In 1944, Scalish succeeded Alfred Polizzi as head of the Cleveland family upon his retirement to Florida. Scalish attended the infamous Apalachin Mafia Conference in 1957 in upstate New York. He was the brother-in-law of Philadelphia crime family boss Angelo Bruno and "Maishe" Milton Rockman an associate and adviser of the Cleveland syndicate. During Scalish's tenure as the boss, the Cleveland family lived up it's golden years.