This thread has a lot of posts about saying something like "Leon should stay in his lane" " Leon is a number 2" "He don't understand business " " He's the just the muscle " ect. But they keep overlooking the fact that Leon kept goons off of all their asses while Saint was on the sidelines. You got Louie once again coming at dude like he's her underling... he's not. Like somebody said dude is a general and should be respected like one. Does he have Franklin's business acumen and book smarts no... Can he charm his way through a negotiation like Louie no... Those qualities are great to have of course, but this is the beginning of the crack era in L.A. thoses muhfukkas was real savages a cat like belongs in the game more than any of the main characters. The shyt he brings to the table is essential to survive those times. We all know Saint is based of Rick Ross if the show sticks to his story then the C.I.A takes him down after a few years. But let's say it doesn't. Street dudes gonna rob and kill him at some point. That situation with the gang wars tells exactly what type of dude he really is. The fact that he wasn't out there in the field putting in work for the gang means he'll never get respect from real hitters. REED ain't the only plug if cats can get it cheaper from somebody else they going that way. Louie just a pretty face sorry to sound sexist. She's very expendable.
EVERYTHING you’re saying is correct.
BUT
The bottom line is that if Franklin goes down, SOMEBODY has to be in charge and it CANNOT be Leon. Leon is a street soldier for sure, put in mad work, and should be respected as a general. But he CAN’T be top dawg. He’s not a thinker, he’s hot headed, and he’s overly emotional. So if SOMEBODY has to be charge the best two people are either Louie or Franklin’s mother. Uncle Jerome is also too hot headed. The boss HAS to be a strategist and above all else has to have the juice to make the connects not only like him bit respect him. Ari RESPECTS Franklin. Reed RESPECTS Franklin. Leon was never going to be able to walk into that bookstore and have people who owned a business for THIRTY YEARS trust and RESPECT him enough to sign off on any paperwork. Louie could do that though (or again Franklin’s mother)
So Leon, in a best case scenario is a number 1 Street general. He has a place at the table always, and his counsel is taken into consideration. Maybe even he should have the final say on what goes on when it comes to the street shyt. But he ALWAYS a number two in the hierarchy forever. Even if Franklin dies Leon should NEVER be upgraded to Boss. A million dollar business would go dry in a matter of a month. Look at what he did after only a few DAYS of “fukk Franklin” can’t get a plug to save his fukking life.
he let himself get extorted instead as if he ain’t already in too deep. 
