John Gotti, Mafia Boss

Nicknames are popular in mafia crews. John Gotti would be known as Teflon Don and another title which stuck to him when he was older was Dapper Don, which he acquired for his easy personality (in public, at least, more on which later), smart dress sense and casual swagger. In fact, the last of these attributes may not have been entirely an affectation. Young John Gotti was just 14 when he and his gang decided to steal, of all things, a cement mixer. Something went wrong, and Gotti found himself trapped by the foot under the heavy object, and his toes were crushed. He was unable to walk normally after the accident. The swagger was born…and it seemed as though the young hoodlum liked the style it gave him. For others, though, another part of an unpleasant picture had been created...But his teenage partners in crime would be shocked that years later, Gotti would rise in the ranks of the mafia. Eventually ordering the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano and taking control over the most powerful crime family in the history of the United States...This is how he did it.