“He stopped on the steps and waited, a not very tall old man, and thin, wearing blue jean pants and a blue shirt washed so much that it had a powdery pastel shade to it and a black bow tie, the kind that comes ready-tied on an elastic band. . . . The blue of the eyes was pale and washed out like the blue of the shirt.”

—Robert Penn Warren, describing Willie Stark in All the King’s Men, 1946.