Moses wanted American government run strictly by graduates of Princeton, Harvard, or Yale.
Evidence
To follow Moses’ suggestions, the United States would have had to close almost completely the higher ranks of government service not only to all men without a college degree but to all men without a degree from an Ivy League college. In fact, by logical extension of Moses’ philosophy, graduates of Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and Penn would be allowed in those higher ranks only by sufferance; in his view, government in America should be ruled, as was football at the time, by men whose birth and breeding had allowed them to attend one of three colleges—Princeton, Harvard or, of course, Yale. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 245
Categorization
- DEFINE: Contrast between the myths of Moses the meritocrat-builder and the actual aristocratic premise of his outlook.
- XREF: connects to: Moses regarded America’s commitment to equality as an obstacle to good government. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 246; Young Moses modeled ideal American civil service on the British Oxford-centered system. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 244; Robert Moses declared public service ambitions as a Yale senior — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 200 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Moses’ doctoral thesis advocated elite-only government service
#corroborates(0.90) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 311 - Young Moses modeled ideal American civil service on the British Oxford-centered system.
#corroborates(0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 244 - Robert Moses declared public service ambitions as a Yale senior
#corroborates(0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 200 - Moses regarded America’s commitment to equality as an obstacle to good government.
#corroborates(0.80) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 246