Frank changed some of the rules that existed in Bogie’s Holmby Hills Rat Pack. The Summit was all male, apart from Shirley MacLaine who became an honorary member and their mascot, "Girl Friday" and Angie Dickinson who held the role of the token "tough broad" in the group, but both were generally on the outside of the tree house.

The new Rat Pack lacked the same style as Bogie’s as many have said that the one thing that was missing was what Bogie called “class”.

The antics of the Summit were, unlike the Holmby Hills Rat Pack public, as Frank’s summit meetings almost always had an audience. Despite the few rule changes, the new Rat Pack lived by the same simple code- do what the hell you like, and do it together. However, Frank added an extra rule - to be loyal to the King Rat (Sinatra).

The Pack first gained national prominence with their work for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. Sinatra and the others were visible supporters of the campaign, with Frank even recorded a new version of "High Hopes" that became Kennedy's campaign song.

With Las Vegas and Beverly Hills their unofficial hangouts, the Rat Pack were an unofficial club of actors and performers whose swingin' lifestyle made them the darlings of the gossip columns and a curious phenomenon in late '50s culture. The group as a whole represented a 40-ish group midlife fling, desperate to recapture the energy and excitement of youth and living proof of America’s modesty, believing that their country was truly great because their celebrities never grew old or stop chasing skirt. The new Pack made a reputation for themselves as playboys by partying together on stage and off-stage until the wee hours of the morning, with their friendships cemented by a love of show business and a sybaritic outlook on life that features an endless pursuit of sexual pleasure.

The group didn’t look like much in reality; a singer comic then regarded as the less talented partner of the separated team of Martin and Lewis, a Negro entertainer who had converted to Judaism and lost an eye, a shy introverted comic whose career had been greatly enhanced by Frank’s support, an angry middle aged man with an unrelenting need for people to laugh at his jokes, marvel at his ideas clustering a form of psychological refuge and an Englishman with no particular talent to speak of or in the simplest terms; an angry drunk who never smoked (Frank), a smoker who never drank (Dean), a square (Joey), a messenger boy (Peter) and a disabled Jewish Negro (Sammy). By themselves, they were formidable showmen, but when they joined forces, they showed what chemistry is all about. When they goofed around and acted up on stage, it was easy to see why this group would become legendary.

The core of the group was clearly Frank (the brains), Dino (the heart) and Sammy (the soul). Dean and Sammy would always be members of Frank's pack, basically because Frank needed them. They could do things that Frank couldn't and wished he could: comedy, dancing, winning over a crowd with a raised eyebrow or a look. Lawford and Bishop were on the marquee but were never as prominent as the big three. In this regard, Peter and Joey did nothing special and were easily pushed aside when their number was up.

Together, they offered the audiences a mixture of personalities; Frank was cool in the sense of Hollywood's untouchables. Dean and Sammy were warm and comfortable. Joey was amusing and Peter was a natural for the Pack by virtue of his slick lifestyle, political connections and charm.

Together, they brought a better class of sin to Sin City (Las Vegas). The Rat Pack had that Mafioso toughness - the toughness of influence but always did it with style – they were class personified. They dressed well, they were funny and arrogant at the same time. They could sing, dance and put on a show from the early evening until the wee hours of the morning without a hitch and ultimately representing the height of each of their decadent appeal to the public. When the Rat Pack made the scene, adult males at last had role models to show them you could project an aura of style and sophistication and still have fun, teaching the audience that acting a little chauvinist wasn't necessarily bad if you did it with style.