Quotes & Sayings About Eisenhower

In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform. — Rachel Maddow

Compromise is like the middle of the road; always safer to walk on than the edges. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Whether the Eisenhower administration has underestimated the American people's interest in space exploration or Truman never full appreciated MacArthur, the Soviet Union's Sputnik program has created a public spectacle that even Disney and von Braun might envy. — Ken Hollings

In being able to learn from his mistakes and grow, Eisenhower "was transformed from a mere person into a personage. — Lynne Olson

Censorship, in my opinion, is a stupid and shallow way of approaching the solution to any problem. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

You can decide to invade Russia at dinner, pick Waterloo for battle on a whim. It's the details, the small stuff. Its easy to gamble a million lives. Whats hard is to see how that can hurt one single person. And if you cant keep that straight, hell, you'll lose your humanity. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Plans are useless, but planning is essential. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Though Americans talk a good deal about the virtue of being serious, they generally prefer people who are solemn over people who are serious. In politics, the rare candidate who is serious, like Adlai Stevenson, is easily overwhelmed by one who is solemn, like General Eisenhower. This is probably because it is hard for most people to recognize seriousness, which is rare, especially in politics, but comfortable to endorse solemnity, which is as commonplace as jogging. — Russell Baker

In the fifties, no one wore beards. In Eisenhower's day, as in the time of the Founding Fathers, all chins were smooth, while during the Civil War, beards were as common as sepsis. — Donald Hall

In addition to Eisenhower identifying the military-industrial complex, we now have the police-industrial complex, the medical-industrial complex, the surveillance-industrial complex, and the media-industrial complex. — Ron Paul

The best morale exist when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it's usually lousy. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The same day I saw my first horror camp, I visited every nook and cranny. I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

No easy problems ever come to the President of the United States. If they are easy to solve, someone else has solved them. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Any time we deny any citizen the full exercise of his constitutional rights, we are weakening our own claim to them. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

For a just and lasting peace, here is my solemn pledge to you: by dedication and patience we will continue, as long as I remain your President, to work for this simple - this single - this exclusive goal. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Why should the Eisenhower memorial be over twice the size of WWII Memorial? Why should it be so vast as to comfortably house two Lincoln Memorials, two Washington Monuments, and two Jefferson Memorials - all six at once? — Leon Krier

No man can always be right. So the struggle is to do one's best, to keep the brain and conscience clear, never be swayed by unworthy motives or inconsequential reasons, but to strive to unearth the basic factors involved, then do one's duty. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

War is a grim, cruel business, a business justified only as a means of sustaining the forces of good against those of evil. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Unlike the Afghans and Iraqis, the South Korean people solidly supported the American military presence, which was part of a United Nations operation. — John Eisenhower

War is party-blind. It doesn't care who is in the Oval Office. The forces that drive us to war don't care whether it's Republican, Democrat, or other. The fact is, these parties are prey to special interests. That is something Eisenhower was afraid of. — Eugene Jarecki

Nixon is finding out there are no tails on an Eisenhower jacket. — Adlai E. Stevenson

Probably no one here knows I coached a football team - a service team - playing against Georgetown. I think it was in the fall of 1924 Lou Little was your coach, and he beat us. But it was a very happy circumstance, because it brought me the friendship of another man, Lou Little, who to this day remains my very warm associate and friend. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

At a book festival in Fort Lauderdale, I met David Eisenhower, Ike's grandson, who was promoting his book 'Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life with Dwight D. Eisenhower,' in which he describes attending the Yankees' 154th game in 1961. The whole family had been following Mantle and Maris chase Babe Ruth's home run record across the country. — Jane Leavy

President Roosevelt proved that a President could serve for life. Truman proved that anyone could be elected. Eisenhower proved that your country can be run without a President. — Nikita Khrushchev

Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I was a lieutenant in World War II. — John Eisenhower

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

It is not a struggle merely of economic theories, or forms of government or of military power. At issue is the true nature of man. Either man is the creature whom the psalmist described as a little lower than the angels ... or man is a soulless, animated machine to be enslaved, used and consumed by the state for its own glorification. It is, therefore, a struggle which goes to the roots of the human spirit, and its shadow falls across the long sweep of man's destiny. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

No amphibious attack in history has approached this one in size. Along miles of coastline there were hundreds of vessels and small boats afloat and ant-like files of advancing troops ashore. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I firmly believe that the future of civilization is absolutely dependent upon finding some way of resolving international differences without resorting to war. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Oh, that lovely title, ex-president. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded ... in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

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

In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with the people's money or their economy or their form of government, be conservative. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I do not believe that any political campaign justifies the declaration of a moratorium on ordinary common sense. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The free world knows, out of the bitter wisdom of experience, that vigilance and sacrifice are the price of liberty. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Guns and tanks and planes are nothing unless there is a solid spirit, a solid heart, and great productiveness behind it. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The supreme quality of leadership is integrity. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I call upon those who love freedom to stand with us now. Together we shall achieve victory. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

By mutual respect, understanding and with good will we can find acceptable solutions to any problems which exist or may arise between us. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Arms alone can give the world no permanent peace, no confident security. Arms are solely for defense - to protect from violent assault what we already have. They are only a costly insurance. They cannot add to human progress. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Science seems ready to confer upon us, as its final gift, the power to erase human life from this planet. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

During the time I have had WACs under my command, they have met every test and task assigned to them ... their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit, and determination are immeasurable. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I have seen periods of progress followed by reaction. I have seen the hopes and aspirations of Negroes rise during World War II, only to be smashed during the Eisenhower years. I am seeing the victories of the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations destroyed by Richard Nixon. — Bayard Rustin

Someday, if we won, if humanity survived, we'd be in the history books. Me and Jake and Rachel and Cassie and Tobias and Ax. They'd be household names, like generals from World War II or the Civil War. Patton and Eisenhower, Ulysses Grant and Robert E. Lee. Kids would study us in school. Bored, probably.
And then the teacher would tell the story of Marco. I'd be a part of history. What I was about to do. Some kid would laugh. Some kid would say, "Cold, man. That was really cold."
I had to do it, kid. It was a war. It's the whole point, you stupid, smug, smirking little jerk! Don't you get it?
It was the whole point. We hurt the innocent in order to stop the evil. Innocent Hork-Bajir. Innocent Taxxons. Innocent human-Controllers. How else to stop the Yeerks? How else to win?
No choice, you punk. We did what we had to do.
"Cold, man. The Marco dude? He was just cold. — Katherine Applegate

From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The quest for peace is the statesman's most exacting duty ... Practical progress to lasting peace is his fondest hope. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Despite the present, temporary interests that Israel has in common with France and Britain, you ought not to forget that the strength of Israel and her future are bound up with the United States. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eventually, my highbrow parents, who so hated the Eisenhower suburban culture of the 1950s that the only magazines they subscribed to were 'The Atlantic' and 'The New Yorker,' broke down and got 'Life' magazine. — Sally Mann

The Founding Father expressed in words for all to read the ideal of Government based upon the dignity of the individual. That ideal previously had existed only in the hearts and minds of men. They produced the timeless documents upon which the Nation is rounded and has grown great. They, recognizing God as the author of individual fights, declared that the purpose of Government is to secure those rights. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Around that time, there was tremendous optimism about the possibility of the fall of the regime. Only a few weeks before, the United States had broken off relations with Cuba, and President Eisenhower had stated that "the Communist penetration into Cuba is real, and it constitutes a grave threat to the Western world." At that time many Cubans believed that a Marxist regime would not be tolerated in the Americas; — Armando Valladares

If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide, you would think that man's intelligence and his comprehension ... would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

There is one thing about being President
nobody can tell you when to sit down. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Why are we proud? We are proud, first of all, because from the beginning of this Nation, a man can walk upright, no matter who he is, or who she is. He can walk upright and meet his friend
or his enemy; and he does not fear that because that enemy may be in a position of great power that he can be suddenly thrown in jail to rot there without charges and with no recourse to justice. We have the habeas corpus act, and we respect it. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

We must be strong at home if we are going to be strong abroad. We understand that. So we want to be strong at home in our morale or in our spirit, we want to be strong intellectually, in our education, in our economy and, where necessary, militarily. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

First, separate ground, sea and air warfare is gone forever. This lesson we learned in World War II. I lived that lesson in Europe. Others lived it in the Pacific. Millions of American veterans learned it well. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The United States pledges before you-and therefore before the world-its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma-to devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ideas more than once have prevailed against naked power. Guns and aircraft alone do not make a state powerful. Unless force is backed up by the will of the great body of people it loses its meaning. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The past sharpens perspective, warns against pitfalls, and helps to point the way. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Don't join the book burners! — Dwight D. Eisenhower

As son of a Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. — John Eisenhower

I met Gerald Ford. I met Richard Nixon. I met Jimmy Carter. I met Dwight Eisenhower when he was a general. George Bush senior. I haven't met Bill Clinton or George W. Bush, although I got a letter from him. — Pete Rose

I feel like the fellow in jail who is watching his scaffold being built. (On construction of reviewing stands for inauguration of his successor John F Kennedy) — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The stop-watch of history is running. The race is on ... — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The opportunist thinks of me and today. The statesman thinks of us and tomorrow. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Un-American activity cannot be prevented or routed out by employing un-American methods; to preserve freedom we must use the tools that freedom provides. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I have just realized that it is due to you, and to Mr. James Thomas and his staff of the Army Navy Country Club that the putting green here on the White House lawn is already in such excellent condition. I assure you that I get a great deal of pleasure and relaxation out of using the green in an occasional late afternoon hour ... — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I admire and respect most. — Ethel Merman

We just became very good friends [ with Dwight Eisenhower ], we played golf, we played heart exhibitions. Then his doctor said he should not play golf anymore. — Arnold Palmer

The more baseball the better. It is a healthful sport and develops team play and initiative, plus an independent attitude. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

To the USSR on Stalin's death: Regardless of the identity of government personalities, the prayer of us Americans continues to be that the Almighty will watch over the people of that vast country and bring them in His wisdom opportunity to live their lives in a world where all men, and women, and children, dwell in peace and comradeship. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Those who take the extreme positions in American political and economic life are always wrong. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

There must be justice, sensed and shared by all peoples, for, without justice the world can know only a tense and unstable truce. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Don't be afraid to go to your library and read every book as long as any document does not offend your own ideas of decency. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

President Eisenhower has given up golf for painting. It takes fewer strokes. — Bob Hope

Personal prayer, it seems to me, is one of the simplest necessities of life, as basic to the individual as sunshine, food and water-and at times, of course, more so. By prayer I mean an effort to get in touch with the Infinite. We know that our prayers are imperfect. Of course they are. We are imperfect human beings. A thousand experiences have convinced me beyond room of doubt that prayer multiplies the strength of the individual and brings within the scope of his capabilities almost any conceivable objective. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Our arms must be mighty ... ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Throughout the 20th century, the Republican Party benefited from a non-interventionist foreign policy. Think of how Eisenhower came in to stop the Korean War. Think of how Nixon was elected to stop the mess in Vietnam. — Ron Paul

In the Eisenhower era, when earnings over $400,000 were subject to 91 percent taxes and the world was a smaller place, you could count the truly wealthy on one hand: Getty, Dupont, Mellon, Rockefeller, though even those fortunes were being dispersed to children as the old robber barons died off. — Michael Shnayerson

I have said time and again there is no place on this earth to which I would not travel, there is no chore I would not undertake if I had any faintest hope that, by so doing, I would promote the general cause of world peace. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The United States strongly seeks a lasting agreement for the discontinuance of nuclear weapons tests. We believe that this would be an important step toward reduction of international tensions and would open the way to further agreement on substantial measures of disarmament. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The free world must not prove itself worthy of its own past. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Each and all of us must summon to mind the words of Him whom we honor this Easter time: 'When a strong man, armed, keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace'. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

They [the founders] proclaimed to all the world the revolutionary doctrine of the divine rights of the common man. That doctrine has ever since been the heart of the American faith. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

The president cannot escape from his office. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

A preventive war, to my mind, is an impossibility today. How could you have one if one of its features would be several cities lying in ruins, several cities where many, many thousands of people would be dead and injured and mangled, the transportation systems destroyed, sanitation implements and systems all gone? That isn't preventive war; that is war. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Our forms of government - though both cast in the democratic pattern - are greatly different. Indeed, sometimes it appears that many of our misunderstandings spring from an imperfect knowledge on the part of both of us of the dissimilarities in our forms of government. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

We need an adequate defense, but every arms dollar we spend above adequacy has a long-term weakening effect upon the nation and its security. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

We reject any idea that one race of people is in any way better than another. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking ... is freedom. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

When I was a kid in the '50s, during the Eisenhower years, everything seemed to be working fine. I don't recall as a teenager ever worrying about the state of the future world. — Lois Lowry

Every battle is going to surprise you. No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

I would rather have a lucky general than a smart general ... They win battles, and they make me lucky. — Dwight D. Eisenhower