TONY ACCARDO
As far as bosses go Tony Accardo had it all, when we think about mob bosses, legendary bosses that is, we would think of Carlo Gambino, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, even Vito Genovese. These names trip off the tongue when most think of infamous Mafia bosses. Tony Accardo is every bit as legendary as any of these guys, even more so. Accardo was the boss of the Chicago crime family.
Tony started out in Chicago in the days of prohibition and Al Capone. After being involved in bootlegging earlier in his career he eventually moved up the ladder to become Al Capone's bodyguard in the 1920's. He was involved in much strong-arm work for 'Big Al'. This was when Capone was at war with a tough Irish mob trying to muscle in on his entire bootlegging operation in Chicago. The Irish mob were headed by Bugs Moran, Bug's had resisted many lucrative offers from Capone to sell up and move on but continued to decline every offer. Inevitably soon enough he was put out of business.
Big Al had control and a young Tony Accardo had made his bones in the Chicago outfit in some of the helacious mob wars of all times. Major headline stories such as the infamous Valentines Day massacre were made around this time, many believe Accardo could have been involved in the actual massacre that day. Tony Accardo  had also shown just how capable he was. After prohibition was over Al Capone had been put away for tax evasation and Frank Nitti had taken over as boss , Tony Accardo was moved up to capo status. Tony was highly regarded throughout the outfit everyone respected him. His readiness and ability to intimidate and inflict damage on anyone he considered an enemy was legendary. Stories of Accardo's ability were legendary, none more so than the time he beat two guys to death with a baseball bat, which of course is where he got his nickname.
Frank Nitti's reign would come to an end in 1943 when he was indicted with his underboss Paul Ricca in the Hollywood studios extortion case Frank Nitti would take his own life by shooting his brains out two days into the trial. Paul Ricca was sentenced to ten years, of which he only did three. This dramatic chain of events would spearhead Tony to the summit of the outfit named as acting boss in 43' and just three years later he would be named boss upon the release of Paul Ricca who stayed on as his underboss. These years were without a shadow of a doubt the best days of the Chicago outfit, particularly with these two at the helm. The Chicago outfit as the members knew it was different to the New York families. As New York was split between five families there was obviously going to be disputes between families which of course made things difficult to run smoothly.
Joe Batters didn't have to worry about such things though. In Chicago it was one unit of leadership controlling the whole of the city, each capo was responsible for his own territory which made things run crisply because no one had to worry about anyone from another family encroaching in on thier turf, which could end up in an all out mob war. These were not problems Tony Accardo had to worry about, each capo had a good share in any profit so they all served with the utmost obedience. These were the foundations that made this probably the most successful organization within the entire world of Cosa Nostra and these are the foundations that would become the fulcrum of the Accardo success story. Tony Accardo was everything that a Cosa Nostra boss should be; he kept himself out of the media spotlight something his successor Sam Giancana failed to do which he eventualy would come to regret. He was a mans man, and the complete family man. Accardo spent lots of time at home with his wife and children, unlike so many other made men who thought nothing about being unfaithful to their wife and children. He never stayed out in bars and would never get involved in courting prostitutes or any other activity where he would be in a position that would compromise his strong family values.
Tony Accardo had everything that the men down throughout the organization could wish their boss to have, wisdom and integrity in spades. Despite being the main man in Chicago he would step down in 1957. Those around him couldn't understand at the time understand the reason behind the move, because to them he opitimised everything a Mafia boss should be. Even Accardo's adversaries had a huge amount of respect for him. It was his decision to let Sam Giancana takeover, Giancana had impressed Accardo when Giancana secured all the numbers games throughout Chicago. Accardo was more than happy to stay on as his consiglieri but Joe Batters was unlike any other consiglieri in the history of Cosa Nostra. Most consiglieri would be there only to advise and offer opinions Tony would still remain the power behind the throne, every major decision that had to made was made by him, and him alone.Accardo's word was final on any decision making summits within the Outfit. He would remain the Chicago outfits representative on the commission.
His decision to stay on as consiglieri had a lot to do with the fact that he would never spend a night in jail, that and the fact that he always objected to the limelight of the media and he would always counsel his inner-circle to do likewise. Tony Accardo would stay on as the Chicago outfits hush hush boss right up to the mid-eighties at which time his health would start to deteriorate and in ninety-two he would pass away leaving his legendary legacy behind. In his criminal career he would make the Chicago outfit one of the biggest in the land second only to the New York families.
Accardo was no saint, far from it, many men have died at his hands. Tony Accardo was after all reputed to be involved in the St.Valentines Day massacre, and when outraged at the antics of Sam Giancana he subsequently had him chopped down. After all he was a Mafia boss so he will be remembered as someone who is all that is wrong with this world. Some might see Tony Accardo as being a man who came from a time when there was little opportunity for immigrants, and like so many he swore his fidelity to Cosa Nostra where there was more opportunities to make money and live a more prosperous lifestyle.
During his success he never let money or power rule his head, he was a man who had an infectious personality a leader, someone who those around him and the people who worked for him would come to depend upon and despite his work and what he stood for, he would remain the same throughout his life, respected and held in high regard by all who knew him.