Summary & Key Takeaways
Robert Moses is a controversial figure. On the one hand, he almost singlehandedly shaped New York City into what it is today. On the other hand, the way he did so and the people he affected along the way leaves a lot to be desired. But what you cannot deny is that there is a lot to learn from what Robert Moses did and there’s no better book in telling the story than The Power Broker.
Key Takeaways
Moses was able to achieve the power he had by knowing how to write laws well. As Robert Caro repeatedly states, he was “the best bill drafter in Albany”.
The reason he had so much power was because he controlled the money. By being at the head of the Port Authority, he was in control of the flow of money in New York City. The Authorities (which he helped form) also gave him power without having to answer to anyone else (Governors and Presidents included).
Worked hard and constantly. He used this to his advantage and moved fast when others weren’t ready and was always prepared whenever opportunity struck.
People gave him projects and money because he got things done. This made him indispensable. He was the obvious choice whenever you had something you wanted done. And for politicians, who are judged by what they do in office, he was a valuable asset to have.
Notes & Quotes
On Getting Power
Being a big fish in small pond
“one of the smallest and newest of the settlement houses and therefore one in which she could play a more prominent role.”
Read voraciously
“He spent night after night behind a closed door reading, but his friends began to realize that the reading was not for grades; sometimes they would look at the stack of books on his desk and not one of them had anything to do with the courses he was taking; they were there because they interested him.”
“His mind had lost little of its monumental capacity, its voraciousness for knowledge—all knowledge"
Knowledge of policy and laws was an advantage
He knew the laws better than anyone, which allowed him to do things others couldn’t/didn’t know was possible. He knew the governments inner workings better than anyone.
“His skill at bill drafting and his hold on the public imagination had gained him a unique insulation from Mayors and Governors in his daily operations.”
“In the fields which he had carved out for his own—transportation and recreation—the passage of his “amendments” to the authority enabling acts had given him resources of money and power independent of Governors and Mayors”
“In many ways, the amendments to the authority acts had given him, in his fields of operation, more power than he would have possessed as chief executive of state or city.”
“He, more than any other individual, knew which of the tens of thousands of administrative positions in that government were crucial to his purposes.”
“arm-around-the-shoulders charm—charm that could disarm a roomful of listeners…particularly when combined with his intellect and vision and governmental ability"
Used greed to his advantage
“He used forces inside that government as well. He used, for example, the force of greed.”
And used fear
“It was not just the force of greed that Robert Moses used in bending men to his will; in some cases, it was also the force of fear."
Experience was important
Because he had years of experience in various government positions, he was able to gain insights.
Worked hard
He worked like a dog. Was working all the time, in his car rides, in the office, at home. Hours didn’t matter to him. Getting things done did and there were always things to do to get things done.
“The passion that fired that man…was the passion that had fired that man at thirty: the passion for tangible, physical accomplishment, and for the power which that accomplishment produced…the means to power and achievement: work”
“he had sloughed off the last remaining amenities of living and set before himself a life that would be a feast of work”
“hours didn’t mean anything to him. Days of the week didn’t mean anything to him…When there was work to be done, you did it. That was the way he was then and that’s the way he is now.”
“he would not allow a telephone in his car so that he could work in it uninterrupted"
Refused to let other chores consume his time
“He still refused to allow any of the chores that consume chunks of other men’s lives—buying clothes and getting haircuts, for example—to consume chunks of his.”
Relationships had a purpose
“they were there not because of friendship but for a purpose"
Got stuff done
He was able to do whatever he wanted because he got stuff done. He knew how to get things done and better and faster than others so anyone else who wanted to get things done too turned to him. And he had the knowledge of the system to know how to get things done within the system (who to get on board/what laws/etc), which was another huge advantage. Getting things done was the only thing that mattered to him.
“Moses was driven by the need for tangible, indisputable evidence of accomplishment and achievement—evidence such as a public improvement. He was driven by a need to build.”
Public opinion is important in public jobs and provide power
It's important to get public opinion on your side. Some people used newspapers to do this going as far as purchasing them to control them. Moses knew his positive image in the media helped him do things and get away with things. He also did this by attaching himself to popular causes which put him on the side of popular opinion. Public opinion was his trump card, when it came down to it, no politician would go against him when public opinion was so favorably on his side, and this made them want him on their side.
“La Guardia would find himself in the same untenable position in which President Roosevelt had found himself when he had attempted to oust Moses as head of another authority—that of sacrificing a great public improvement for the sake of personal revenge on a faithful and immensely popular public servant.”
“And these considerations combined with the other that always hamstrung La Guardia in his dealings with Moses: Moses’ immense popularity; Moses’ immense influence with a Governor and State Legislature from whom the Mayor constantly needed favors; Moses’ ability to ram through the great public works the Mayor, as sculptor of metropolis, desperately wanted rammed through…Political realities gave him no choice but to allow Moses to remain at their head.”
“Public opinion was the crucial factor in the reformers’ philosophy and strategy"
The ends was justification for the means
Moses distracted away from the methods he used by using the ends as justification for the means.
Consequences of letting ends justify the means
“A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More warns young Roper about the consequences of letting ends justify means. When the young man says he would ‘cut down every law in England’ to ‘get after the Devil’, More replies: ‘Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you—where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?’ The reformers could have benefited from More’s warning. Robert Moses was of course not a Devil, but to give Moses power in the city, they had cut down the ‘laws’ in which they believed. Now those laws no longer existed to protect the city from him. For the reformers and the city they loved, there was no place to hide."
Being prepared was key
Moses was always prepared. He was more prepared then anyone else, which helped him win battles. He had detailed plans ready to go and when the opportunity came, he presented them right away, which was better than anything else anyone else did. He had solutions when others didn’t and knew how to get things done exactly. Had detailed plans ready to go whenever the opportunities came.
He always had a plan ready to go, so when the opportunity came, he presented the full plan with all the details worked out, which was too good to turn down.
“he had looked the point up before he talked to you and knew it better than you did”
“And then, when the time was right—when a large new state or federal grant became available, or when the public was demanding a solution to the transportation problem—he could present these plans to elected officials as the solution, a solution already engineered, already designed, already costed out, a solution feasible engineeringly and economically, a solution whose planning was already a fait accompli, a solution that awaited only their approval for implementation, a solution for which, in many cases, money—the money of his public authorities—was already available.”
“the Coordinator would suddenly appear bearing wondrous gifts. He would present to him a proposal for a highway or an urban renewal development that would ‘solve’ the problems. He could assure him that the financing was all arranged, that the BPR or FHA or DPW had agreed to provide it as soon as he asked them to. When the borough president asked how long it would take to draw up the plans, Moses could tell him that they were already drawn up, that the project was awaiting only one thing: his okay.”
“What he was doing was giving them a package..He was giving them a finished product”
“Nelson Rockefeller had learned what Moses knew: that it was the state with plans, not vague proposals but detailed blueprints, ready when new federal appropriations became available that got the federal money."
PR was key to Getting Things Done
“PR items which would seem blatantly wasteful to taxpayers but which Moses knew were vital to Getting Things Done: the printing of impressive, persuasive brochures and pamphlets; the creation of large-scale dioramas and scale models”
“the hiring of public relations men to visit publishers, editors, reporters and radio commentators as well as non media influentials, sell them on a project in advance, escort them on pre-opening limousine or yacht tours, leak them information that would place Moses’ views in a favorable light; the rental of the necessary limousines; the hiring of the ‘bloodhounds’ to dig up facts about an opponent that could induce hime to cease his opposition, or, should he prove stubborn, could be leaked into print to discredit him; and, especially important to Moses because it gave him a chance to exercise his matchless charm as host, the laying on of hospitality—intimate luncheons for key individuals or lavish buffet luncheons for influentials by the hundreds"
Note: reminds me of the Sam Zemurray and his use of PR and understanding public waves
Knew how to manipulate to get what he wanted
He knew what buttons to push.
Used the press to his advantage
He was tight with the higher ups in the press and used it to his advantage. He avoided a lot of backlash because the press looked so fondly at him.
Wrote magazine articles to get his views out there
“For money or to get his views into print, he was constantly indulging in the ‘fugitive scribbling’ of commissioned magazine articles."
Speed was important
He got things done and done quickly without scandal (quick enough to get it done before elections). He was faster than anyone else. In combination with planning ahead, working harder, and having access and money, Moses was ready to act as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
“In 1946, Congress was ready to pass the bill designating Fort Clinton a national monument. But, recalls Binger, ‘this would take six or eight months.’ Moses moved faster.”
“Moses visually forcing them to ratify their acquiescence by presenting for their signature the necessary document, which an aide just happened to have with him, or to find out by the time they got back to their own office that Moses had already notified the Mayor or other department heads of their acquiescence and that the project in question had already been moved ahead to the next step, making an attempt to call it back awkward if not unfeasible."
The will and energy required to get things done
“Some of the old reformers still admired Moses, mainly because they felt that corruption, politics and red tape were so thick in the city that only a man of Moses’ almost incredible energy, drive and strength of will could hack his way through it."
Worked within reality
He realized over time how to work within reality, rather than just ideals. This allowed him to better see what was possible and do what he wanted to get done.
“In its place was an understanding that idea—dreams—were useless without power to transform them into reality.”
Power was what got things done
“He had not sufficiently taken into account greed. He had not sufficiently taken into account self-interest. And, most of all, he had not sufficiently taken into account the need for power…Science, knowledge, logic and brilliance might be useful tools but they didn’t build highways or civil service systems. Power built highways and civil service systems. Power was what dreams needed, not power in the hands of the dreamer himself necessarily but power put behind the dreamer’s dreams by the man who had it to put there.”
Knew where power lied
“As a state senator would admit privately, describing Moses’ methods in Albany, ‘he wouldn’t bother with us at all; he went right to the leaders.’..But he distributed them not to voters, and not..to the men the voters had elected to office, but to the men who controlled the men the voters had elected to office…’There’s only one way to hold a district…You must study human nature and act accordin’”
Others avoided challenging him because they were afraid of him
People learned that he would “kick them in the balls” if they got in his way so they avoided him.
Power is the control of money
Because vast sums of money were under his control, he was able to get others to do what he wanted. They needed him because of his money so he used this to his advantage. He was in command of the things that made money in the city, a place that was desperate for money.
“Money—revenue, surpluses—was the key to accomplishment and power—but only if he could keep it and use it.”
“He had a friend at virtually every major financial institution in New York”
“But in reality a single power—the power of money—could render all those powers meaningless.”
“it was not the shouts of the people but the whispers of banks, labor unions, insurance companies, big construction combines, big business and, of course, the Retainer Regiment that determined what public works would be built in New York. He centralized in his person and in his projects all those forces in the city that in theory have little to do with the decision-making process in the city’s government but in reality have everything to do with it, and by such centralization he made them strong…What were all these forces? Economic forces. Money"
Help the hand that feeds you
“The change reflected the importance Moses had come to place on bankers’ values—a bridge could be built slightly more cheaply than a tunnel, would cost slightly less to operate and could, per dollar spent, carry slightly more traffic.”
Understood motivations
“Banks have one aim: making money. Moses made sure their aim and his coincided.”
“Moses wanted banks to be so anxious to purchase Triborough bonds that they would use all of their immense power to force elected officials to give his public works proposals the approval that would result in their issuance.”
“Moses made sure that every cent was ‘committed’ to future revenue-, not deficit-, producing projects."
Was always thinking, what if?
“But what if the law was changed?”
Potential was what mattered
“The actuality of the money, he began to realize, was not its most significant aspect. Its potential was what mattered”
what could be seen to do with it
Found power in hidden places
He used smaller and under used parts of the system to find power, exploit it, and control it, like the public authorities.
“he made himself a position of power”
“Of all the remarkable qualities of Robert Moses’ matchless mind, one of the most striking was its ability to take an institution with little or no power, and, seemingly, with little or no potential for more power and to transform it into an institution with immense power, power insulated from and hence on a par with the power of the forces that had originally created it.”
“Keen as always in discerning the potentialities for vast power in humble institutions.”
“With the institution he defined as ‘a body corporate and politic,’ Robert Moses had, on a broader scale, simply repeated the formula successful for him at Yale and with the Long Island State Park Commission, carving out within the state and city governments but outside those governments’ traditional, formal framework a unique, independent niche. Now, thanks to his penchant—his genius—for seeing potentialities for power where no one else saw them, in the future his public authorities as well as city officials would be making vital, city-shaping decisions.”
Power outside democratic institutions
“The battle had proven that the powers he had obtained as head of a new part-private, part-public entity, a ‘body corporate and politic,’ were vast enough so that in his spheres of activity he, not the formal democratic institutions of New York, would henceforth shape New York’s destiny."
Gained power from more knowledge
He gained power by being better than everyone else at something (writing legislation). Because he knew it better he could sneak things in that gave him and his institutions power.
Acted while others were still planning
By acting while others were planning or waiting he was able to get what he wanted. They had no choice, he changed the game.
Used the difficulty of dealing with the physical world to his advantage
He used physical objects to do the things he couldn’t with laws.
Kept things secret or quiet to get away with more
Kept things secret or quiet so that there weren’t protests and by the time they heard about something he was doing, it was already underway.
“So Moses would have to keep them—and all the other officials involved—from understanding. He would have to persuade Mayor, City Council, Legislature and Governor to approve his bills before they realized what was in them.”
“Moses’ methods—the methods with which he swayed politicians to his side—required secrecy. An authority gave him secrecy, for unlike the records of conventional governmental agencies, which were public, subject always to inspection, an authority’s records were corporate records, as private as those of a private corporation.”
“But a greater part of the significance of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority revenue—vast in itself—was the secrecy in which its spending could be cloaked…Therefore it was safer to take money from Moses than from the city.”
“He may not have been an honest broker, but he was certainly a discreet one.”
“The public never knew the extent of Moses’ influence"
Not accountable to anyone
“But Robert Moses was not accountable to the public. He was not accountable to anyone."
Buried his big changes so know one would notice
“He just made them meaningless…but long, legalistic pages later, buried deep within the act”
Used people he needed, then got rid of them
“Throughout his career, Moses had charmed people he needed—and then, as soon as he didn’t need them any longer, had turned on them”
Rewarded those that supported and helped him
“when the parkways were finished, thrilling them on elaborate tours that showed them what he had done with their money.”
Used whatever means he could
“Before the war, Moses had used a force outside the city to help him bend the city to his will. Now there was a new outside force. He used that force, too.”
Spent his money on influence
“With the power to distribute those millions according to any criteria he chose, during the entire postwar era he chose mainly a single criterion: how much influence an individual had, and how willing that individual was to use that influence on his behalf.”
Corrupt with power, not money
“In terms of money..Robert Moses was not himself corrupt. He was, in fact, as uninterested in obtaining payoffs for himself as any public servant who ever lived…But in terms of power, Robert Moses was corrupt…he used money to get it.”
You were on his team or not
“Moses did not operate by demanding direct quid pro quo’s. Rather, it was a case of being on his team or not being on his team.”
Had dossiers on everyone to influence them
“No one could dwell long in the inner circles of New York politics without knowing about Moses’ files, the dossiers he had compiled on the men with whom he had to deal.”
Used his own bribing against those he bribed
“Politicians who had accepted favors from Moses knew that the documentation of those favors was in his dossiers—and they knew that Moses would use that documentation to destroy them if they ever refused to go along with his wishes. They had accepted a favor from him perhaps once; he had a hold over them forever.”
Union leaders are incentivized to build
“Union leaders are therefore constantly pressing for the scheduling of new public works.”
“It was just as important to the union leaders as to Moses that government accomplish, build, Get Things Done—on a big scale.”
Always thinking big
“He always thinks big—I mean, everything he does, nothing’s done in a small potatoes way.”
Single-minded to get his way
“He was single-minded in his purpose, undeviating, merciless to those who opposed him—and he bought off everyone who might trip him up. He believed in buying, acquiring, by paying the most”
His considerations for a project
“The considerations that he took into account were the considerations that mattered to him personally: the project, in and for itself; the engineering considerations that would Get It Done the fastest and cheapest way; and the considerations—economic considerations, whether the economics of honest graft, or of bonds, or of paychecks to union men—that mattered to the forces he was using to impose his will on the city.”
Physical public works shape a city permanently
“The building of a public work shapes a city perhaps more permanently than any other action of government. Large-scale public works shape a city for generations. Some public works—most notably the great bridges and highways that open new areas to development and insure that these areas will be developed on the low-density pattern fostered by highways as opposed to the high-density pattern fostered by mass transportation facilities—shape it for centuries if not, indeed, forever.”
Brochures and pamphlets sold projects
“the money to produce the items that ‘sold’ project—architectural and engineering plans, scale models, lavish brochures—were available to ‘sell’…they were available fast, fast enough for New York to steal a march on the other cities.”
One way to take him on was to be faster
“Finkelstein would race straight back to his office, and write and distribute a release announcing O’Dwyer’s approval—so that before Moses had heard about the Mayor’s switch, and could get him to switch back, O’Dwyer’s pro-Finkelstein stand would be on the record, and therefore almost impossible for Moses to change.”
Monopoly on the talent
“Qualified administrators were scarce. Mayors were constantly engaged in a search for men with real experience in handling large-scale problems…it was Moses’ men—and sometimes only Moses’ men—who were qualified”
“and by his painful realization that Moses’ near-monopoly of the engineering and architectural talent experienced in tenant relocation"
Only people with power mattered to him
“To a man to whom power is all-important, other men are judged by how much they give to him…To a man to whom power is all-important, other men matter only as long as they possess power.”
Knew not to attack those he needed
“but, not wanting to alienate a mayor who had otherwise proved so agreeable, had decided to make his views known to him by attacking one of his assistants instead."
The minority can have power if controlled well
“But even a minority—when maneuvered by a master—can have considerable strength.”
Note: often the minority has power through more determination and better coordination, they often influence more even in democracies
Paid for things for power
“Moses liked to pick up checks, to be honest, in order to dominate.”
Note: reciprocity example
Used Hospitality for Power and Influence
“Hospitality has always been a potent political weapon. Moses used it like a master. Coupled with his overpowering personality, a buffet often did as much for a proposal as a bribe.”
“To other reporters, too, his hospitality was used as a subtle reward, and its withdrawal as a subtle punishment. Write a story that he liked and you would find yourself on one of his lists…Cross him once, and you were off all lists.”
“his ‘working’ lunches—was designed to help his work”
“The setting at such luncheons was relentlessly social: friendly, easy, gracious. For most men, this setting made disagreement difficult. It is more difficult to challenge a man’s facts over cocktails than over a conference table, more difficult to flatly give the lie to a statement over a gleaming white tablecloth, filet mignon and fine wine than it would have been to do so over a hard-polished board-room table and legal pads. It was more difficult still to disagree when most if not all of the other guests agreed: there was strategy as well as ego in Moses’ stacking his luncheons with a claque of yesing assistants…he also knew that their presence created an atmosphere in which the dissenter felt acutely that he was representing a distinctly minority view…It was even more difficult to disagree when the man whom you were disagreeing was your host…the host had the not inconsiderable psychological advantage of fighting on his home grounds.”
“Nowhere was he more intimidating than over his luncheon table. In such a setting, surrounded by pictures of his past successes, scale models of his future successes, by a retinue of supporters and all the trappings of achievement and power, his scorn and anger were at their most awesome.”
“In the setting Moses created at his luncheons, most men allowed themselves to be bullied.”
“Hospitality—hospitality on an imperial scale—was one of Moses’ most effective tools."
Power by assumption or inference
“He would present a problem and his proposed solution to it, and then call on various of his engineers to present facts and figures supporting his arguments…This was an exercise of power by assumption or inference. And it was damned effective.”
Organization was a strong point
“Even his critics had always had to admit that organization was Robert Moses’ strong point.”
On importance of PR for public events
“A World’s Fair was not a bridge that the public had no choice but to pay to use, it was a show to which the public had to be persuaded to purchase tickets. The key to the Fair’s success was, therefore, public relations.”
Those who can build
“Those who can, build. Those who can’t, criticize”
The representation of power matters
“But it wasn’t what the speakers said that mattered, but what they represented. They represented power.”
His intelligence gave him power
“Most important of all, Moses still possessed, unimpaired by his seventy-eight years, the instrument that had gotten him power in the first place: his powerful, supple intelligence.”
Everything he did was part of a plan, a dream
“What people didn’t understand was that everything he had done was part of a plan, a dream—a plan planned and a dream dreamed decades before."
On Losing Power
Reputation was important to his power
His most cherished asset was his reputation which allowed him to get things done and the public look fondly on him. Once he lost it, he lost power.
“Moses’ image—the image he had so painstakingly cultivated—was precious to him, not only because it helped him achieve and accomplish, but because of reasons rooted in the murky depths of his personality…The image was of the totally unselfish and altruistic public servant who wanted nothing for himself but the chance to serve. A key element in it was his disdain for money—a disdain which he made certain was well publicized and which was symbolized by his refusal to accept a salary for his services.”
“Of all things, his reputation was now dearest to him—and it was his reputation that this incompetent Mayor was destroying."
Those who live by the sword, die by the sword
The very things that gave him power contributed to him losing it: the press, ignoring the outcries of those affected, moving fast, etc.
Judicial opinion sways with public opinion
When Moses was viewed favorably publicly the judges always ruled on his side but once public opinion changed, so did the judges’ opinion.
Power takes a long time to accumulate but almost instantly can disappear
He lost a lot of what he was able to achieve over the years (power, influence, reputation) all within a day or two over one issue. It shows how vulnerable it is.
Too many fronts to attack gave him protection
Was hard to remove him from power because he was so involved in so many parts of the govt.
“More important than the size of the pie had been the fact that it was divided into so many pieces. More important than the amount of money at his command was the fact that this money came from so many different and varied sources, that he had held simultaneously twelve different government jobs—some state and some city…because Moses’ authority chairmanships had staggered six-year terms, he could do even that only over a period of years…’you’d have to fight him on so many different fronts.’”
“If Robert Moses had still possessed twelve jobs…Nelson Rockefeller might have found…that it was unfeasible to cut off one of them."
Public opinion took awhile to change because press was so invested in him
Editors and reporters were invested in him. They couldn’t say bad things about him because it would mean they were wrong.
“There had still been many editors and reporters unwilling to face the falseness of the image they had helped create.”
Note: but ultimately they caved because it produced headlines, which helped them sell
Lost power from someone more powerful
The only thing that could challenge his power was someone with more power or outside his power, that was Rockefeller.
Public opinion was used against him when it wasn’t on his side
“I felt that if only I could push the confrontation, make the Mayor take responsibility, he would, because of the public opinion on the issue, have no choice but to overrule Moses.”
Others gained fame by taking him on
“But that fight had been the turning point in Papp’s career. ‘It was the greatest publicity the Festival could have had.’”
He was his own worst enemy
“And now the events which Moses had set in motion conspired against him”
“It was his own fault. In love with power, he could not give it up.”
“His loss of reputation was his own fault primarily because the image he created for the Fair was one of controversy."
As long as he didn’t lose the money, he had power
“His power had been derived partly from popularity and mostly from money—money that he had sole discretion to spend. The popularity had vanished some years back, but its loss had not mattered much so long as he didn’t lose the money.”
Fighting the media is a battle you can only lose
“he knew that, for a public figure, fighting the media is a battle he can only lose”
“The power of the press, radio and television to make or break any man in public life”
“There is only one way to get the press united and that is to attack it.”
Gave the press something to attack him on by lying
Let emotions get the better of him
"But it had long since ceased to be reason or logic that dictated his actions. It was emotions, feelings, passion”
Power, not public opinion determined his positions
“Not public opinion—not even the opinion of a Mayor or Governor—but raw power would determine whether Moses stayed on as president of the Fair, and of power he still had more than enough.”
“It wasn’t polemics that were going to count in any confrontation; it was power.”
His prestige gave him a hearing
“his prestige alone guaranteed him a full hearing in the media.”
In public life, sometimes you have to swallow your pride
“He [Moses] wanted to stay in public life, so what do you do? Swallow your pride."