Michael outdid his father in every way except what mattered most.
One died playing with his grandson. The other died broken and alone.
Also, coming from being a dirt poor immigrant to rich mafia don is alot more difficult than building upon what was given to you. Michael was dealt a rough hand though. Appolonia was supposed to be his wife, his life would have been entirely different with her. Instead he got stuck with Kay. And he had to be ruthless (which ended up bleeding into other areas of his life) because with Pop and Sonny gone, it was just him and his weak brother Fredo. He was food out there and had to become a hard man real quick to survive. And since he never truly wanted the mafia life, he spent his life trying to wash the blood away from his money but, in the end he couldn't.
