His Oxford thesis was about the history of public service in Great Britain. The old school GB model was (is?) a thinly veiled meritocracy, where the vast majority of clerical positions are filled via merit system by middle-class folks. But, of course, the VIP decision-makers were a small group of highly educated, upper class men. RoMo believed in this system—he thought public service to be the noblest of careers. (Public service = being a politician) For the important responsibility of serving the public, leadership must consist of the noblest of citizens.
What has changed in 100 years? Didn’t every US president go to Yale or Harvard and then to Y/H Law School? Mayor Bloomberg has an MBA from Harvard (although he only went to Johns Hopkins undergrad…suckaa) and Gov. Paterson went to Columbia. Spitzer went to Princeton and HLS!
In addition to his preferred pedigree, RoMo had a huge financial advantage. His family was RICH. He didn’t feel like waiting another year for a Rhodes scholarship so they just paid for him to go to Oxford. Would his career trajectory have been possible without this background? Probably, but he was fast-tracked by virtue of his education.
Personally, I can’t believe how little has changed in the last 100 years with regard to Ivy League snobbery in New York. But that’s New York—an old city, built on industrial fortunes, industrial fortunes funding generations of expensive finishing schools, cycle on and on.
I was watching Gossip Girl last night (this season is so good because there is a storyline where Serena gets mixed up a congressman who happens to be a Vanderbilt) and realized that the structure of New York society is the antithesis of the “American dream”. 
I’m sure in a get-rich quick place like Vegas, Arizona, or Florida, you could be a “Vanderbilt” in 2 generations. But everything is so expensive in New York. And everyone hates “new money” people here. What was the equivalent of Vegas in 1909? What if RoMo had been born to a stripper in the “Las Vegas” of 1909? He would have perhaps turned out like Don Draper, but we all know that Don doesn’t live happily ever after. 
I do picture RoMo looking a lot like Don Draper.. I digress. The point being, New York is waiting to be led by more upper-crustians and one with the right education and the right connections can easily slide right in to an influential leadership position*.And Robert Moses did just that!*check out Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell if you want to know more about my reasoning here
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