Moses once refused political land deals even at the cost of his ambition

Evidence

The young Robert Moses, the idealist of Yale and Oxford and the Municipal Civil Service Commission, would not have even considered trading contracts or information for approval. Even the older Robert Moses of the New York State Association, a Moses more admiring of the ways of politicians, would not have done it; that Moses could in 1922 still reserve his bitterest State Bulletin sallies for the Nassau County Republican machine because of its link with “political contractors.” Even the Moses of 1924, doffing his principles to lighten himself for the pursuit of his greatest dream, wouldn’t do it. No sooner had he announced his park plan in 1924 than intimates of the Governor wrote him asking for advance information on parkway location; Moses indignantly refused to give it to them. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles J. Hewitt offered to sell the State Parks Council a tract of land he owned in Fair Haven; despite Hewitt’s importance to his dream, Moses refused to buy. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 913

Categorization

• XREF: This is a pivotal beat in Caro’s corruption-narrative arc — the historically documented moment where the future deal-maker drew a line; resonates with the gradual-corruption arc in Base Nation chapters about officials. — connects to: The young Moses already refused to accept rejection from authority figures — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 183; Moses refused the patronage sinecure Smith offered him in 1923 — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 623; Even self-interested dissembling proved impossible for Moses before the electorate. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 1855 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Even self-interested dissembling proved impossible for Moses before the electorate. #corroborates (0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 1855