U.S. Presidents

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  1. George Washington, 1789-1797:  I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an Honest Man.
  2. John Adams, 1797-1801: Yesterday the greatest question was decided which was ever debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided upon men.  A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.
  3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809: I have never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as a cause for withdrawing from a friendship.
  4. James Madison, 1809-1817: There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.
  5. James Monroe, 1817-1825: The American continents... are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. - Monroe Doctrine, 1823
  6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829: The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.
  7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837: One man with courage makes a majority.
  8. Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841: It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't.
  9. William Henry Harrison, 1841: The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed. - Inaugural Address, 1841
  10. John Tyler, 1841-1845: The institutions under which we live, my countrymen, secure each person in the perfect enjoyment of all his rights. - Inaugural Address, 1841
  11. James Knox Polk, 1845-1849: We must ever mandate the principle that the people of this continent alone have the right to decide their own destiny. - Message to Congress, 1845
  12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850: For more than half a century... this Union has stood unshaken.  Whatever dangers may threaten it, I shall stand by it and maintain it in its integrity to the full extent of the obligations imposed and the powers conferred upon me by the Constitution. - Message to Congress, 1849
  13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853: In a body like Congress where there are more than one hundred talking lawyers, you can make no calculation upon the termination of any debate, and frequently the more trifling the subject the more animated and protracted the discussion.
  14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857: In expressing briefly my views upon an important subject which has recently agitated the nation..., I fervently hope that the question is at rest and that no sectional or ambitious or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of our institutions... - Inaugural Address, 1853
  15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861: Our union rests upon public opinion, and can never be cemented by the blood of its citizens shed in civil war. - Message to Congress, 1860
  16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865: Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people?  Is there any better or equal hope in the world? - Inaugural Address, 1861
  17. Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869: It is our sacred duty to transmit unimpaired to our posterity the blessings of liberty which were bequeathed to us by the founders of the Republic... - Message to Congress, 1868
  18. Ulysses Simpson Grant, 1869-1877: Everyone has superstitions.  One of mine has always been when I started to go anywhere, or to do anything, never to turn back or to stop until the things intended was accomplished.
  19. Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881: He serves his party best who serves his country best. - Inaugural Address, 1877
  20. James Abram Garfield, 1881: Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained. - Letter accepting Presidential nomination, 1880
  21. Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885: No higher or more assuring proof could exist of the strength and permanence of popular government than the fact that though the chosen of the people be struck down, his constitutional successor is peacefully installed without shock or strain... - Inaugural Address, 1881
  22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889; 1893-1897: Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust. - Inaugural Address, 1885
  23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893: Let those who would die for the flag on the field of battle give a better proof of their patriotism and a higher glory to their country by promoting fraternity and justice. - Inaugural Address, 1889
  24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897: There is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of national self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and defended a people's safety and greatness.
  25. William McKinley, 1897-1901: We want no war of conquest... War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed. - Inaugural Address, 1897
  26. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909: It is well indeed for our land that we of this generation have learned to think nationally. - Builders of the State
  27. William Howard Taft, 1909-1913: A government is for the benefit of all the people... - Veto of Arizona Enabling Act, 1911
  28. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921: Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together.
  29. Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1921-1923: We mean to have less of Government in business and more business in Government. - Address to Congress, 1921
  30. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929: The business of America is business.
  31. Herbert Clark Hoover, 1929-1933: The greatness of America has grown out of a political and social system and a method of control of economic forces distinctly its own - our American system... - Rugged Individualism, 1928
  32. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945: The world order which we seek is the co-operation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society. - Four Freedoms Address, 1941
  33. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were political enemies, but they became fast friends.  And when they passed away on the same day, the last words of one of them was, "The country is safe.  Jefferson still lives."  And the last words of the other was, "John Adams will see that things go forward."
  34. Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961: The quest for peace is the statesman's most exacting duty... Practical progress to lasting peace is his fondest hope. - Geneva Conference Address, 1955
  35. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-1963: In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger... The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. - Inaugural Address, 1961
  36. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969: If we fail now, then we will have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship: that democracy rests on faith; freedom asks more than it gives; and the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored. - Inaugural Address, 1965
  37. Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-1974: The peace we seek to win is not victory over any other people, but the peace that comes "with healing in its wings;" with compassion for those who have suffered; with understanding for those who have opposed us; with the opportunity for all the peoples of this Earth to choose their own destiny. - Inaugural Address, 1969
  38. Gerald Rudolph Ford, 1974-1977: My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.  Our Constitution works.  Our great republic is a government of laws and mot of men.  Here, the people rule... - Inaugural Address, 1974
  39. James Earl Carter, Jr., 1977-1981: Two centuries ago our nation's birth was a milestone in the long quest for freedom, but the bold and brilliant dream which excited the founders of our nation still awaits its consummation.  I have no new dream to set forth today, but rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream. - Inaugural address, 1977
  40. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-1989: No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.
  41. George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993: America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle.  We as a people have such a purpose today.  It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world. - Inaugural Address, 1989
  42. William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001: At the dawn of the 21st century, a free people must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our people, and yes, to form a more perfect union. - Inaugural Address, 1997
  43. George Walker Bush, 2001 to present: The advance of human freedom - the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time - now depends on us. Our nation - this generation - will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. (September 20, 2001)

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