Quotes from Chris DeRose

Perhaps modern esteem for these figures serves as a reminder that, though statesmen may have to struggle mightily to advance their cause, and though they may lose on an issue or come out on the wrong side in the judgment of history, their principled determination is sufficient to win them a place in people's hearts, long after they are gone.

For the first and not the last time in American history, a measure was adopted when the leader of the opposing party led the charge for it. The modern cliché is "Only Nixon could go to China"—only such a strong anti-communist could regularize relations with that country.

The better part of one's life consists of their friendships.

Madison, thirty-seven, was the primary author of the Constitution and one of the greatest political thinkers of his day. Monroe, thirty, was an established attorney with a record in combat that could hardly be equaled anywhere on the continent.

It is noteworthy that the Southern states were such strong defenders of national power at the Constitutional Convention. Having recently been conquered by the British, living in constant tension with various Indian tribes, and sharing a substantial border with hostile European powers, the South chose the plan that would best serve its interests. Only a strong, well-financed government could deter and repel hostile enemies.

Madison believed that taxes were an evil that should be instituted only to prevent a greater evil—such as the failure of a country to protect its citizens or honor its financial obligations.

Madison had been elected to the First Congress by only 336 votes. It was in that Congress that the Bill of Rights was passed, cementing the people's confidence in the new federal government. And the Constitution was saved. All because of one election.

While attending the carding machines," he would later recall, "I used to place the dictionary on the desk—by which I passed every two minutes in feeding the machine and removing the rolls—and in this way I would have a moment in which to look at a word and read its definition and could then fix it in my memory." As an adult, the boy who practiced with his dictionary would own a personal library of more than four thousand volumes.

Americans have viewed their former presidents almost like a fourth branch of government.

the most fatal plan that could possibly be conceived to enslave a free people.

Jackson raised his cane to strike him as he was tackled to the ground.* "The old General sprung at him like a tiger," Tyler recalled, "and manifested as much fearlessness as one could possibly have done.

Jackson would also receive what was probably the first presidential death threat the following year, over his refusal to pardon two men: "You damned old scoundrel . . . I will cut your throat while you are sleeping," and a later sentence that ended with the phrase "burnt at the stake in Washington." Its author was an actor, destined for less notoriety than his son, Junius Brutus Booth.

Unhappy southern members and their allies in Congress proposed a "gag rule," which would prevent these petitions from being printed, read, or referred to a committee. Pierce was on the committee that drafted this proposal and denounced abolitionists on the House floor.

Tyler, who believed that senators were ambassadors of their states, would not defy his instructions. Nor would he vote against his conscience. If directed to lift the censure, he would resign.

regard as nothing place and office, when either is to be attained or held at the sacrifice of honor.

The Whigs nominated four regional candidates, hoping to send the election to the House of Representatives, but Van Buren prevailed, winning the presidency in the election of 1836.

Lincoln confessed that leaving Springfield was affecting him more deeply than anyone could imagine, a sadness felt more acutely because of a stubborn premonition that he would never return alive.

the first national economic collapse. The state banks, flush with federal deposits, were instructed to lend it freely, leading to runaway land speculation.

I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington.

Tyler had been the vice presidential nominee of the southern Whigs in 1836, carrying four states. Now, to balance the ticket with a states' rights supporter and Clay man, he was the vice presidential nominee of the national party.

The Whigs, who came together from divergent backgrounds and for different reasons, facing a badly wounded foe, did not attempt to put together a platform.

The Whigs portrayed Harrison as a log-cabin-dwelling, coonskin-cap-wearing, hard-cider-drinking frontier farmer. The opposite was true. Harrison was from one of the oldest and most prosperous families in Virginia, and his log cabin was in reality a mansion in Indiana.

The Whigs were euphoric. The reign of the Jacksonians was over and they had elected a president of their own, and with him massive majorities in both chambers of Congress. But their joy would be short-lived. For all the rallies, the marches, the speeches, the brilliant sloganeering, the long-sought hard-fought victory of the opponents of Andrew Jackson would be for nothing.

But unsolicited advice is often deemed officious if not offensive, and therefore is quite as likely to do harm as good.