Alfred Thayer Mahan Quotes

This quotation is very interesting in that it shows a President who was not very happy with the policies of his own Secretary of State. This would never have happened overtly after the FDR presidency. Prior, the Secretary of State had a great deal of independence of operation, which was one of the reasons that it was such a prestigious position. However, on modern times President’s would never publicly criticize their own Secretary of State. They would either control the policies directly, accept his/her actions as their own, fire the Secretary, for force him/her to resign as George W, Bush did with Colin Powell. Also, most Secretaries of State, spending most of their time on foreign affairs, become much more sensitive and sophisticated to the intricacies of the world situation, that their nuanced views are very often not viewed by American public opinion as sufficiently pro American. At the same time, there has been a tradition in America that the Secretary of State does not engage in domestic politics, so does not always seem to be pro American.

the At that time American agricultural productivity was not as great as it would become. There was genuine worry that the world might not be able to produce and a food to feed its population. And America did not have the kinds of surpluses that its agriculture produces today. America can actually produce enough food to feed the world. The problem has been one of distribution and not production.

At the beginning of July, 1826 Adams, deathly ill, was asked to propose a toast to be given in his name for the coming July 4 celebrations. It was:. On his deathbed four days later he was aroused by the firing of cannon. When told it was Independence Day he murmured:

A major problem in politics is that many governments and factions have at times acted against their own interest. The polarization of America at the beginning of the 21st century where each party would no sooner win an election than follow their passions and ideologies and then get thrown out of office by the voters. Or a nation going to war against a hated and traditional enemy when they did not have the military power or economic resources to prevail. One of the best examples was the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Another was the American policy of isolationism prior to WWII. Both Napoleon’s and Hitler’s attempted invasions of Russia were also examples. Political parties even more commonly act for the passions of their base of supporters to their detriment. This is extremely common.