The capricious malignity and brutal injustice of the Great Frederick might as well be cited against the acknowledged grandeur of his career, as an indictment be brought against Stanton's fame on his personal defects, glaring and even exasperating as they were.
Blaine draws a parallel between the flaws of a leader and their overall contributions to history, suggesting that personal defects do not diminish their legacy.
Share
More from James Blaine
An avenging God cannot sleep while such things find countenance.
The haste with which the question was brought to a decision can hardly be justified, and is a striking illustration of the intense party-feeling which had been engendered by the war.
Their success as civil magistrates, as legislators, as executives was not less marked and meritorious than their illustrious service in war.
He had placed himself in a position from which he could not with grace retreat, and to go forward in which was still further to blight his hopes of promotion in his party.
Other voices in this conversation
