Why Did Don Corleone Only Have 2 Capos? | The Godfather Explained 

I remember Clemenza or Tessio asking for permission to form their own family after Vito's death. Perhaps Clemenza and Tessio commanded a really large group of soldiers with their own lieutenants (captains) in place. That makes Vito the most powerful since they were like two families operating under one Don

I think it’s a matter of trust and practicality that he keeps the capo-regime small. This way he has only two people reporting directly to him that he trusts instead of multiple people reporting to him. In addition, it keeps the two capos happy because they have large organizations and the ability to earn more money. It’s a smart play to keep the inner circle very small and direct access to him limited

In the book Puzo explains that there are actually three regimes, Clemenza, Tessio and Santino regimes. Twice in the books it mentions that men of Santino regime were occupying apartments above and below Sonny’s mistress Lucy Mancini. When Sonny is killed on the causeway the Don orders the men of Santino’s regime to be disbanded and the men placed in Tessio and Clemenza regimes. Later on, Michael solicits Rocco Lampone to create a secret regime which he keeps secret from Tessio and Clemenza, but Hagen finds out about it and confronts Michael about Rocco’s "little empire" when Michael removes him from the consigliere position. Also, after Michael has Tessio killed he sends Neri to take Tessios regime and Clemenza and Rocco stay at the compound. The Corleone family has actually functioned with three regimes it is not as clear in the movie, but it is in book. Just thought I would add this to the discussion.

Technically, he had three capos: Tessio, Clemenza, and his son Sonny. In the book, it was explained that Clemenza trained Sonny, and he went on to get his own crew when the Don got injured from the war to clean and reorganize the streets of New York.

The reason Vito only has 2 capos is bc he dosent want to talk to or be heard talking to anybody but tessio and clemenza. Tessio and clemenza had at least 100+ men under them. So there’s men like Al neri, rocko, Frankie five angels etc who have crews under them…

I would say an informal structure was in place. Clemenza and Tessio are pretty much at Boss tier, then they have a bunch of soldiers who are more or less unofficial capos and then the rest of the family. That technically Vito superseded the usual mafia organizational chart.

You forgot the fourth Capo Luca Brasi, he was a Capo with his own crew even before joining the Corleone Family. It was by reducing the number of Capo Regimes he was able to keep their loyalty absolute and make everyone more successful.

According to the book, Sonny had his own regime.

I always thought that the Corleone Family had way more Captains than just those two but Tessio and Clemenza were the senior captains/lieutenants and were both basically street bosses with all of the other crews answering to them on the street in their territory and kicking up to them. Then they answered to just Vito basically and Sonny but mostly just Vito and kicked up to the administration. I think it was basically a way to insulate Vito and keep him off the street and only having to deal with a few close guys that he trusted in his inner circle that were with him since the beginning. That's how I read it anyway unless the book says differently I don't remember. A Family as big as the Corleone's would be unmanageable only having two captains...and a couple hundred soldiers. Not to mention a lack of promotion opportunities. Lol

I always looked at it as Clemenza and Tessio being joint underbosses with captains under them

Even the Sopranos had five captains and Carmine said they were just a glorified crew lol.

My understanding from reading the books are…only two capos because everything was a layer… foot soldiers had foot soldiers remember everyone had a regime… Sonny had one… Rocco got one etc… you never reported to Tessio or Clemenza..also Vito Came up with those two guys he trusted them literally with his life and his family’s life… not even mentioning Genco

As seen in the second movie, it may be due to how the family formed: remember it was Clemenza who introduced Vito (as an adult) to the NY criminal scene. Vito became the senior partner in the trio of himself, Clemenza, and Tessio because he was the smartest and the best at dealing with people, criminals or not. He never worked his way up through an existing organization, unlike the other bosses, he was in charge right from the start, so it might not be surprising if he ran his organization differently.

It’s like you said regarding the trust factor. Don Vito only speaks directly to those two or family, playing it oh so close to the chest even after all those years is smart and why he remains in power for such a long period of time.

Vito has the makings of a Varsity Godfather

I’ve also wondered this. Is it possible that Vito was high up that Tessio and Clemenza each have their own “families” with captain under them

Large NY families like the Gambino's and Genovese's have around 20 captains. NJ, Philly and Boston and other smaller families have about 5-8. I think Clemenza and Tessio had captains under them, or maybe upper level soldiers to be above other members. They each wanted to create their own families, so they each at least had people in line to bcome captains.

I think the Corleone Family structure it's likely been based off the Gambino's at the times of "Don Carlo". Two underbosses (Castellano and Dellacroce) and a consiglieri (Armone). People like Willie Cicci and Luca Brasi would likely being captains.

Great video. Another way of looking at this is that Tessio and Clemenza weren’t functionally capos. They were technically underbosses similar to how the Gambino family had two before CG’s death: Neil Delacroce and Paul Castellano.

Vito kept his power circle small therefore making it easier for him to manage and if there was an issue with any moves made against him, he would be able to see it easier. The Don's family was big but he still managed it as if it were small, the way he had it formed and organized worked well. Sun Tzu said to manage the many was exactly the same as managing the few, it was but a matter of formations and signals. The Don had 2 true capos he trusted, and when the time came when trust became an issue, he was able to see it clearly and prepare against it.

Don Vito had 2 Capos, because it was all he needed. Because when you have the best, you don't need to burden yourself.

Actually, according to the book Sonny was also a Capo, with his own regime.

Brilliant. Yes, the Don was the Apex of Don's when it came to shrewed, calculating and carefulness. His power was in in influence and his wisdom. Know thy enemy- "Have your friends close and your Enemies closer"...and never letting them know the true size or scope of your power; it is wise to be underestimated by your enemy.

Vito values loyalty above all else. Two men he knows won't betray him or be easily swayed into ratting out men on a drug bust. A complex infrastructure creates too many risks.

I’ve always thought this was because Tessie and Clemenza had all of the structure underneath them. Leaving many with the impression that they had their own family. If he uses them for all of his personnel infrastructure it would make sense that he didn’t need any other Capo’s. I guess that what you’re getting a round to so it sounds like we’re on the same page 😄

Oh my gosh, now I'm always gonna wonder how Vito would've handled Fredo's betrayal.

In that phone call Sonny asks for 50 of Tessio's best men. Implying Tessio has many more men than that under his control. Even large Mafia crews are nowhere near 50 made men. The term Capodecina literally means "head of ten."

I read the book a few times, watched the movies a few times... I've never wondered this. To say "Don Vito was the head of the most powerful crime family" doesn't mean "Don Vito was the head of the biggest crime family" - his rackets could be more lucrative or he could wield a lot of power and influence outside of the underworld (that was the main reason stated by Sollozzo for wanting to bring in Don Corleone: "I need a man who has powerful friends" and "I need, Don Corleone, all of those politicians that you carry around in your pocket, like so many nickels and dimes") This is reflected in real life as the Genovese has traditionally been the biggest mafia family, but the Gambino family has always been the most powerful.

I think you may have misread the scene when Tessio asked why Sonny doesn't use Clemenza's men....He wasn't asking because he wanted to give the impression that he runs his own family, he was asking because he found it to be very strange that Sonny would use his men instead of Clemenza's when Clemenza's men were so close by.....This was, of course, before he realized that Clemenza was under suspicion......

Less Captains means the boss keeps much more power.

I remember a scene where Clemenza reminded Vito that they were told that one day they could break away from the family and form their own family, but up to that point he would never think of doing it. I think it was in the office scene where Michael was taking over? I believe it was Tessio who ask if he could go off his own and when Michael told him he would have to wait until the Vegas deal was complete. Tessio looked at Vito and said that by that time there wouldn't be anything left to build on and that he and Clemenza would be under the thumb of Bardzini. I haven't watched the movie in a while so I apologize if my comments are wrong.

I think it's because Mario Puzo either had an imperfect understanding of how real LCN families worked, or that he simply ignored it for dramatic reasons. The Godfather treated LCN as if each organization were a family business, where ownership stayed within the boss' family. For instance, there's absolutely no way the son of a boss who had no experience inside the life and was not even a made man would have been promoted to boss.

Usual Families, had 10-20 caporegimes, with each of them run a crew of 10-20 soldatos. Corleone Family, maybe had only 2 caporegimes, but they were running a whole army on behalf of the Don. And the question is... What is better in a war??? Many small task forces or 2 large armies??? Corleone Family's structure and leadership, was much more strong than the others. It was ranked like this: Emperor/Don - Viceroy/Sottocapo - Consiliere - 2 Generals/Caporegmes (instead of many lieutenants) - Soldatos That's why Don Vito, was Capo di tutti Capi (unofficial of course)!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. I don't know about any unknown, secret caporegimes (that would be magnificent), but I know that Corleone Family's regimes, were enormous. The way Santino asked Tessio, to sent him 100 good men, shows, that Tessio had at least 200 soldatos. Clemenza also, had the same quantity. Luca Brasi had his own crew of enforcers. That is over 400 soldatos. I doupt any other Family had as many button-men, as the Corleone Family. In realife, only Don Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (who Don Giuseppe Mariposa is based) had an army, enormous like that. After the Commission Establishment, the Families didn't allowed to have this quantity of Made Men, in order to avoid future Capo di tutti Capi movements. I think, the Genovese and the Gambino Family, who were and are, the most powerful across the country, have around 200!!!!!!!!!!!!

You pretty much answered why at the 7min mark. Also, keep in mind this was the glory days of the mafia where soldiers made a lot more money than they did a few decades later let alone today. They were much happier back then and not inclined to need to step up. They were the men usually seen running the show on the street and Tessio and Clemenza were way more insulated than capos today.

I always thought it meant that his money and powered came from just a few important "businesses" that only needed so much I oversight.

08:00 they thought Fredo was the underboss. Michael didn't really have an underboss until Godfather III.

I always saw tessio and clemenza as a kind of supercapos, with thier own undercapos

If you read the book, Sonny was ALSO a Capo. The Godfather had 3 Capos, NOT TWO. Anyway, it was a Movie and they probably did not want to convolute the storyline by having 10 Capos.

This is a great question, and I think you nail it: creative license. The Don isn't properly insulated. Lampone's crew show up at the mall at the end of part one. Sonny had his own guys, as did Luca. Plus, the Don has personal contacts, loosely buffered by Hagen, and not by his Underboss, Sonny. Non-violent, but certainly illegal activity. I do wonder how far they take the deception regarding Tessio. Namely, their made men could never be capo within the Corleone family, but they could be de facto capo in the "Tessio Family." Perhaps this structure is mimicked in the Clemenza crew.

Fredo would have to also be a captain technically, but I think someone else runs his crew because he isn't capable. Seeing as he's underboss in the 2nd film, he'd have to at least been a captain to be promoted like that. So in actuality there's 4 captains, but only 2 as far as everyone else is aware of.

It's another argument toward the formidable threat of Solozzo, because he told Tom to talk to the caporegimes in which he included Tessio. Which means Barzini knew of him being with the Corleone family as well. Somehow I always wondered how the hit planned on Vito at the hospital never registered with Mike or Sonny as a major problem when none of the men guarding Vito who were chased away contacted Sonny to let him know- or Tessio- only to be discovered by Michael. Or why the Solozzo meeting would be on Tessio s ground in a restaurant in the Bronx if Solozzo already knew it was Tessio territory.

I'm rewatching part 1 for the 8th time now because Netflix suggested it to me. Upon observation: 1. I Noticed (as I am using ear phones while watching on iPad), that the cat was purring while he/she was on the lap of Don Corleone. 2. I noticed the old guy singing a Sicilian song (yes, the one after Mrs. Corleone), that his dentures almost fell off while singing. 😆

Part of it could be that Vito was involved in a lot of crimes that didn't require a lot of capos and soldiers. One good loansharking operation could bring in enough money to make you a boss in everything but name, and it wouldn't require a thousand guys to manage. Influence peddling, and bribing public officials is another Corleone operation that probably runs with little manpower. Compare to Tatalia who was mainly involved in prostitution. You're looking at crews of pimps, people to run whorehouses, etc. Tatalia needs a lot more managers. This also isn't rocket science. There may be a lot of people who do the job of a capo, but don't carry the title for once reason or another. There were also a lot of people who didn't fit neatly into the flowchart, like Luca Brasi or Al Nieri. Or Tom Hagen for that matter-he wore a lot of different hats under Don Vito, and continued to do so for Michael.

Id say both tessio and clemenza were more like underbosses, both had their own capos and soldiers.

Excellent content.

He may have had other caporegimes that were not mentioned especially covering any of his interests outside of the immediate New York area but obviously for the purposes of the novel in the movie Only the stuff in and around New York is relevant. That's my thoughts on the matter anyway

What about Luca Brasi? To be frank about this force of nature who can be described as a one man regime unto himself. In the book, The Family Corlione, Luca Brasi was a small time thug who had been the boss of a small group of hoodlums that had no association with any major crime Family, but was feared by one of the most powerful bosses of one of the major NY crime Families in the Prohibition Era.

Frankie Five Angels and Rocco L were captains too but without regular access to the inner circle.

I always thought it was obvious that Vito had more Captains running around but Tessio and Clemenza were his closest guys, that's why they were always on the scene after Vito got shot.

Michael loved his family as well, but his style of aloofness and quiet cold demeanor alienated him from others. Whereby Vito was more noblesse and seemingly more understanding

He seems to forget that Sonny was a capo as well. I guess you could consider Luca Brasí is also a Capo.

The answer is simply as you said it's not a documentary. It was romanticized tale by Puzo of La Cosa Nostra that he himself once dubbed "cowboys and Indians". And he also said it it wasn't about organized crime and Coppola said the the same later about the film that he and Puzo penned. And by the time Hollywood got ahold of it more reality slipped away. Also Puzo said it was more about the old Dons in Sicily than American La Cosa Nostra. But some of the apparent errors are steeped in reality. Tom Hagen being German Irish was based on Welshman Murray Humphreys in Chicago

This was also my take on this question - the number 2 is misleading if we don't also factor in the scale of each of their operations - each was more powerful as Vito's capo than most bosses with their own families

Another reason why they might not have shown the depth and structure of the family is bc of Columbo. Remember they had a lot of say and caused a lot of problems with the books. The gov was still pretty unaware of the structure of the mob and they probably made sure it stayed that way. So maybe not a mistake. They just didn't want the world to know how deep and how big it was.

In a bigger organization it would be like 2 Vice President's over multiple Managers who themselves run multiple crews with individual crew leaders. A small organization wouldn't have a need for the middle men. Obviously the "capo" is still the term for highest rank you can have under "boss" but they still have a complex structure.

Clemenza was the Corelone capo in Manhattan and the Bronx. Tesio was the capo in Brooklyn. They were responsible for family operations (bookmaking, numbers rackets, unions, protection rackets and graft) in their territories. It was never revealed in the novel what Sonny's territory was. Perhaps Long Island since Sonny lived in the Corleone compound in Long Beach.

I'd thought it was to simplify the regime's structure. I always just took them as not so much Vito's captains, but more like colonels.

I wonder where Genco ranked in early days? When he passed he was the underboss or consigliere. The olive oil business brand bore his name.

"They should have stopped Tessio at Bensonhurst, they should have never let him get away with that. They were just asking for trouble." I also like but always notice how the book/movie makes the NYC/Jersey family all relegated to Burroughs and areas. While definitely a thing, irl every area of NYC and Jersey was full of wise guys from various families, many who were lifelong friends from the area and ended up in different families. The one thing in the book and movie that always throws me off is they always refer to the "5 families" as if the Corleones are not including themselves, but possible this is to help readers imagine the real life 5 families or just counting Jersey for the book.

We are only seeing the administration. Take Gambino or big Paul for instance. They would only have a few capos, consul, and underboss around them while there was dozens of other capos out there. We know front the 2nd movie Frank Pantangelli is a capo in the finally going back to the Don. There's probably many more who weren't personally close to him with him. Mobs are like any other group. Everyone can be friends and allies but people still tend to break off into little clicks. Our groups in HS may have been 50 deep but In reality u spent most of your time with 4 or 5 of them. Same things going on here.

I'm sure Vito had other Capos but Tessio and Clamenzia were the only ones he wanted to speak to directly.

It made sense to me. Obviously to avoid having too many people he had 2 he talked to. Those two probably had their own capos basically who probably had their own soldiers. It was smart of vito not to have 10 capos. tbats just asking to get the jail because somebody is gonna betrey or snitch eventually

I have my own head cannon that Luca was an unofficial Capo for Vito and the Player character from the video fills in his role and becomes that secret regime that Micheal has with Al Neiri (I can’t remember how to spell his name.) and they build up a Trojan horse family as a first line of defense for the true hierarchy.

That was always my read of the Corleones and why they were considered the most powerful of the Five Families. While still a "traditional" mafia family, Vito kept his inner circle small and focused while operations themselves were broad and varied. The likes of Tessio, Clemenza, and even Sonny functionally wielding as much power as an Underboss or even Boss of their own respective crews while still being officially referred to as Capos to Vito. Plus it shouldn't be forgotten that for a long time Vito had Luca Brasi as his personal bodyguard and right hand. That alone seemed to be enough to scare many of the smaller families and organizations into line should Vito "make them an offer they can't refuse" or need to farm out work without it being tied directly back to him. Add to that Hagan's ability to apply more legitimate (if no less dangerous) legal pressure to businesses and companies that furthered Corleone's interests, as well as plans to groom Michael for a political career, and the Corleones could afford to keep their inner circle small while their was reach near limitless. Ruling more through threat and fear than raw violence and manpower. Which would also explain why the cracks started show so quickly after Brasi got taken out and Sonny proved to be unfit as a successor. That small inner circle meant Vito had few real options or allies once the house of cards started to tumble. And it really was almost dumb luck that Michael not only survived to take the lead but proved to be competent and ruthless enough to do it. Had he been killed in that car bomb, leaned in the direction of either of his brothers, or simply had not been interested in taking up the business, the Corleone family would have toppled or splintered. Elements breaking off to form their own organizations or been absorbed by the likes of Barzini, Green, or Roth until nothing remained.

When an organizations leadership is effective, it tends to need less leaders.

Chicago was such a large family that they had several underbosses in any given time. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the ‘capo’ thing, as it’s obvious later in GF 2 that Clemenza and Tessio WERE given their own families, or in GF1 when it’s mentioned Vito promises both they would have their own families. So it’s evident they were both basically underbosses .

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the Columbo family only have 2 crews for a long time.

I always thought it was hes most trustest capos not numerical number i believe abanddando was hes consigliere fredo in the book hes got a couple of more milineri sasso lampone neri geraci squilinaro these people mention in the book i believe they were capos or lieutenants with soldiers

@3:20. Willi Cici sees what you did there.

It's probably more like clamenza and tessio are just higher ranking cappos since they've been there from the beginning. The other cappos don't have as much input when it comes to decision making

"Yea the family has a lot of buffers"

There’s actually a family chart up at Michaels Senate hearing in GF2. If you pause it you can see that there’s more than 2 capos.

I always thought Tessio and Clamenza were more like co-underbosses. They had Capos who answered to them while they only answered to Vito himself. Al Capone had a Jewish consiglere and Lucky Luciano had Meyer Lansky so it's not unheard of to have a non-italian in that position.

You bring up some interesting points. I wonder if their is enough meat in the books and movies to flesh out who were in the two sub families? I am guessing no but you might be able to work your magic.

His oldest Sonny was also Capo, despite obviously not going back as long as Clemenza and Tessio.

I’d say less to control , more you have more to try too control even with that Don Vito Corleone ( through Micheal ) ended up killing one of his Capo’s .

The capos are the boss and in this Vito Corleone was ahead. When they were trying to go, legitimate, veto can be seen in the affairs of the family such as murdering extortion. So he had his ““ capos“ actually running all that while he was trying to call legit‘s in Michael’s time, they were pushing more to be legit and that’s why five angels was seen as the boss on the street and to a lesser degree so wasn’t Clemenza it before him. Throughout the movie there’s always someone in charge who wasn’t actually isn’t charge. At that time it was Clemenza and Tessio and they were not allowed to be together. Then it was Tom Hagan then it was Clemenza then it was five angels.

If there are 5 New York families, sanctioned by the Commission, how can another family just be formed on Vito's say so? Wouldn't the Commission have to approve something like that? I don't think Vito had "secret" families; I do think, though, that he secretly recruited people within Clemenza's crew, as well as Tessio's crew to answer directly to him regarding certain matters. A check and balance that he needed as a way of making sure Clemenza and Tessio didn't overstep their boundaries. Also, to be used in a war situation without needing the 2 Capos to go along with Vito's directives.

Personally I’ve always thought of Luca as a capo as well handling more of the heavy work.

Two capos that we know of. They make many capos but only a handful close enough to that get close to the inner workings.

Sunny also has his own crew… so that’s 3, and then Fredo has a small crew as well, and of course there is Luca Brazi… that guy is a crew in himself 😂

You have to consider the era that's depicted in the film, the mid-1940's to the early-1950's. It was a simpler time and didn't require all the extra bodies.

Correction, Vito actually has three capos in the book. Sonny also have a regime and is a Capo. Still to few. Promote them to underbosses and it makes sense, but then you have to add capos, and that clutters up the flow of the story. It’s a narrative necessarity and a likely a conscious choice.

he say's it in G1 about Carlo Give him a living but never discuss the family business, its clear its very hard to get into the Dons inner circle

In my opinion, Vito had six capos, Tessio, Clemenza, Sonny (before Genco got sick), Freddie, Rocco( later but still a capo under Vito), and Luca. Also don't forget about Hyman Roth and his crew who was an associate of the family.

He also had genco.. A wartime Consignlerie

the Chin Gigante ...was a boss of busses

A good question to complement this one would be, Why they (the Capos) being so few, so trusted and so powerful took whacking jobs themselves in all 3 movies? Extremely risky undertakings, so much so that it makes no sense whatsoever, outside of just "cause it works better that way in the script", for them to be doing those jobs.

Vito does *not* have only 2 caporegimes. He has 3.

That was all he needed. In GF2,Michael gives Tom power over Rocco's men and Fredo's. Sonny and Fredo were Famila, so, no need for titles. Also, in GF1, Michael promised the two Capos, when the move to Vegas was complete, they could start their own Families. The structure for those Families was in place. Buffer, there are only two people outside of blood (Tom is as good as blood) that can connect the Don to anything. Brilliant!

Fifty bonus points for the Casablanca reference at 1:12

Tessie betrayed them ...

What people forget is the 5 families exists because Vitto arranged it to be so. He had to have been strong enough and smart enough to enforce that until the 5 families realized the wisdom of the arrangement. So strenght wise Vitto needed to be strong enough to fight at least two families at the same time.

You need to do a little more research my friend if you go by the book Sunny was a capo before he was given the role of underboss and Luca brazzi was a capo himself

Sonny was a capo too and none of them were allowed to meet w/o Vito being present

Capo means head, not Captain. And it means head as in leader not the physical head, that would be Testa as in Lamborghini Tesa Rosa which means Lamborghini Red Head.

The novel says that Sonny had his own regime as well, making 3 regimes. Not everything could be fitted into the film.

Wouldn’t Genco be counted as a technical Capo? Even though he was council he probably had men under him like Silvio in Sopranos

In all probability,there were other capos,they simply were never mentioned.

Irl it was common for non-italians to become made men in the 1950-60's there was atleast 12-15 famous/well known non Italians who weren't Italian i know of atleast 1 japanese guy and 1 Indian/native american who got made. or they have thier own capo's not shown or another name under them.