Vidal Gore — Eighteen Seventy [1550]

Garfield is a classicist. Simultaneously, he can write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other—the result must be dreadful; he belongs to Washington’s most intellectual literary club; he particularly admires the works of Washington Irving and wants to meet me, largely, I suspect, because he knows that I go back to that era. — Vidal Gore, Eighteen Seventy, 1550

Note

The description of Garfield adds nuance to the political landscape, illustrating the tension between moral integrity and political necessity, while employing humor through linguistic cleverness.