Robert Moses was singled out as his mother’s favorite child

Evidence

Relatives and friends began to notice that within this family circle, an inner circle was forming. It was Robert Moses and his mother. More and more, within the family, they formed a small, increasingly private clique. More and more, it became apparent that Robert was his mother’s favorite. This favoritism was expressed with the intensity that characterized everything Bella did. All her children were spoiled, spoiled by maids and cooks and grandmother, spoiled by wealth. But in Robert’s case, the spoiling was also done by his mother. Increasingly, Bella Moses began to cater to her younger son’s every whim. “You would never think of this word in connection with Bella,” one relative says. “But the only word you could use to describe her treatment of Robert was ‘doting.’ ” No one was sure of the explanation. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 156