“The [political position] was a clever man, who had made his own way, heedless of those things which present obstacles, and which are called conscience, sworn faith, justice, duty: he had marched straight to his goal, without once flinching in the line of his advancement and his interest.”
The above was written by Victor Hugo in Les Misérables in 1862. It could easily have been written about a contemporary U.S. politician.