Gold ... bunch of wind ... American statesman (8)

I believe the answer is:

augustus

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'statesman' is the definition.
(Augustus is an example)

'gold bunch of wind american' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'Au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'bunch of wind' becomes 'gust' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'au'+'gust'+'us'='AUGUSTUS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for augustus that I've seen before include "head for Rome" , "Roman emperor, of a summer month?" , "statesman of old" , "old ruler" , "Fort --, Scottish town" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.

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