The Featherduster (Part 1 of 2)

Core idea

In 1928 Al Smith ran for President as the Democratic nominee against Hoover. He picked Franklin D. Roosevelt — wealthy, polio-stricken, Harvard-educated, perceived as a political lightweight — to succeed him as governor of New York. Smith expected to control Albany from Washington through Moses, Belle Moskowitz, and Roosevelt as a kind of front. Roosevelt understood instantly what was being attempted and quietly resolved not to be controlled. Moses, who saw Roosevelt as an upper-class dilettante (he privately called him the featherduster), failed to recognize the danger.

Why it matters

Smith's miscalculation

Smith lost the presidency to Hoover but left a Democratic governor in Albany. He expected to govern New York through Roosevelt the way the Iron Duke had governed England through younger ministers. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, neither of whom particularly liked Smith, had no intention of being Smith's puppet. The misjudgment was catastrophic.

Moses's contemptuous nickname

Privately Moses called Roosevelt the featherduster — a wealthy, soft, dilettantish figure who would never be a real politician. The contempt was open enough that it reached Roosevelt within months. The feud became permanent. It would damage Roosevelt's New Deal relationship with New York public works and would constrain Moses's federal funding for fifteen years.

Key takeaways

Mental model

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Practical application

Example

The Trump administration's Crooked Hillary / Sleepy Joe / Pocahontas contempt-nicknames worked as rallying cries with supporters and as permanent damage to the relationships with the named opponents. The technique works inside a tribe and ends any chance of cooperation outside it.

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