Blanche Wiesen Cook Quotes
Forget the polls and remember the people.
Blanche Wiesen Cook, Political Historian, Unsolicited Advice to Politicians, Lecture, Theodore Roosevelt Home, New York, C-SPAN, Book TV, September 23, 1999
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
She had been accused of being a follower of public opinion rather than a driver of it as many politicians see themselves. At the time, she refused to stake out specific positions in her contest for the presidential nomination of her party—the socialists. She won the primary, the first such French woman, but lost in the general election.
The governor had been without sleep for over 24 hours and was doing a magnificent job dealing with the worst storm that had ever hit the East Coast. He had been reporting the status to the people through the media and giving instructions to guide them. Yet there was one reporter who actually tried to bring politics into the crises and asked him about Election Day.
The only soldier ever so honored. At the beginning of WWII, President Roosevelt and Churchill wanted the U. S. Army to invade German and Italian North Africa. Marshall, General Eisenhower, and all the other military men, advised that while it was possible, it would be a diversion from the strategic objective of invading Europe. None the less FDR ordered the invasion. The effect on the American people was wonderful, It showed that the Germans were not invincible, increased enlistment and morale at home, and developed more popular support for the war. Later, Marshall learned much about Democratic leadership and he, himself became a very effective government leader, and began to appreciate FDR’s approach but with a little cynicism about democracy.
Blanche Wiesen Cook is a historian and professor of history. She is a recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award.
