I have heard him called a cave
man by some, by others a boor; but he is neither. He observes the
amenities of life so far as they are necessary, but only so far. He
is impatient of mediocrity; he will not tolerate stupidity and he
loathes hypocrisy. I would not say that he has bad manners; he has
none at all.
Throughout the recent eclipse of the Republican Party, which began
with the Roosevelt default, no member remained more steadfast than
the Pennsylvania leader. He accepted the inevitable and bided his
time like the politicians of the old school of which he is one of
the few conspicuous surviving examples. Expediency does not enter
into his make-up; he made no effort to keep himself in the
limelight, for he is by the Party, of the Party, and for the Party.
Now that the Party is back again, in power, more than one of his
colleagues suspect that Penrose, if his health permits, will emerge
from the background as the real leader of the Senate majority. His
political past is against him. But he knows men and his tutelage
under Aldrich has not been forgotten.
WILLIAM E. BORAH
Taken at its best, life, to William E. Borah, is little more than a
troublesome pilgrimage to the grave.
This does not mean that he is a misanthrope or a seer of distorted
vision. On the contrary his sympathies are broad and he has an
elusive charm, more apparent in the early years of his political
career than now.
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