Legal conduct can still destroy a reputation for incorruptibility

Evidence

Most important, the aura of incorruptibility was gone. It was gone unfairly, for nothing he had done for the Tavern-on-the-Green was illegal, and by the standards by which the public judges morality in politics, what he had done for the restaurant was only faintly immoral. But it was gone nonetheless. The breath of scandal had tarnished this incorruptible public figure only slightly. But slightly was enough. His image had once dazzled even most of the reporters and editors hardest to dazzle. Now it no longer shone quite so brightly. The press could look at Robert Moses and at his operations and methods as they would look at the operations and methods of an ordinary public official. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 4108

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Caro’s central insight that reputation is a fragile asset, vulnerable to perception of scandal even where conduct is legal—the press’s investigative gaze, once switched on, never fully off.
• XREF: connects to: A reputation for honesty accumulates slowly but can be destroyed rapidly — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 913; A trustworthy reputation can be exploited because it is imperfectly known

Broader Connections

• A reputation for honesty accumulates slowly but can be destroyed rapidly #expands (0.80) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 913
• A trustworthy reputation can be exploited because it is imperfectly known #qualifies (0.75)