Political Trivia Contest from the Sound Shore League of Women Voters Annual Luncheon on April 4, 2014
Compiled and Presented by Elisabeth N. Radow, LWV-LM President
Click Here for Answers
1. “The only thing to fear is, fear itself.”
2. “Avoid popularity if you would have peace.”
3. “Read my lips. No new taxes.”
4. “No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.”
5. “Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.”
6. “A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.”
7. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them”
8. “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”
9. “I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process.”
10. “A chicken in every pot.”
11. “Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.”
12. “We must teach our children to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons.”
13. “Don’t write so that you can be understood; write so that you can’t be misunderstood.”
14. “Those who write clearly have readers, those who write obscurely have commentators.”
15. “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
16. “A government which lays taxes on the people not required by urgent public necessity and sound public policy is not a protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemns the citizen to servitude.”
17. “But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
18. “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”
19. “Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.”
20. “Sure, there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.”
21. “Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.”
22. “If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll be able to keep your healthcare plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”
23. “The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.”
24. “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
25. “Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.”
26. ”I had hoped to be back here this week under different circumstances, running for re-election. But you know the old saying: you win some, you lose some. And then there’s that little-known third category. I didn’t come here tonight to talk about the past. After all, I don’t want you to think I lie awake at night counting and recounting sheep. I prefer to focus on the future because I know from my own experience that America is a land of opportunity, where every little boy and girl has a chance to grow up and win the popular vote.”
27. “I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed to be untrue.”
28. “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
29. “Next to the right of liberty, the right of property is the most important individual right guaranteed by the Constitution and the one which, united with that of personal liberty, has contributed more to the growth of civilization than any other institution established by the human race.”
30. ”Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
31. “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”
32. “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
33. ”Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”
34. ”Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
35. “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword…The other is by debt.”
36. ”A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”
37. “I was under medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes.”
38. ”I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
39. ”When I take action, I’m not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive.”
40. “Well, I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.”
41. ”I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency — even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.”
42. ”I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
43. ”I don’t want to be invited to the family hunting party.”
’44. ‘If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: ‘President Can’t Swim.”’
45. ”Being president is like running a cemetery: you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.”
46. ”What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who’s played with a chimp, could have a future in politics?”
47. ”I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy: ”Dear Jack, Don’t buy a single vote more than is necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.”’
48. “I would not like to be a Russian leader. They never know when they’re being taped.”
49. ”If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”
50. ”Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”
51. ”My esteem in this country has gone up substantially. It is very nice now when people wave at me, they use all their fingers.”
52. ”Many of you know that I got my name, Barack, from my father. What you may not know is Barack is actually Swahili for ‘That One.’ And I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn’t think I’d ever run for president.”
53. ”I hope you’re all Republicans.”
54. “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”
55. “Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I’m the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House.”
56. “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
57. ”I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.”
58. “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”
59. “People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
60. “I’m not for women in any job. I don’t want any of them around. Thank God we don’t have any in the cabinet.”
61. “People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”