Presidential Legacies Quotes

We have exchanged the Washingtonian dignity for the Jeffersonian simplicity, which was in truth only another name for the Jacksonian vulgarity.

Our Presidents have ranged from the disgraceful to the heroic, but almost none of them were actually normal human beings.

I thought Nixon was the worst President we had ever had, save only perhaps Andrew Johnson.

Previous presidents, including great ones like Roosevelt, have used the IRS against their enemies. But I don't think Barack Obama ever wanted to be on the same page as Richard Nixon.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and J.F Kennedy were Presidents in very different times.

When we look at the history of the American Presidency, we are forced to conclude that Darwin had it backwards.

Donald Trump is certainly an American original. Barack Obama, he's an American original. Where else but in America could that man become president? George W. Bush, a very different man from his father. These guys, they have their distinct voice and their distinct agenda.

It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, it may take another Clinton to clean up after the second one

It's interesting how Obama's adorers in the press keep comparing him to Lincoln and Reagan. Apparently they can't think of a Democrat president worthy of being compared to.

America is exceptional: but because it yields the likes of Obama, not the likes of Bush.

Historians partial to Kennedy see matters differently from those partial to L.B.J. Vietnam has become a point of contention in defending and criticizing J.F.K.

I don't want to compare President Obama and President Trump on these issues, because they're different, and the scale isn't even remotely the same. But President Obama said things that weren't true and got away with it more for a variety of reasons, and one is the media was much more supportive of him.

Now in my view, if you were to line up the Presidents in the order of who made the greatest accomplishments, you'd put Lyndon Johnson in that arena with both Roosevelts probably, and [Abraham] Lincoln and so on. But the idea that Lyndon Johnson was operating as a free agent and coming up with these ideas on his own is nonsense.

The history of America is the history of the presidency.

There's a bigger difference between the first and second Bush administrations than there is between Bush and Obama. That's really true.

As someone who has more than a passing acquaintance with most of the 20th century presidents, I have often thought that their accomplishments have little staying power in shaping popular views of their leadership.

My own view is that taping of conversations for historical purposes was a bad decision on the part of all the presidents. I don't think Kennedy should have done it. I don't think Johnson should have done it, and I don't think we should have done it.

I read the book [My Life by Bill Clinton] completely. And I think it compares very favorably with Ulysses S. Grant's gold standard of presidential autobiographies.

In the home of the brave, Jefferson turning over in his grave.

Although this should not be so, historians reconsider presidencies based on how the presidents conduct themselves after leaving office.

There used to be this feeling under Eisenhower and Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman that government was a solution. Trust in the presidency fell precipitously under Johnson - real lows. And it's never come back. It's a trend that, if you're liberal, is really discouraging.

Amy Carter, Chelsea Clinton and the Obama girls all had to change schools.

Comparing President Obama with the great leaders who have come before him is painful.

Presidents seem to fall into two positive categories: they're one of us, or they're heroes. Both McCain and Obama probably see themselves as potential heroes - presidents who will be looked up to, not presidents everyday people will remark are 'just like me.'

I've always enjoyed reading history, particularly presidential biographies.