55 Quotes by David Pietrusza

The political mind is the product of men in public life who have been twice spoiled. They have been spoiled with praise and they have been spoiled with abuse. – Calvin Coolidge.

Never far removed from the progressive consciousness was a question that was never easily answered: of what value was it to punish offending Democrats, if one merely replaced them with infinitely more retrograde Republicans?

The author’s alliterative description of politics since the 1960 presidential debates: “Government by Gotcha”.

As the pace of the campaign quickened, politics began to clash with Kennedy’s innate sense of responsibility. – Arthur Schlesinger.

Eisenhower on LBJ: “He hadn’t got the depth of mind nor the breath vision to carry great responsibility.

It involves no disrespect for Mrs. Truman to say that her daughter gets a bigger hand than she does,′ observed Richard Rovere. ‘This country may be run by and for mothers, but its goddesses are daughters. Margaret’s entrance comes closer than anything else to bringing down the house.

Politics look very simple to the outsider whether he is a businessman or a soldier – it is only when you get into it that all the angles and hard work become apparent. James Forrestal.

JFK apparently felt genuine sympathy for his 1960 presidential opponent Richard Nixon. He felt that, with Nixon’s frequent shifts in political philosophy and reinventions, he must have to decide which Nixon he will be at each stop. This, Kennedy reasoned, must be exhausting.

Be civilized. Grudges are for Neanderthals. – Hubert Humphrey.