I took a look around the office. ... I walked out and closed the door behind me. I knew that I would not be back there again. (On leaving the Executive Office Building)
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I wouldn't bet the farm on it, but I'd bet the main house. I wouldn't even bet the outhouse on Mondale.
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I'd rather use the nuclear bomb...Does that bother you I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ's sake. to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on escalating the Vietnam War
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If we take the route of the permanent handout, the American character will itself be impoverished. (Proposal to reform welfare programs)
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My strong point is not rhetoric, it isn't showmanship, it isn't big promises-those things that create the glamour and the excitement that people call charisma and warmth.
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My view is that one should not break up a winning combination.
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Success is not a harbor but a voyage with its own perils to the spirit The lesson that most of us on this voyage never learn, but can never quite forget, is that to win is sometimes to lose.
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Because of what you have done the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquillity, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and Tranquillity to Earth. For one priceless moment, in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one. One in their pride in what you have done. One in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth.
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I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as president I must put the interests of America first ... Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
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My telephone calls and meetings and decisions were now parts of a prescribed ritual aimed at making peace with the past his calls, his meetings and his decisions were already the ones that would shape America's future. (On transfer of power to Gerald R Ford)
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The easiest period in a crisis situation is actually the battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision--whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment.
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So you are lean and mean and resourceful and you continue to walk on the edge of the precipice because over the years you have become fascinated by how close you can walk without losing your balance.
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I gave 'em a sword. And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their position, I'd have done the same thing.
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I had never expected that the China initiative would come to fruition in the form of a Ping-Pong team. (On first friendly overture by People's Republic of China)
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You're so goddamned concerned about the civilians, and I don't give a damn. to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on civilian casualties in Vietnam
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'Good luck, Mr President,' I said to him. 'As I told you when I named you, I know the country is going to be in good hands with you in the Oval Office.'
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I've analyzed the best I can ... and I have not found an impeachable offense, and therefore resignation is not an acceptable course.
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You must pursue this investigation of Watergate even if it leads to the president. I'm innocent. You've got to believe I'm innocent. If you don't, take my job.
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It is not too strong a statement to declare that this is the way civilizations begin to die ... None of us has the right to suppose it cannot happen here.
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As this long and difficult war ends, I would like to address a few special words to ... the American people Your steadfastness in supporting our insistence on peace with honor has made peace with honor possible. (On the Vietnam War)
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I turned into the helicopter ... the red carpet was rolled up. ... The White House was behind us now.
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The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.
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My concern today is not with the length of a person's hair but with his conduct. (On campus radicals)
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When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.
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You see these bums, you know, blowing up campuses ... storming around about this issue. (On student protesters against Vietnam War)
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The lesson of all history warns us that we should negotiate only when our military superiority is so convincing that we can achieve our objective at the conference table, and deny the aggressor theirs.
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I was under medication when I made the decision not to burn the tapes.
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The only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
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The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. ... The new president and his first lady.
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The antiwar movement is a wild orgasm of anarchists sweeping across the country like a prairie fire.
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