Cultivating his mother’s approval shaped Moses’s public-service ideal

Evidence

And part of the explanation, almost certainly, was that Robert tendered his mother the sincerest form of flattery. If Bella cherished the ideal of public service, public service conceived of in idealistic, almost Platonic terms, this ideal was becoming the theme of more and more of Robert’s conversation, too. More and more, in the after-dinner chats in the library, Robert began to talk about dedicating his life to “helping people.” — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 158

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ever-present theme in political biography where a leader’s core ideology is adopted instrumentally to win a parent’s approval, echoing patterns in works like The Namesake about identity formation through parental expectations. — connects to: Moses’s defining personality traits came from his mother’s line — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 160; Moses won his mother’s favor largely by never disagreeing with her — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 157; Moses began his career in public service with passionate idealism — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 248 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Moses began his career in public service with passionate idealism #expands (0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 248
• Moses conceived public service as an instrument for implementing great social reforms #expands (0.78) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 231