AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite The United States’ Founding Fathers were far wiser than their limited years. Thomas Jefferson was only 33 when he quilled the Declaration of Independence. Alexander Hamilton and Nathan Hale were but 21, John Marshall 20. Even founding flag-maker Betsy Ross was only 24. Too young to hold elective office in the nation they were designing, these brave men and a couple of women still held an innate suspicion of political parties. They feared such professional groupings would come to have more dedication to their own political interests than the country’s common good. If you can ever imagine such a thing.