National leader

Explore 818 quotes by National leaders

Under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship. There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States.

James A. Garfield

Inaugural Address of James A. Garfield

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Topic

Civil rights

Speaker

James A. Garfield

Source

Inaugural Address of James A. Garfield Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Garfield, James A. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1881, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Topic

Military veterans Soldiers

Author

Theodore Roosevelt

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. Speech at the Lincoln Monument. 4 July 1903, Lincoln Monument, Springfield, IL, USA.

I would like to inform all the intrepid Muslims in the world that the author of the book entitled The Satanic Verses, which has been compiled, printed and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet and the Qur'an, as well as those publishers who were aware of its contents, have been declared madhur el dam-those whose blood must be shed. I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them quickly, wherever they find them, so that noone will dare to insult Islam again. Whoever is killed in this path will be regarded as a martyr.

Ayatollah Khomeini

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Topic

Fatwah Islamic extremism Islam

Speaker

Ayatollah Khomeini

Statement Type

Orders and commands

Language

Farsi

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Khomeini, Ruhollah. Fatwa against Salman Rushdie. 14 Feb. 1989, Iran. Radio broadcast.

Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.

Harry Truman

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman

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Topic

Cold War Communism vs. democracy Communism Democracy Self-government Political theory

Speaker

Harry Truman

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Truman, Harry S. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1949, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Let historians not record that when America was the most powerful nation in the world we passed on the other side of the road and allowed the last hopes for peace and freedom of millions of people to be suffocated by the forces of totalitarianism. And so tonight—to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support.

Richard Nixon

Read this speech at The Nixon Library

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Topic

Vietnam War Cold War American politics Politics

Speaker

Richard Nixon

Source

Silent Majority Speech on the War in Vietnam

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nixon, Richard. Televised address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam. 3 Nov. 1969, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Nixon, Richard. Richard Nixon: Speeches, Writings, Documents, edited by Rick Perlstein. Princeton University Press, 2008, ch. 19.

The worst evil of disregard for some law is that it destroys respect for all law.

Herbert Hoover

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover

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Topic

Rule of law Law

Speaker

Herbert Hoover

Source

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hoover, Herbert. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1929, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe their legal limitations and duties, they would have less cause to complain of the unlawful limitations of their rights or of violent interference with their operations.

Benjamin Harrison

Inaugural Address of Benjamin Harrison

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Topic

Corporate power American business

Speaker

Benjamin Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of Benjamin Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1889 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, Benjamin. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1889, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Every segment of our population and every individual has a right to expect from our Government a fair deal.

Harry Truman

1949 State of the Union

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Topic

Justice Equality Government

Speaker

Harry Truman

Source

1949 State of the Union Presidential State of the Union addresses

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Truman, Harry S. Annual message to the Congress on the State of the Union. 5 Jan. 1949, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

A community where law is the rule of conduct and where courts, not mobs, execute its penalties is the only attractive field for business investments and honest labor.

Benjamin Harrison

Inaugural Address of Benjamin Harrison

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Topic

Rule of law

Speaker

Benjamin Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of Benjamin Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1889 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, Benjamin. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1889, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

We believe that all men have a right to equal justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the common good. We believe that all men have a right to freedom of thought and expression. We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God.

Harry Truman

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman

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Topic

Human rights

Speaker

Harry Truman

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Truman, Harry S. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1949, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Drive out prejudices through the door, and they will return through the window.

Frederick the Great

More information about this quote

Topic

Prejudice and bias Human nature

Author

Frederick the Great

Source

Letters of Frederick the Great

Medium

Letter

Language

German

Time

1771 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Frederick the Great. Letter to Voltaire. 19 Mar. 1771.

I consider the veto power, therefore given by the Constitution to the Executive of the United States solely as a conservative power, to be used only first, to protect the Constitution from violation; secondly, the people from the effects of hasty legislation where their will has been probably disregarded or not well understood, and, thirdly, to prevent the effects of combinations violative of the rights of minorities.

William Henry Harrison

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison

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Topic

Veto Constitutional theory US Constitution

Speaker

William Henry Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, William Henry. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1841, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

If parties in a republic are necessary to secure a degree of vigilance sufficient to keep the public functionaries within the bounds of law and duty, at that point their usefulness ends. Beyond that they become destructive of public virtue, the parent of a spirit antagonist to that of liberty, and eventually its inevitable conqueror.

William Henry Harrison

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison

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Topic

Partisan politics Political theory

Speaker

William Henry Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, William Henry. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1841, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.

John Quincy Adams

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Topic

Overcoming obstacles Perseverance Courage Adversity

Author

John Quincy Adams

Source

An Oration, Delivered at Plymouth

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1802 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Adams, John Quincy. "An Oration, Delivered at Plymouth." University Commemoration of the First Landing of Our Ancestors At That Place. 22 Dec. 1802, Plymouth, MA, USA.

Our children have been taught to be ashamed of their country, ashamed of their parents, ashamed of America's record at home and of its role in the world. At every turn, we have been beset by those who find everything wrong with America and little that is right. But I am confident that this will not be the judgment of history on these remarkable times in which we are privileged to live.

Richard Nixon

Second Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon

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Topic

America's sins America

Speaker

Richard Nixon

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1973 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Nixon, Richard. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1973, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

What we are doing in Korea is this: we are trying to prevent a third world war.

Harry Truman

Explaining why he had fired General Douglas MacArthur.

More information about this quote

Topic

Korean War Cold War

Speaker

Harry Truman

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Truman, Harry S. "Report to the American People on Korea." 11 Apr. 1951, Washington, DC, USA.

The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Topic

Costs of war War

Speaker

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eisenhower, Dwight D. "Chance for Peace." American Society for Newspaper Editors meeting. 16 Apr. 1953, Washington, DC, USA.

There has been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be great. Our thought has been "Let every man look out for himself, let every generation look out for itself," while we reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to look out for themselves.

Woodrow Wilson

First Inaugural Address of Woodrow Wilson

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Topic

Downsides of progress Economic development

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Source

First Inaugural Address of Woodrow Wilson Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1913 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1913, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Topic

Environmental destruction Environmental protection

Speaker

Theodore Roosevelt

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. "Seventh Annual Message." Joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. 3 Dec. 1907, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

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Topic

Military victories War

Author

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Source

Letters of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1815 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wellesley, Arthur. Letter from the field of Waterloo. June 1815.