1981 SPECIAL REPORT: "SINATRA MOB HEARINGS"

Sinatra dressed like a gangster, talked like a gangster, behaved like a gangster, grew up around gangsters and fraternised with gangsters. Perhaps the greatest irony is that he was never actually a made man. His relationship with the mob was clearly beneficial to both sides: Sinatra got fame and fortune and the mob had a tame star who could be used to boost their coffers and shore up their investments when necessary. If Sinatra was instrumental in establishing Las Vegas, Las Vegas was equally important in his 1950s comeback, but while the singer was clearly starstruck by the mob, it’s unclear whether the mob was similarly dazzled, or simply saw Sinatra as expedient as long as he behaved. “I’d rather be a don for the Mafia than president of the United States,” is a quote often attributed to the singer. If that’s true, it seems that he never really got His Way after all.