Reformers excused Moses’ abuses until he turned them on themselves

Evidence

As for the vicious personal attacks, Moses had been making vicious personal attacks for years. The only difference was that this time the target was them—and they therefore saw how unfair the attacks were. Previously they had laughed indulgently at Moses’ propensity for personal vituperation, regarding it as a harmless idiosyncrasy; perhaps, when one took into account all the crooked politicians, hack bureaucrats and selfish private individuals with whom Moses had to deal, even admirable. In that laughter and that indulgence was a feeling that Moses’ methods, however distasteful, however antithetical to their principles, were justified by the difficulties he had to surmount to Get Things Done. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2839

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fear of breaking with La Guardia made reformers vote against their fiscal judgment — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 2735; Reform agencies muted criticism once their friends held power and shared patronage — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 362; Reform-minded legislators reversed their principles when the official was Moses — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 1603 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A prominent moral crusader excused later immorality he once decried #exemplifies (0.75) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 657