An observation of my uncle, on me:

My (dead) (maternal) grandfather who I never met would have liked me, since he was into "causes" and was "always a friend of the working man."

I found that striking, both in terms of the take on my grandfather's personality and in terms of the phrasing, "friend of the working man."

"Friend of the working man."

That phrasing sounds very old-fashioned, and good-hearted salt-of-the-earth.