American Mafia Commission

The Commission is the governing body of the, formed in 1931. The Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title with a ruling committee consisting of the New York bosses and the bosses of the  and the. The last known Commission meeting held with all the bosses was in November 1985.

Pre-Commission
Before the Commission was formed, the American Mafia crime families were under control of one man known as the  ("boss of bosses", literally "head of heads"). This man held great power over all their bosses, leading to disputes and wars.

In 1929, two New York Mafia bosses, and, fought over the title in the. Masseria was murdered on April 15, 1931, allowing Maranzano to assume the title of capo di tutti capi. Maranzano began to divide all the national criminal gangs into several crime families. and his allies decided that Maranzano would be removed, and he was murdered on September 10, 1931.

The Commission's formation
After Maranzano's murder in 1931, the Mafia families called a meeting in Chicago. The purpose of the meeting was to replace the old Sicilian Mafia regime of "boss of all bosses" and establish a rule of consensus among the crime families. Charlie Luciano established a Mafia to be known as "The Commission" to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts between families. The Commission consisted of seven family bosses: the leaders of New York's :, , , , and ; boss ; and  boss. Charlie Luciano was appointed of the Commission. The Commission agreed to hold meetings every five years or when they needed to discuss family problems.

The power of the Commission
The Commission held the power of approving a new boss before he could take over officially. The New York Five Families also decided that the names of all new proposed members must be approved by the other families. After the new proposed member was approved by the other families, he could become a.

The Commission allowed Jewish mobsters, , , , and to work alongside them and participate in some meetings. In 1935, Dutch Schultz questioned the Commission's authority when he wanted to have prosecutor murdered. Instead, the Commission had Schultz killed on October 23, 1935. The Commission used Louis Buchalter's to dispose of any rivals to their authority.

In 1936, was imprisoned, which allowed bosses, , , , and  to take control of the Commission. The five bosses were all from the "conservative faction" of the commission and believed in Sicilian traditions for the American Mafia. The conservative faction selected as the new chairman, and  became the secretary of the Commission. In 1946, the was arranged by Charles Luciano to discuss with the Commission the American Mafia's future. The Commission decided in the meeting that Luciano would continue to lead the Commission, the American Mafia would become active in the narcotics trade, and would be killed for skimming money from the  in.

In 1951, conservative faction leader Vincent Mangano went missing and sided with "liberal-American faction" members  and. The power of the Commission shifted from the "conservative-Sicilian faction" to the "liberal-American faction".

In 1957, at the, the Commission decided that two more bosses, of the  and  of the , would receive a seat on the Commission. , boss of the for 25 years, also held a seat on the National Commission. Since Dragna's death in 1956, the Los Angeles crime family has been represented by the Chicago Outfit.

The Commission today
The Commission is still reported to exist today, though its current membership is composed of only the bosses of the and the. Its activities have receded from public view as a matter of necessity, like much of the Mafia in general. The five New York City bosses have not met since was killed in 1985 because of increased law enforcement scrutiny.

Instead of a meeting of bosses, underbosses or captains meet secretly to discuss business and govern.

In October 2017, Domenico Violi of the in, Canada was heard to have been named  of the  on s; this revealed the activity of The Commission as Violi's promotion was so unusual, being the first Canadian to hold the second-highest position in the American Mafia, that Buffalo crime family boss  stated he consulted with The Commission for permission to promote him as Buffalo's new underboss.

Chairman of the Commission
There was no "ruler" of the Commission, but there was a nominated Chairman or Head of the National Commission. This was used as a substitute to the role of , as that had the connotations of the old system of one-man rule.
 * 1931–1946 – – arrested in 1936 and then deported in 1946
 * 1946–1951 – – was the "Speaker" of the Conservative faction, disappeared in April 1951
 * 1951–1957 – Ruling panel – (Liberal faction),  (Conservative faction)
 * 1957–1959 – – led the Liberal faction along with Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino; imprisoned in 1959 and died February 14, 1969
 * 1959–1976 – – allied with Tommy Lucchese and retired Frank Costello; died October 15, 1976
 * 1976–1985 – – murdered on December 16, 1985
 * 1985 – after the, it was decided that the Commission would no longer meet as a group; instead, Commission members vote and send messengers to other family bosses relating to Commission topics
 * Unofficial 1986–1992 – – imprisoned in 1992 and died on June 10, 2002
 * Official 1985–1997 – – imprisoned in 1997 and died December 19, 2005
 * Unofficial 2000–2003 – – imprisoned in 2003, then in 2004 became a government witness

Families with Commission seats

 * (1931–present)
 * (1931–present)
 * (1931–present)
 * (1931–present), often represented by the Genovese family
 * (1931–1970s; 1990s–present)
 * (1931–1990s; 2000s–present)

Families represented by the Genovese family
 * – held a seat from 1931 to 1974
 * – held a seat from 1961 to 1980
 * – held a seat from 1961 to 1977
 * (New Jersey)
 * (New England)

Families represented by the Chicago Outfit
 * (Tampa)
 * (Tampa)
 * (Tampa)
 * (Tampa)