Presidential Quotes: 1789 –Present

DAA DA DA DAA (that’s fanfare in text)
By Sharon Synowsky

George Washington – “Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”

John Adams – “May none but honest and wise men rule under this roof!” (about the White House)

Thomas Jefferson – “That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”

James Madison – “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

James Monroe – “National honor is a national property of the highest value.”

John Quincy Adams – “Always vote for principal, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

Andrew Jackson – “The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his government…must be punished as an enemy of his country and friend to her foe.”

Martin Van Buren – “It is easier to do the job right than to explain why you didn’t.”

William Henry Harrison – “”A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged.”

John Tyler – “Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality.”

James Polk – “Public opinion: May it always perform one of its appropriate offices, by teaching the public functionaries of the State and of the Federal Government, that neither shall assume the exercise of the powers entrusted by the Constitution to the other,”

Zachary Taylor – “For more than half a century, during which kingdoms and empires have fallen, this Union has stood unshaken.”

Millard Fillmore – “An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.”

Franklin Pierce – “The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshakeable rock of the Constitution.”

James Buchanan – “The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among freemen.”

Abraham Lincoln – “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

Andrew Johnson – “Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide.”

Ulysses S. Grant – “My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.”

Rutherford B. Hayes – “He serves his party best who serves his Country best.”

James A. Garfield – We can not overestimate the fervent love of liberty, the intelligent courage, and the sum of common sense with which our fathers made the great experiment of self-government.”

Chester Alan Arthur – “Men may die, but the fabrics of our free institutions remain unshaken.”

Grover Cleveland – “A man is known by the company he keeps, and also by the company from which he is kept out.”

Benjamin Harrison – “The disfranchisement of a single legal elector by fraud or intimidation is a crime too grave to be regarded lightly.”

William McKinley – “That’s all a man can hope for during his lifetime – to set an example – and when he is dead, to be an inspiration for history.”

Teddy Roosevelt – To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public.”

William Howard Taft – “The intoxication of power rapidly sobers off in the knowledge of its restrictions and under the prompt reminder of an ever-present and not always considerate press, as well as the kindly suggestions that not infrequently come from Congress.”

Woodrow Wilson – “America is the only idealistic nation in the world.”

Warren Harding – “Ambition is a commendable attribute without which no man succeeds. Only inconsiderate ambition imperils.”

Calvin Coolidge – “Character is the only secure foundation of the state.”

Herbert Hoover – “A splendid storehouse of integrity and freedom has been bequeathed to us by our forefathers. In this day of confusion, of peril to liberty, our high duty is to see that this storehouse is not robbed of its contents.”

FDR – “A good leader can’t get too far ahead of his followers.”

Harry S. Truman – “You can not stop the spread of an idea by passing a law against it.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower – “America is best described by one word, freedom.”

JFK – “If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.”

LBJ – “A president’s hardest tasks is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.”

Richard Nixon – “A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life’s mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself.”

Gerald Ford – “Truth is the glue that holds governments together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments grow.”

Jimmy Carter – “Our common vision of a free and just society is our greatest source of cohesion at home and strength abroad – greater than the bounty of our material blessings.”

Ronald Reagan – “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

George H. W. Bush – “If anyone tells you that America’s best days are behind her, they’re looking the wrong way.”

Bill Clinton – “There is nothing wrong in America that can’t be fixed with what is right in America.”

George W. Bush – “Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are only limited by what we are willing to do.”

Barack Obama – “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Joseph R. Biden – “Our future cannot depend on the government alone. The ultimate solutions lie in the attitudes and the actions of the American people.”

Donald J. Trump – “AND THEY”RE EATING THE DOGS, THEY’RE EATING THE CATS, THEY ARE EATING THE PETS OF THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE THERE!”

(Sharon bows and exits stage left…)

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