The Great American Presidents and their Famous one-line Quotes
1. George Washington (1789-1797)
"My movements to the chair of government will be followed by feelings like those of a criminal going to his execution."
2. John Adams (1797-1801)
"I do not say when I became a politician, for I never was one."
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
"Science is my passion; politics, my duty."
4. James Madison (1809-1817)
"I would sooner be a constable than run for President."
5. James Monroe (1817-1825)
"There is every reason to believe that our government will achieve the highest level of perfection."
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
"I am a man of cold and forbidding manners."
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
"I only know two tunes. One is 'Yankee Doodle', the other ain't."
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
"As to the Presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it."
9. William Henry Harrison (1841)
"Some folks are silly enough to have formed a plan to make a president of the U.S. out of this clod hopper."
10. John Tyler (1841-1845)
"The only people who seem to like me are my children."
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849)
"I prefer to supervise the whole operation of government myself."
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
"The idea of my becoming president seems too ridiculous to think about."
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
"May God save the country, for it is obvious the people will not."
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
"You have summoned me in my weakness. You must sustain me with your strength."
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861)
"At least I meant well for my country."
16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
"Duties have been mine; consequences are God's."
18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
"The art of war is simple. Find out where the enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can and keep moving."
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
"No one ever left the presidency with less regret."
20. James A. Garfield (1881)
"What is there in this place that a man should ever want to get into it?"
21. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
"Heaven save us."
22 & 24. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) and (1893-1897)
"I have tried so hard to do right."
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
"...So high a degree of prosperity and so general a diffusion of the comforts of life were never before enjoyed by our people..."
25. William McKinley (1897-1901)
"I am a tariff man, standing on a tariff platform."
26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."
27. William Taft (1909-1913)
"Politics, when I am in it, makes me sick."
28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
"A Yankee always thinks he's right. A Scotch-Irish knows it."
29. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
"I am not fit for this office and never should have been here."
30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
"The business of America is business."
31. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
"Prosperity is just around the corner."
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
"The buck stops here."
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
"You know, once in a while I get to the point, with everybody staring at me, where I want to go back indoors and pull down the curtains."
35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
"Let us reason together."
37. Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
"I never in my life wanted to be left behind."
38. Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
"I'm the first Eagle Scout president of the U.S."
39. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
"I will never lie to the American people."
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
"I'm not smart enough to lie."
41. George Bush (1989-1993)
"I want a kinder and gentler nation."
42. William "Bill" Clinton (1993-2001)
"I think everybody has work to do, and you're supposed to do the best you can."
43. George Bush Jr. (2001-Present)
"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone."
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NOTE: Period in parenthesis ( ) denotes term of office.
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Source: "Our American Presidents" by Joan Bumann and John Patterson
