Pat Paulsen Quotes
If elected, I will win.
Paulsen, Pat. Pat Paulsen for President. Price Stern Sloan, 1968.
World War I veterans had been promised bonuses for their service, but Congress and the President would not deliver. The economy was terrible and thousands of veterans came to Washington, set up a camp in Anacostia, and asked for help and their bonuses. Hoover had given orders to General Douglas MacArthur to remove the protesters from government buildings, but MacArthur, establishing a pattern that he would follow throughout his career, exceeded he orders and chased the protesters all the way back to their tent camp and then destroyed the camp. The Great Depression was raging and the protesters had no other place to live, and Hoover opposed any direct federal aid to the poor and needy making the Depression even worse. The public reaction was shock and anger. Hoover, however, demonstrating political character and integrity, took the responsibility and did not blame MacArthur. It was the nail in Hoover’s political coffin. Roosevelt easily won the election.
Patrick Layton Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers television shows, and for his satirical campaigns for President of the United States between 1968 and 1996, although his campaigns generated some protest votes for him.
