Did Robert Moses Realize He Was Changing?

Robert Caro says Robert Moses did not realize he was changing. From the beginning, Moses felt he had a vision for roads and parks, believed it was the best thing to do, and believed it should get done.

No matter how many hardships he had to inflict on people, and no matter how many thousands he had to evict, Moses was going to get the roads built. If someone stood in his way, he was going to remove that person. Henry Epstein, a politician in the Bronx, opposed the Cross Bronx Expressway because the route ran through a neighborhood where tens of thousands of people would have to be evicted. Moving it two blocks to the south would evict only a couple of hundred people. Moses set out to destroy Epstein and did, by making it known Epstein was having an affair. A mistress, or taking money, was a weakness Moses would use.

In his opinion, Moses learned to use whatever he had after failing to get things done when he was very young. He wanted things done, they did not get done, and the awareness came on him.