Belle Moskowitz conceived the administrative reform commission that launched Al Smith’s governorship

Evidence

Smith told the roomful of burly Irishmen that, because of the inefficiency and duplication of effort he had observed during his twelve years as a state assemblyman, he wanted to reform the state’s administrative machinery. The plump little Jewish matron sitting among them had long wanted such reform too, because without improvement in the machinery of government, it was useless to talk about the social reforms of which she had long dreamed. When Smith asked for ideas on how to start a drive for administrative reform, Belle had one ready. Even before he took office in January, she said, he should form a Commission for Reconstruction, Retrenchment and Reorganization in the state government. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 412

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the recurring Caro theme that Belle Moskowitz supplied the substantive policy architecture behind Smith’s political rise — echoes Moses’s pattern of hidden power through expertise. — connects to: Governor Al Smith demanded concrete action rather than a report from the commission — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 436

Broader Connections

• Governor Al Smith demanded concrete action rather than a report from the commission #expands (0.75) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 436