Presdiential Quote (16 of 16): Grover Cleveland (again..........)

Well, we couldn't resist............


Due to time constraints and our hopes to post another entry later in the day/evening/night, we are cutting to the chase with a quote from Grover Cleveland, the only president to hold two terms non-consecutively:

"Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters."

Presidential Quotes (15 of 16): Benjamin Harrison

Today, we quote Benjamin Harrison, a Republican from Indiana, who was president from 1889-1893, who, judging from this quote, sounds like the Ron Paul of his day, and he likely would have had issues with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.):

"We Americans have no commission from God to police the world."

Presidential Quotes (14 of 16): Grover Cleveland

Today, we quote president Grover Cleveland, who is the only president to serve two non-consecutively. Cleveland was thus both the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, so we will actually quote him twice. Cleveland, whose first term in office was from 1885-1889, was the only Democratic president from 1861-1913.

As it turns out, the city of Cleveland, Ohio was not named for Grover Cleveland but a general named Moses Cleaveland. There are Grover Cleveland High Schools in New York, Buffalo and Reseda, Calif.

Here is his quote:

"The United States is not a nation to which peace is a necessity."

http://www.millercenter.org/president/cleveland

Presidential Quotes (13 of 16): Chester Arthur, the Man from Vermont

Greetings to our blog readers in Serbia, Poland and Kazakhstan.

We are pretty sure this series of quotes from early American presidents will get considerably fewer hits than if we were to quote American serial killers, such as Charles Manson, who at age 79 has actually outlived our subject of the day, President Chester Arthur (1829-1886).

Or we could quip gangster John Dellinger who said: "I rob banks for a living, what do you do?" But, we'll stick with this one-term president.

Arthur was America's 21st president, and ironically, given that he was a Republican, he is one of only two presidents from Vermont, America's most progressive state today. President Calvin Coolidge, also a Republican, hailed from the same New England state.

Here is our quote: "I may be the president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's business." (I believe we've used this one before, but it's a gem!)...

http://www.millercenter.org/president/Arthur

http://www.visit-vermont.com

Presidential Quotes (12 of 16): James A Garfield

Today, we quote president James A. Garfield (1831-1881), who was president for a mere six months before being assassinated by a very troubled Charles J. Guiteau, who was executed by hanging for his crime though there was evidence of him being insane.

Here is our quote from Garfield, who was a Republican: "A brave man is a who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is the Devil."

SIDEBAR: Today was a major day on Capitol Hill. No, there was no meaningful legislation passed, but three members of the House of Representatives announced they would retire and/or not seek re-election.

The first is Cong. Frank Wolf (R-Va), a man the blogger got to know when reporting for a newspaper in Woodstock, Va., which was then in Wolf's 10th district (it is now in Cong. Bob Goodlatte's sixth district). Wolf was one of the main champions of human rights on the Hill, and he even traveled to troubled countries, such as Sudan (and what is now South Sudan), to report on mass atrocities. Today, one of the people who praised Wolf was former Cong. Tom Perriello (D-VA), now a progressive activist, for Wolf's role in recognizing human rights.

Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), who was arguably the most conservative Democrat in the House, which is understandable given that his district was very ultra-conservative. Matheson won his much- publicized last election over Mia Love, who is a rare African-American female Republican. Like Matheson, Love is a practicing Mormon, though she converted into the faith.

Late in the day, Cong. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), one of House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) main allies in the House also announced he was stepping down.

http://www.millercenter.org/president/garfield

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.rollcall.com

Presidential Quotes (11 of 16): Rutherford B. Hayes, a Forgotten Man

If one takes the Mental Floss "Name All 43 Presidents Quiz," we have a feeling Rutherford B. Hayes, a one-term Republican president from Delaware, Ohio, might be one of the half-dozen a person would forget.

Hayes (1822-93; president from 1877-1881), did have a better fate than his successor, President James Garfield, who was the second of four American presidents to be assasinated.

Here is a quote from Hayes, which those of us who are capital punishment opponents can identify with:

"One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals."

http://www.miller.org/president/hayes

http://www.vadp.org (Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty)*

Both the Miller Center and the VADP are based in Charlottesville, Va.

http://www.mentalfloss.com

Presidential Quotes (10 of 16): General Grant Said.....

With perhaps the exception of Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom we are quoting on our sister blog http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com Ulysses S. Grant(1822-1855; president from 1869-1877)  was perhaps more known for his life before the presidency as a Civil War general for the winning Union side, than he was for his years in the White House.

Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. He signed an end to the Civil War with General Robert E. Lee, who headed the losing Confederate side of the Civil War, in Appomattox, Va.

Grant also defeated Horace Greeley of New Hampshire to win reelection in 1872, and Greeley also had the misfortune of dying before all the votes were tallied!

Here is Grant's quote:

"My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent."

http://www.millercenter.org/grant