John Adams Quotes
Modesty is a virtue that can never thrive in public …. A man must be his own trumpeter—he must write or dictate paragraphs of praise in the newspapers; he must dress, have a retinue and equipage; he must ostentatiously publish to the world his own writings with his name, make the mob stare and gape, and perpetuate his fame.
In this letter Adams was complaining about this public image point of view in politics. He was particularly offended by Benjamin Franklin, his colleague in France, who was the superstar of the day. Ironically, while Franklin did not discourage things like his portrait in a coon-skin cap appearing on European dinnerware, he seemed to acquire the publicity naturally. Adams, who at first castigated image manipulation, by the time he became President tried to do it too much and was pilloried by his enemies for his efforts which they ascribed to his vanity.
John Adams, 1735-1826, 2nd President of the United States (Federalist, MA), Letter from France to James Warren
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This Biblical injunction is almost never followed by politicians—even the most religious ones.
Stimson had been a key member of the Theodore Roosevelt national administration, and Roosevelt, before he became Vice President and then President had been a very popular governor of NY. Stimson, although a brilliant administrator, and statesman was a bit stuffy and aloof and was a terrible campaigner. He thought it immodest to refer to himself in public or to talk about his record. So the Republicans tried to tie him to Roosevelt who was still very popular. See {589268}. It was not enough. Stimson lost.
John Adams Jr. was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain, and he served as the first vice president of the United States. Adams was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with many important figures in early American history, including his wife and adviser Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
