On this day back in 1888 Vincent Mangano was born in Palermo, Sicily. He was given the name as ‘The Executioner’ by the media and ran his own family for 20 years between 1931 to his death in 1951. His brother Philip was his underboss during this period.

Eventually his family became what we now know the Gambino family, but not before a stint as the Anastasia family (1951 – 1957). His downfall was at the hands of The Lord High Executioner, Albert Anastasia. Vincent’s body has never been found.

On this day in 1888, Vincent Mangano was born in Palermo, Sicily, a man who would go on to become one of the most powerful and enduring figures in American organised crime. Like so many of his generation, Mangano made the journey from the old country to the streets of New York, where ambition, ruthlessness, and shrewd political instincts would carry him to the very top of the underworld hierarchy.

Mangano rose to prominence during one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in mob history. Following the bloody Castellammarese War of 1930 to 1931, Lucky Luciano orchestrated a sweeping reorganisation of the Italian-American underworld, establishing the framework of what would become the legendary Five Families of New York. It was within this new order that Vincent Mangano was installed as boss of his own family, a position he would hold for two decades. His brother Philip served loyally as his underboss throughout this entire period, giving the Mangano family a tight, fraternal grip on their operations, which centred heavily on the Brooklyn waterfront, loan sharking, and illegal gambling.

The media dubbed him "The Executioner," a nickname that spoke volumes about how Vincent conducted business when loyalty was questioned or rivals grew too bold. Despite the fearsome reputation, Mangano was regarded within Commission circles as a traditional, old-school boss who valued order and structure. He was a founding member of the National Crime Syndicate's ruling Commission, sitting alongside figures of the stature of Al Capone and Lucky Luciano as organised crime formalised its power structures across America.

His downfall, however, came from within his own organisation. Albert Anastasia, the feared and volatile underboss known as "The Lord High Executioner" and the operational chief of Murder, Inc., had long chafed under Mangano's authority. In April 1951, Anastasia made his move. Philip Mangano was found shot dead in a marsh in Brooklyn, and Vincent simply vanished. His body has never been recovered to this day, a fitting and chilling end for a man who had sent so many others to unmarked graves. Anastasia brazenly took control of the family, and when he in turn was gunned down in a Midtown Manhattan barber's chair in 1957, Carlo Gambino ascended to power, lending the family the name it carries to this day.

Vincent Mangano's twenty-year reign remains a defining chapter in the story of New York's criminal underworld, a testament to both the rewards and the brutal limits of power in the mob's golden age.