He may be a hidebound party man, always
voting the party ticket, and swallowing the party platforms whole.
Such persons often get into the newspapers when they are elderly,
as having voted for every candidate on this or that party ticket
for fifty or sixty or seventy years. It simply means, of course,
that these men are proud of the fact that they let other people do
their thinking for them.
Or, a man may look upon a party as the means through which he may
secure better government. He is proud of its wise and good acts,
and is willing to forgive its mistakes, because he knows that no
large group of men can be perfect. He believes in remaining loyal
to his party as long as possible, but he does not set it above his
country, nor agree to follow it when it goes absolutely wrong, or
falls into the hands of men who hold party welfare above
patriotism. Roosevelt was a party man of this kind
Furthermore, a man may be an Independent, one who will not join
any party for long. Many of these are highly honorable and wise
citizens, who are of great value to the country, although they can
usually be nothing but helpers in any good cause. Their position
nearly always prevents their becoming the chief actors in bringing
about any good and desirable reform.
The fourth class in which a man may find himself in regard to
parties, is that of the so-called independent, who mistakes his
own fussiness for nobility of character.
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