the crucial 1948 elections that would decide on Italy's post-war future, Genco Russo and Calogero Vizzini sat at the same table with leading DC politicians, attending an electoral lunch. In 1950 when Genco Russo's oldest son married, Don Calò Vizzini was a witness at the ceremony, just as the Christian Democrat president of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, Rosario Lanza. He became a local Christian-democrat leader and town councillor in the 1960s. In 1962 he was forced to step down after he was denounced in the press. Genco Russo's once described his role in the community to the social activist Danilo Dolci. It provides an illustration of the self-image of the mafioso in the second, "legitimate" stage of his career – the mafioso as a public benefactor rather than as a dangerous criminal: "It's in my nature. I have no ulterior motives. If I can do a man a favour, no matter who he is, I will; because that's how I'm made... I can't say 'no' to anyone. The trouble I'm put to is not so great that I have to refuse people in need... Very often warm-heartedness will win a man gratitude and friendship, and then the time comes to ask for one thing or another in... Folks come and ask how they should vote because they feel the need for advice. They want to show that they are grateful to those who have worked for their good; they want to thank them for what they've done by voting for them; but they are ignorant, and want to be told how to do it." Heir of Vizzini Giuseppe Genco Russo was considered to be the heir of Calogero Vizzini when Don Calò died in 1954. Genco Russo had been at the right-hand side of Don Calò's bier: the ancient sign that the heir-apparent was taking the place of the deceased. In the media both mafiosi were often depicted as the "boss of bosses" – although such a position does not exist in the loose structure of the Mafia. According to the pentito Antonio Calderone Genco Russo never had been the boss of Cosa Nostra of Sicily. The notoriety of Genco Russo was not looked upon well by other mafiosi. Like Vizzini, he exposed himself too much, giving interviews and getting photographed. Genco Russo was present at a series of meetings between top American and Sicilian mafiosi that took place in