Moore was born in Illinois in 1897. After moving to Philadelphia as a child, he attended West Philadelphia High School, where he excelled in baseball and football.^[1] While attending the University of Pennsylvania, he also took up rowing, which became a lifelong pursuit.^[1] Through rowing, Moore became associated with Jack Kelly Sr., the Olympic medallist and Democratic politico.^[2] In 1935, he was elected president of the Schuylkill Navy's Malta Boat Club.^[3] He also became successful in the tool and equipment business.^[2]

Through his connections with Kelly, Moore became involved in local politics, being appointed executive secretary of the Democratic City Committee in 1940.^[2] The following year, Governor Arthur H. James appointed Moore as a Democratic member of Philadelphia's new bipartisan Registration Commission.^[4] Later that year, Moore was the subject of a write-in campaign for mayor, which city officials declared invalid.^[5] After World War II began, he became involved in the Civil Defense Corps.^[6] In 1943, there was a grand jury investigation of the Registration Commission, which Moore called a "fishing expedition."^[7] No charges were brought, and in 1945 Governor Edward Martin reappointed the entire board, including Moore.^[8] He was among the group of investors that bought the Philadelphia Eagles in 1949.^[1] In 1951, Michael DiSalle appointed Moore to a temporary post with the Korean War-era Office of Price Stabilization, a federal agency devoted to price controls.^[2]

Later that year, after Philadelphia adopted a new city charter, Moore ran for an at-large seat on the reformed city council.^[9] He was elected, part of a wave election that swept the Republicans from power for the first time in 67 years.^[10] Moore won the highest vote total of any of the seven at-large candidates elected.^[10] In Council, he chaired the Transportation and Public Utilities Committee.^[11] In 1952, just a year after the city charter's adoption, Moore called for revisions to it that would take certain powers from appointed officials and return them to City Council.^[12] That same year, he advocated tearing down Philadelphia's City Hall and replacing it with a modern office building (the proposal was not adopted).^[13]

Moore resisted calls from Democratic Mayor Joseph S. Clark Jr. to increase the city budget and raise taxes, proposing a budget smaller by $19 million.^[14] Clark's budget eventually passed Council without Moore's vote.^[15] Moore continued to oppose Clark and the charter, joining the efforts of James Tate and Michael J. Towey to weaken the charter's civil service reforms (they were unsuccessful).^[16] He was re-elected in 1955, again leading all candidates for at-large seats.^[17] In the next council session, Moore became chairman of the Finance Committee.^[18]

On the Finance Committee, Moore developed a reputation as the city's "financial watchdog" as he scrutinized spending requests from the new mayor, Richardson Dilworth.^[19] He served as Council's representative on the Philadelphia Transportation Company's board of directors, and fought for the construction of the Delaware Expressway.^[1] In addition to fighting tax increases, Moore and Tate worked to keep utilities costs from increasing excessively.^[20] In 1958, Moore considered a run for Lieutenant Governor, but changed his mind when Clark, now a United States Senator, blocked the Democratic Party establishment from endorsing him.^[21] Instead, he ran for a third term on City Council in 1959, and garnered the second-most votes of any at-large candidate.^[22]

In 1960, Moore investigated waste within the Philadelphia Gas Works.^[23] At the same time, he found himself (and fellow Councilman John F. Byrne Sr.,) under investigation after campaign contribution pay-to-play allegations concerning work done by city contractors to rebuild the Market–Frankford Elevated Line.^[24] He resigned from Council in 1962 to become chairman of the Gas Works, where he promised to root out waste and corruption.^[1] The grand jury investigation led to an indictment in 1963, but Moore was found not guilty.^[25] He resigned from the Gas Works post in 1965 and retired to Florida in 1967.^[1] He remained there until 1982, when he died and was buried in West Palm Beach's Woodlawn Cemetery.^[1]