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PARTY MAN by Clarence Budington Kelland

PARTY MAN

By

Pub Date: Aug. 13th, 1962
Publisher: Dodd, Mead

The education and enlightenment of a politician is the basis of this, which was serialized in 1948 under the title Politico, and Kelland's simplification of the morals and issues involved is a highlighted portrait. Thomas Gladwin Cuyler, a night school law graduate, from the Fourth Ward of Tecumseh, is first blooded when he is a candidate for precinct committeeman in the horse and buggy days; the ten years of his career surround him with the knowledge of the venality and corruption in politics and determine his stand. He is technically aided by newspaperman Jim Cotton and ethically influenced by his wife, Lydia, who is determined that her powerful connections shall not color his own views. He outfaces a feared gang; he refuses to be a catspaw for the organization; he defies his law firm in proceeding against purveyors of tainted food; his belief that a man is not guilty of murder turns the police department upside down; as public prosecutor he uncovers fraud. When strikes hinder his early days as mayor, his dramatic refusal to permit guns to be used, secures him his place in the . The need to prevent the citizen's rights from being invaded at a local level has an educational value and Kelland's touch makes it easy reading.