Quotes from Jean Edward Smith

The answer was regulation. But don't call it regulation, said Roosevelt. "If we call the method regulation, people will hold up their hands in horror and say 'UnAmerican' or 'dangerous.' But if we call the same process co-operation these same old fogeys will cry out 'well done.

Always a good listener, FDR was at his best in these exchanges. "I want you to feel that you can come to me at any time in my office," he was soon telling union spokesmen, "and we can talk matters over. Let's get together for I need you to teach me your business and show me what's going on.

Franklin crashed flat on the marble, his crutches clattering down beside him. Onlookers rushed in, then drew back, uncertain what to do. With an enormous effort Roosevelt wrestled himself into a sitting position. He laughed reassuringly. "There's nothing to worry about," he told anxious spectators. "We'll get out of this all right. Give me a hand there.

When you're in politics you've got to play the game.

John Marshall on writing: The man who by seeking embellishment hazards confusion, is greatly mistaken in what constitutes good writing. The meaning ought never to be mistaken. Indeed, the reader should never be obliged to search for it.

Eisenhower studied his mistakes. "We are learning something every day, and in general do not make the same mistake twice."9 Ike learned to be tougher with subordinates such as Fredendall. "Officers that fail must be ruthlessly weeded out," Eisenhower wrote his old friend Leonard Gerow. "Considerations of friendship, family, kindness, and nice personality have nothing to do with the problem.… You must be tough.

The United States was a third-rate military power when World War II began. When it ended, America was the most powerful nation in history.

Bush saw issues in terms of black and white. There were no subtleties and no shades of gray. The war in Iraq was a biblical struggle of good versus evil—something from the pages of the Book of Revelation. His decision to bring democracy to Iraq was equally arbitrary and unilateral. Bush's religious fundamentalism often obscured reality. And he expected his cabinet to fall into line, not debate possible alternatives.

Iraq, and suggested the soldiers

When warned on one occasion that the unions might become too powerful, he was quoted as replying, "Too powerful for what?" His attitude was that their power should prove an antidote for that of big business.

It's great to return to New Haven. My car was followed all the way from the airport by a long line of police cars with slowly rotating lights. It was just like being an undergraduate again. President George W. Bush Yale Commencement, 2004

Rice assumed her duty was to translate Bush's instincts and intuition into policy. Instincts and intuition are a poor substitute for reasoned analysis. [...] "He was feeling his way," said Cheney.

cantonment in the United States, and was considered

In Washington, Prescott Bush voted consistently with the liberal wing of the Republican Party. He was stalwart on civil rights and a staunch advocate of repealing the discriminatory provisions of the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act. Prescott

counted themselves among California's established

Un-American activity cannot be prevented or routed out by employing un-American methods; to preserve freedom we must use the tools that freedom provides.

must do the thing you think you cannot do,

The country needs, the country demands, bold, persistent experimentation. Take a method and try it. If it fails admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.

The Italian government, a free French newspaper tartly observed, never finished a war on the same side it started on – unless the war lasted long enough to change sides twice.