This post comes to us from Chelsea Dickson, Curatorial Intern.
“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” –Presidential Oath
Oscar Berger
This is the epigraph to Oscar Berger’s 1968 book The Presidents, in which Berger, a famous cartoonist, illustrates each president from George Washington to Richard Nixon. With elections fast approaching this fall and the recent anniversary of the United States’ independence, many are looking back on the nation’s history and, in particular, on the presidents. Berger’s presidential caricatures do just that—trace the history of the presidency from Washington to Nixon, each portrait using only a single, continuous line. Not only does Berger complete the incredible feat of capturing presidents’ likeness with one line but he also gives the viewer more of each president’s character by accompanying the portraits with several quotes. Sometimes serious and sometimes funny, these quotes remind viewers of the course of American history. Following are a selection of quotes from U.S. presidents. Scroll through and let us know what you think!
“Be courteous to all but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” –George Washington
“A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing.” –Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, 1968. Oscar Berger (1901-1997). Ink on paper. New Britain Museum of American Art
“The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” –James Madison
“Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.” –Andrew Jackson
“We elect a man to the Presidency, expect him to be honest, to give up a lucrative profession, perhaps, and after we have done with him, we let him go into seclusion and perhaps poverty.” –Millard Fillmore
“While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent cannot be expected to hold the same opinions…they can unite in a common object and sustain common principles essential to the maintenance of that object.” –Franklin Pierce
“Nobody has ever expected me to be President. In my poor lean, lank face, nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting out.” –Abraham Lincoln
“I only know two tunes, one of them is ‘Yankee Doodle,’ and the other isn’t.” –Ulysses S. Grant
“Great lives do not go out. They go on.” –Benjamin Harrison
Teddy Roosevelt, 1968. Oscar Berger (1901-1997). Ink on paper. New Britain Museum of American Art.
“Life is a great adventure.” –Theodore Roosevelt
“If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” –Woodrow Wilson
“If the human race as a whole is to survive, the world must find the way by which men and nations can live together in peace. We cannot accept the doctrine that war must be forever a part of man’s destiny.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“Only Americans can hurt America.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.” –John F. Kennedy
“Words wound. But as a veteran of twelve years in the United States Senate, I happily attest that they do not kill.” –Lyndon B. Johnson
“This office is a sacred trust and I am determined to be worthy of that trust.” –Richard Nixon
“I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.” –Gerald Ford
“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” –Jimmy Carter
“Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.” –Ronald Reagan
“I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” –George H. W. Bush
“You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president.” –Bill Clinton
“America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.” –George W. Bush
“If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and to promote their common welfare—all else is lost.” –Barack Obama
Who is your favorite president? Do you have favorite quotes by presidents that aren’t listed here? Do you think some of the presidential quotes (namely the more serious ones) reflect their respective presidencies? Feel free to add quotes in the comments section from presidents not listed here! And don’t forget to see the exhibition Oscar Berger: Presidential Lines before it closes on Sunday, July 15.
For more information on the presidents, check out the following links:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/article-gallery/presidents-bios/
