He was also an eminently wary and cautious man, alive to the necessity of watching the changeful phases of public opinion, and slow to propound a plan until he had satisfied himself that it could be carried out in practice.
This passage illustrates the cautious nature of a political figure who was careful in responding to public opinion.
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Perhaps, on the whole, nothing in Van Buren's official life showed greater political courage or discernment.
And, Governor Seward, I have made it, though it be conceited in me to say so.
The absence of violent democratic innovations was the Constitution's remarkable feature.
He represented Republican principles and aims more fully than any man in the country, but Thurlow Weed, looking into the future through the eyes of a practical politician, disbelieved in Republican success.
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