Republican Presidential quotes from Richard M. Nixon to George W. Bush

    Richard M. Nixon  37th President  served from 1969-1974

Here are some interesting and insightful quotes from Richard M. Nixon:

"I am not a crook..."

"The White House has no involvement whatever in this particular incident."

"I condemn any attempts to cover up in this case, no matter who is involved."

"This office is a sacred trust and I am determined to be worthy of that trust."

"I am an introvert in an extrovert profession."

"I don’t give a shit what happens. I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else, if it’ll save it—save this plan. That’s the whole point. We’re going to protect our people if we can."

"One vote is worth a hundred obscene slogans."

"You know, I always wondered about taping equipment, but I’m damn glad we have it, aren’t you?"

"If there is anything I want to do before I die, it is to go to China. If I don’t, I want my children to."

"Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my presidency, I accepted the resignations of two of my closest associates in the White House, Bob Halderman and John Ehrlichman, two of the finest public servants it has been my privilege to know . . ." (1973)

"It is time for the great silent majority of Americans to stand up and be counted."

"…in matters as sensitive as guarding the integrity of our democratic process, it is essential that not only rigorous legal and ethical standards be observed, but also that the public, you, have the total confidence that they are both being observed and enforced by those in authority and particularly by the president of the United States." (1973)

"There is one thing solid and fundamental in politics. What is up today is down tomorrow." (1973)

"You don’t win campaigns with a diet of dishwater and milk toast."

"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."

"Now that all the members of the press are so delighted that I have lost . . . I believe Governor Brown has a heart, even though he believes that I do not . . . I did not win. I have no hard feelings against anybody, against any opponent and least of all, the people of California." (1962)

"You cannot win a battle in any arena merely by defending yourself."

"My strong point, if I have a strong point, is performance. I always do more than I say. I always produce more than I promise."

"You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more, because gentlemen, this is my last press conference." (1962)

"Communist leaders believe in Lenin’s precept: Probe with bayonets. If you encounter mush, proceed; if you encounter steel, withdraw."

"Once a man has been in politics, once that’s been in his life, he will always return if the people want him."

"I would have made a good pope."

"And all the decisions I have made in my public life I have always tried to do what was best for the nation. . . . In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in Congress to justify continuing that effort . . . . I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. . . . . I have never been a quitter. . . . To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body." (Resignation, August 8, 1974)

"Always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember; others may hate you. Those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself." (Farewell to his White House staff, 1974)

"Once you’re in the stream of history you can’t get out."

"Television in its present form…[is] the opiate of the people of the United States."

"Your boys will be home for Christmas."

"A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life’s mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which would otherwise have remained dormant."

"Any culture which can put a man on the moon is capable of gathering all the nations of the earth in peace, justice, and concord." (1969)

"If I could find a way to get [Saddam Hussein] out of there, even putting a contract out on him, if the CIA still did that sort of thing, assuming it ever did, I would be for it."

"Voters quickly forget what a man says." Hmm...you shoulda read Poppa Bush's lips