Strategic concealment of one’s growing competence can preserve political leverage

Evidence

Now, he was to say later, Albany began to make some sense to him. But he kept that fact to himself. Years later, Foley would say, “He would never admit that he knew anything about a subject until he knew everything about it.” To his fellow legislators, he was still the typical Tammany regular. He cleared his votes with Foley, never argued with the leaders—and instead of making speeches saved his voice for the nightly singing in the saloons. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 527

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the reader’s separate note that power grows by appearing harmless while building hidden capacity. — connects to: Political actors’ influence varies with opportunity, position, and skill; A political mentor can convert an uncompromising idealist into a pragmatic operative — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 595

Broader Connections

• Political actors’ influence varies with opportunity, position, and skill #expands (0.78)