He placed himself under this standard, and did so in order to insure its triumph. But still his elevation was not the victory of a party, and awakened in no one either exultation or regret. In the eyes, not only of the public, but of his enemies, he was not included in any party, and was above them all; "the only man in the United States," said Jefferson, "who possessed the confidence of all; ... there was no other one, who was considered as any thing more than a party leader." [Footnote 58] [Footnote 58: Jefferson's _Memoirs_, Vol. IV. p. 481.] {109} It was his constant effort to maintain this honorable privilege. "It is really my wish to have my mind and my actions, which are the result of reflection, as free and independent as the air. [Footnote 59] ... If it should be my inevitable fate to administer the government, I will go to the chair under no preëngagement of any kind or nature whatsoever. [Footnote 60] ... Should any thing tending to give me anxiety present itself in this or any other publication, I shall never undertake the painful task of recrimination, nor do I know that I should even enter upon my justification. [Footnote 61] ... All else is but food for declamation. [Footnote 62] ... Men's minds are as variant as their faces; and, where the motives of their actions are pure, the operation of the former is no more to be imputed to them as a crime, than the appearance of the latter. [Footnote 63] ... Differences in political opinions are as unavoidable, as, to a certain point, they may perhaps be necessary." [Footnote 64] [Footnote 59: Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 84.] [Footnote 60: Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 476.] [Footnote 61: Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 108.] [Footnote 62: Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 148.] [Footnote 63: Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 475.] [Footnote 64: Ibid., Vol. X. p. 283.] {110} A stranger also to all personal disputes, to the passions and prejudices of his friends as well as his enemies, the purpose of his whole policy was to maintain this position; and to this policy he gave its true name; he called it "the just medium." [Footnote 65] [Footnote 65: Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 236.] It is much to have the wish to preserve a just medium; but the wish, though accompanied with firmness and ability, is not always enough to secure it. Washington succeeded in this, as much by the natural turn of his mind and character, as by making it his peculiar aim; he was, indeed, really of no party, and his country, in esteeming him so, did no more than pay homage to truth.