The World Almanac of Presidential Quotations [Paperback]

Elizabeth Frost-Knappman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1993

More than 3,000 presidential quotes in one volume.

Thomas Jefferson on Congress:
That 150 lawyers should do business together ought not to be expected.

John F. Kennedy on Richard Nixon:
Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Nixon and the White House.

Lyndon Johnson on justice:
Justice means a man's hope should not be limited by the color of his skin.

Theodore Roosevelt on William McKinley:
McKinley has no more backbone than a chocolate eclair.

George Washington on corruption:
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

Bill Clinton on error:
It wasn't my finest hour. It wasn't even my finest hour and a half.

Harry Truman on his campaign:
I'm going to fight hard. I'm going to give them hell.

The World Almanac of Presidential Quotations collects more than 3,000 quotes from America's forty-two presidents from Washington to Clinton and arranges them by over 300 categories. Compiled from speeches, off-hand comments, letters and memoirs, these quotations present a revealing look at the men who have reached America's highest office.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Many presidential quotations have entered the realm of common knowledge--"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," or "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country"--while others, intended for smaller audiences, have slipped undeservedly into obscurity. The World Almanac of Presidential Quotations deals primarily with the latter type, focusing less on prepared sound bites than on passages culled from private journals and informal speeches that reveal the character of the presidents more effectively than a catchy election-year promise.

Particularly interesting are the comments made by presidents about each other that offer a new perspective. Take Gerald Ford on Ronald Reagan: "He was one of the few political leaders I have ever met whose public speeches revealed more than his private conversations." Or Richard Nixon to John Ehrlichman on Harry S. Truman: "Whatever we say about Harry Truman, while it hurt him, a lot of people admired the old bastard for standing by people who were guilty as hell, and, damn it, I am that kind of person. I am not one who is going to say, look, while this guy is under attack, I drop him." Or Teddy Roosevelt on Woodrow Wilson: "He advocated with skill, intelligence and good breeding the outworn doctrines which are responsible for four-fifths of the political troubles of the United States." Arranged by subject, these more than 3,000 quotations contain a wealth of wit, history, and wisdom from George Washington to Bill Clinton.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: World Almanac (February 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886877342
• ISBN-13: 978-0886877347
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,149,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)