Stephen Decatur Quotes
Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.
See Carl Schurz {33636} for an 1872 version and G. K Chesterton for perspective {597471}.
Stephen Decatur, 1779-1820, Commodore, U.S. Navy, Toast given at Norfolk, April 1816
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
He was referring to views like those of Stephen Decatur {599442} and Carl Schurtz {33636}.
American Presidents after Wilson have not, in general, shared this view. By the latter part of the 20th century judgmentalism was a major component of American foreign policy and reached its zenith with the administration of George W. Bush.
For variations on this theme see Stephen Decatur, Meyer London, Charles Churchill and Carl Schurtz
In a famous debate with Congressman Henry De La Flood (Democrat, VA), the issue was the common practice of hiring foreign nationals to represent the United States in many foreign posts, since their services could be obtained much less expensively than the costs of sending Americans abroad:. See President Millard Fillmore's 1856 campaign speech.
Russia, from the old Soviet Union days, had the only gas pipeline into Lithuania and took advantage of their monopoly by charging the Lithuanians 15 percent more than they charged other European nations where the Russians had some energy competition. The Lithuanians, decided to tie up a very large vessel at an island in their harbor to which Liquid Natural Gas (LGN) could be delivered by ship and converted to gaseous form and piped onto the mainland to provide competition for the Russians. However, the island was a bird sanctuary that was not supposed to be used for anything that might change the ecological balance of the island. This quotation shows that in some circumstances, environmentalists are willing to compromise to balance the benefits and costs.
The President was reacting to the accusation made by Indonesian President Sukarno that the United States was sponsoring and supporting a civil war against his administration {591336}. The Secretary of State had testified before Congress that there was no U. S. involvement in Indonesia. However the CIA was financing the revolution and supplying war planes and pilots to the insurgents. See {591337}.
- Born: January 5, 1779
- Died: March 22, 1820
- Nationality:
- Profession:
Stephen Decatur Jr. was a United States naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County, the son of a U.S. naval officer who served during the American Revolution. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the United States Navy, and brought the younger Stephen into the world of ships and sailing early on. Shortly after attending college, Decatur followed in his father's footsteps and joined the U.S. Navy at the age of nineteen as a midshipman.
