Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy Quotes & Sayings

Eisenhower was the living symbol of what felt in 1969 like an easier age, when greatness was an American birthright, when the torrents of change had not yet crashed into every corner of the culture, when there was a majesty about the presidency that allowed Eisenhower to leave office as beloved, respected, and above all, trusted, as he had been when he assumed it. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

, but he gave Clinton a tip: when seeking advice from people who are more experienced than you, Nixon urged, tell them what you plan to do first - and then ask for their reaction. Don't ask for advice and then ignore it. That way, Nixon coached, you save on brusied feelings. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

If the Presidents Club had a seal, around the ring would be three words: cooperation, competition and consolation. On the one hand, the presidents have powerful motives - personal and patriotic - to help one another succeed and comfort one another when they fail. But at the same time, they compete for history's blessing. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

The phone would ring, and they would put their son on speakerphone. Ever sensitive to charges of puppeteering, Mrs. Bush let it known that certain restrictions were observed. "The rules are: no repeating what he tells you and no giving unsolicited advice and no passing on things that people ask you to give the President ... gifts or advice or ideas or wanting job," his mother recalled. "We just have made that deal because we were there. We know what it's like — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Presidents, even when they get some things right, never cease to be punch lines, and it was telling that Nixon regarded his comic potential as a metric for comparing himself to his successors. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Eisenhower's military life taught him that talent was a necessary but not sufficient condition for success. The only way to guarantee smart decisions, Ike believed, was to bring all the responsible parties together and have them fight it out. "I do not believe in bringing them one at a time and therefore being more impressed by the most recent one you hear," he later said. "You must get courageous men, men of strong views and let them debate and argue with each other". — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

It was a stirring piece of bravado but Powell deftly set it aside. "My wife would understand perfectly your loyalty as a general's wife," he said, "but I tell you there is no honour in throwing away lives when the outcome is already determined. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Some Christians worried about a faith that was so embracing as to be meaningless, that exalted not the Almighty so much as the American way of life. When civil religion bleached the challenge from faith and left behind a watery patriotism, there was room for concern. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

We want you to succeed," the younger Bush told Obama. "Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we all care deeply about this country ... All of us who have served in this office understands that the office transcends the individual. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

If the club creates a natural bond among its members, something of that sympathy extends to their families as well. The first ladies share the unique burden of being perhaps the only person left on the planet who can keep the Leader of the Free World grounded, tell him to pull his socks and quit feeling sorry for himself. They know, and their children know, what it means to live in the bell jar; to have family vacations turned into photo ops; to wonder at the sudden surfeit of friends and absence of intimacy. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

The club is bound together by an unspoken pledge to protect the presidency; but its members are often driven by an even more fierce desire to protect a legacy — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

By this time the Vietnam War was such a confusing issue to most Americans that Nixon could take as many positions as he liked and find support somewhere for them all. Roughly equal numbers wanted to expand the war as negotiate a peace. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Praise of blame in the moment means little: it is how their decisions play out over time that matters, and so the redemption they're looking for is of a more lasting kind. They are one another's peers; who else can really judge them? — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Eisenhower advocated a variety of strong actions which he had never taken when he was president. Maybe this was just the pattern of former presidents; maybe it reflected how much the circumstances had changed on the ground. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Talbott understood that Nixon's private hospitality and his public obsession with U.S.-Russian relations were part of an elaborate rehabilitation scheme, designed to blur lingering memories of Watergate while serving as a reminder of his own, widely praised foreign policy accomplishments when he was president. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

(Billy) Graham went through passages of hypochondria and his closest friends had to assure him that he was not about to die. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

But Eisenhower's advice was consistent, from his days as a general, to his years in the White House, to his role as veteran counselor: don't fight unless you are in it to win. Don't waste time and lives with half measures. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

It was a classic Nixon move: goad an opponent into attacking, then ride a wave of sympathy s you defend your honour. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

You know, when a president is about to leave office, most of the time most people are dying for him to go on and get out of there. But there are a few little rituals that have to be observed. One of them is that the president must host the incoming president in the White House, smile as if they love each other and give the American people the idea that democracy is peaceful and honourable and there will be a good transfer of power — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

Presidents rise and fall according to how they handle a crisis - an invasion, a depression, a massive oil spill - but there's no glory in prevention, in foreseeing and forestalling and keeping the bad from getting worse. We know what happened when each president presided; they are often just as proud of what didn't happen. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

The elder Bush explained later that "watching your son taking a pounding from his critics was much, much harder" than being president. "Barbara quit reading the papers and watching the new, but I couldn't do that — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy

The challenge was that it was harder to be subtle than strident. — Nancy Gibbs; Michael Duffy