Andrew Rosenthal Quotes
In many campaigns, one candidate or another is asked to answer for comments he or she made in the past. The answer is usually gibberish - 'That was a long time ago,' or 'I was trying to say something else.'
Rosenthal, Andrew. "Taking Note." The New York Times, 2015.
Hoover had to cope with the Great Depression. His administration was hapless in improving the economy as he was in a philosophical bind in that he was opposed in principle to doing almost anything that would help the situation. He just did not believe that government should engage in the activities that were necessary. His 1932 campaign had him trying to explain his thinking as to why government should not do much. Stimson and many other Republicans disagreed as so many Americans were suffering so badly. However, most publicly supported their party’s President even as many had private misgivings. Hoover was thrown out of office in an FDR landslide win. His policies government activist policies and programs improved the economy but it tool almost a decade to recover.
Romney and his surrogates had more than usual difficulty with getting their facts right. Fact checking organizations would call them on this and in April of 2012, Romney ran a TV ad that was grossly wrong and misleading. When asked about the expose of the falsehood of the ad, Newhouse made this classic response. The reason this is an important quotation is that the statement drew much more critical attention than the false had or its classification as untrue did. Even President Obama made fun of it in his campaign speeches. See Martin Amis {631017} for a serious critique of the meaning of the quotation.
Andrew Mark Rosenthal is an American journalist and former editorial page editor of The New York Times. He is the son of A. M. Rosenthal, a longtime New York Times senior executive and executive editor.
