Robert Moses' Response to Robert Caro's The Power Broker

Yessiree. All 23 pages of it. Moses wrote it in response to Robert A. Caro's 1100-plus page tome about the Power Broker. Moses, who was instrumental in shaping modern New York City, is depicted in Caro's Pulitzer Prize-winning book as a power-hungry bureaucrat who, while never elected, had more control over public works than most mayors and governors in New York.

Caro's biography, Moses wrote, "is full of mistakes, unsupported charges, nasty, baseless personalities and random haymakers thrown at just about everybody in public life" (see Page 2 of the letter). On Page 21 he admits referring to Fiorello LaGuardia as "Rigoletto" once, but denies calling the mayor any of the "so-called names Caro maliciously mentions" (such as "little organ grinder"; see page 447 of Caro's book).

You can also read Robert Caro's Response to Robert Moses' Response to Robert Caro's The Power Broker. It's a lot shorter.

Back to the Encyclopedia



Back to Bridge and Tunnel Club Home