man of the people

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man of the people (plural men of the people)

1. (idiomatic) A man, usually a celebrity or political leader, who shows understanding of and sympathy for the concerns of ordinary people, and who has a rapport with and acceptance by them.

   Coordinate term: woman of the people

   • 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter XVI, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, pages 202–203:

     He could hang about a bar-room, discussing the affairs of the nation, for twelve hours together; and in that time could hold forth with more intolerable dulness, chew more tobacco, smoke more tobacco, drink more rum-toddy, mint-julep, gin-sling, and cocktail, than any private gentleman of his acquaintance. This made him an orator and a man of the people. In a word, the major was a rising character, and a popular character, […]

   • 1873, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Charles Dudley Warner, chapter XIX, in The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-day, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, published 1874, →OCLC, page 184:

     Colonel, you are the man, you could influence more votes than any one else on such a measure, an old settler, a man of the people, you know the wants of Missouri; [...]

   • 1911, Anna Katharine Green, “A Concession”, in Initials Only, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, book II (As Seen by Detective Sweetwater), page 134:

     Besides, I am a man of the people. I like the working class, and am willing to be thought one of them.

   • 1981 July 27, Serge Schmemann, “Adulation Grows after Death of Soviet Folk Hero Vysotsky”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 October 2013:

     It was the story of a man of the people who made good and kept his integrity, who understood the people and could make them laugh and cry.

   • 2008 February 28, Simon Robinson, “Working on the Railroad: On the Mangala Lakshadweep Express”, in Time, retrieved 16 October 2013:

     He is adored by millions as a man of the people because he is of a lower caste — a rarity among politicians.

• average Joe
• common touch
• people person
• regular folk / regular folks

• “man of the people”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.