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Peter “Pete” Clemenza
Tessio is the other powerful caporegime in the Corleone Family alongside Peter Clemenza. Tessio first collaborates with Vito Corleone and Clemenza as a young man in Little Italy. When Don Fanucci demands protection money from the three men’s rackets, Tessio is the first to agree to Vito’s plan that they pay Fanucci less than he demands so that Vito can snare him in a murder trap. Tessio’s early trust in Vito solidifies a lifelong personal and business relationship between the two men, and Don Vito eventually makes Tessio a caporegime in charge of the Corleone Family’s Brooklyn territory. After Sollozo’s attempt on Don Vito’s life, Tessio’s soldiers are instrumental in carrying out the retaliatory murder of Bruno Tattaglia. In contrast to Clemenza, who embodies Mafia loyalty, Tessio becomes a symbol of betrayal. Although he respects Michael Corleone, Tessio does not trust him to protect the Corleone Family’s interests after Don Vito’s death. In order to lay the foundation for his own crime Family, Tessio arranges a peace summit between Michael and Don Barzini, knowing that the latter will murder Michael there. When Michael discovers the plot, he has Tessio assassinated as a warning to other potential traitors.
Salvatore “Sal” Tessio Quotes in The Godfather
The The Godfather quotes below are all either spoken by Salvatore “Sal” Tessio or refer to Salvatore “Sal” Tessio. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 14 Quotes
When he became a Don and asked opponents to sit down and reason with him, they understood it was the last chance to resolve an affair without bloodshed and murder.
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Chapter 28 Quotes
“Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold.”
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Salvatore “Sal” Tessio Character Timeline in The Godfather
The timeline below shows where the character Salvatore “Sal” Tessio appears in The Godfather. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Sonny calls Salvatore “Sal” Tessio, the Brooklyn-based Corleone Family caporegime and orders him to send guards to the hospital and...
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Chapter 4
...Don is going to be okay. Fredo is sleeping in another room, while Sonny and Tessio are waiting in Don Corleone’s corner office. Michael notices a “hit list” that includes the...
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Chapter 8
As Michael, Hagen, Sonny, Tessio, and Clemenza sit down to eat spaghetti, they hear a noise in the kitchen. Clemenza...
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Chapter 9
...and is surprised to find the street and the lobby inside deserted. He wonders where Tessio and Clemenza’s guards are, as there is no one outside of Don Corleone’s room. A...
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Chapter 10
Later that morning, Sonny, Hagen, Michael, Tessio, and Clemenza discuss whether to meet Sollozzo. The Turk refuses to negotiate with the hotheaded...
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...at a public place that will guarantee his safety. He will go unarmed, but if Tessio or Clemenza can stash a gun at the site beforehand, Michael will retrieve it and...
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Chapter 11
...meeting between Michael, Sollozzo, and McCluskey will happen at Luna Azure restaurant in the Bronx. Tessio knows the restaurant well and is confident that Clemenza can stash the gun in its...
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...and shoots both McCluskey and Sollozzo in the head. Michael then flees the restaurant into Tessio’s waiting car. Tessio asks him if he did “the job,” an expression normally reserved for...
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Chapter 14
...Vito from a wealthy neighbor’s house. Clemenza and Vito soon collaborate with another local hood, Tessio, and they start hijacking goods from delivery trucks and selling them in the neighborhood for...
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...has given by not recognizing Fanucci’s influence over the neighborhood. Vito responds that Clemenza and Tessio share the money, so he will have to speak to them first. Vito’s calmness impresses...
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That evening, Vito, Tessio, and Clemenza meet at Vito’s home. “Why do we have to pay him?” Vito asks,...
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...thereby save a total of $700: the $300 he owes Fanucci, plus the $400 from Tessio and Clemenza. He does not fear the police or the electric chair, because he “had...
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...murder, treating it as just another gangland hit. After two weeks, Vito meets again with Tessio and Clemenza, who greet him with “obvious respect.” Clemenza suggests taking over Fanucci’s extortion rackets,...
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...him. He also formalizes the major hierarchies in his crime family by making Genco Consigliere, Tessio and Clemenza his caporegimes, and putting “layers of insulation between himself and any operational act”...
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...cripples his ability to make profits. Finally, some of Maranzano’s own men betray him, allowing Tessio and his soldiers to murder the boss while he eats lunch. The war now over,...
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Chapter 17
...Don Corleone’s bedroom to discuss the ongoing war between the Corleones and the Five Families. Tessio explains that the other families have lost money in the wake of the McCluskey affair,...
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The Mafia war reveals the Corleones are unsuited for a protracted struggle. Tessio and Clemenza are competent caporegimes, but their age and mellowed ruthlessness hampers their fighting ability....
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Chapter 19
...a moment, the Don seems drained of his strength, but he quickly recovers. Clemenza and Tessio arrive, and Hagen gives the men the full story of Sonny’s murder.
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Chapter 28
...Las Vegas, Michael holds an evening meeting with Don Corleone, Tom Hagen, Carlo, Clemenza, and Tessio. Since the meeting of the Five Families and Don Corleone’s retirement, the Corleone Family’s strength...
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...eastern assets so it can move west and fully enter the casino business. He instructs Tessio and Clemenza to wait until the end of the year, after which they can split...
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Chapter 29
...in on us real hard […] you gotta fight or have a ‘sit-down’ with them.” Tessio adds that Barzini has already attacked by setting up bookmaking operations in Tessio’s Brooklyn territory....
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...that this meeting will be a trap for Barzini to kill him. The next morning, Tessio telephones Michael to say that he has set up a peace meeting with Barzini—Tessio is...
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Michael reasons that Tessio’s plan makes sense: by setting up the hit, Tessio stands to inherit the Corleone Family...
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Chapter 31
Tessio is waiting for Michael to arrive while sipping coffee in the Corleone family’s kitchen. He...
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Chapter 32
...warned you never to ask about business,” Tom says of Michael. He told Kay of Tessio’s betrayal; that Tessio died just as Carlo died “because treachery can’t be forgiven.” Tom explained...
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