Roger Mudd Quotes

My father was a public figure all my life, and so the presidency was an extension of that. I guess you get used to it, though you can stand back occasionally and think, 'Boy, this is really weird!'

I always felt that a governor surrenders a certain amount of privacy. And I came to accept that.

It's a little challenging as a congressman to keep a low profile, but I try very hard to keep a low profile.

One of the great penalties those of us who live our lives in full view of the public must pay is the loss of that most cherished birthright of man's, privacy.

The great power the president has is that he is the most prominent person in the biggest media event on the planet. He has the attention of the nation and the world. When he speaks, everybody listens.

How can a president not be an actor?

You have to make a lot of sacrifices, and the main thing you have to sacrifice is your privacy. It's funny because when I was growing up, my daddy was and still is an insurance agent in our home town. He couldn't go anywhere without somebody recognizing him or needing something from him.

For me, getting comfortable with being famous was hard - that whole side of it, the loss of anonymity, the loss of privacy. Giving up that part of your life and not having control of it.

Once you enter the public's eye, you have to be aware that you give up a huge part of your own life.

I'm in the wrong racket if I didn't want a public life.

A man’s got to walk if he is going to be in politics.

I'm a politician who has to for a time serve in public life, and I get death threats. And it is what it is because you've put yourself out there in the public square.

I can't stop people from writing imaginative stories about me entering politics.

I prepared myself for my marriage to Pierre Trudeau, but I didn't prepare myself for marriage to the prime minister.

I've been in public life for long enough that I know you just have to live your life normally.

The closer you get to Number 10 the more you see what a back-breaking job that is, the pressure is absolutely constant and the loss of privacy is almost complete so I don't have ambitions in that direction and there is no vacancy nor likely to be during my time in politics.

With this acting and this lifestyle, your privacy does get taken a little.

Fame is a kind of death because it arrests life around the person in the public eye.

The job of every president is to ride herd over Congress.

I think just having everybody know who you are is more of a challenge. More than anything about it is just knowing people are watching. I know who I am, so it's watching things I say, what I do. Even if I'm in line at one of the rest stops or something, it's just being on my Ps and Qs at all times more than anything.

But politics is something that would require so much of me. I'm a public figure now, but as a politician... It's more likely that I'll become a sportscaster than a politician.

I think I devoted my life to Pierre Trudeau and our beautiful children.

Anyone that chooses to be an actor or politician is making a choice to lead their life in the public eye.

A President has a great chance; his position is almost that of a king and a prime minister rolled into one.

If you want to run for president, you better be an athlete. It's 24/7. It never ends. You give up your personal life completely and you have something of a chance to be shot.