
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every one of you your family your communities all those that you love and yes God bless this country I'll see you
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next time
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[Music]