Eugene McCarthy Quotes
This is, I say, the time for all good men not to go to the aid of their party, but to come to the aid of their country.
McCarthy, Eugene. Quoted in The New York Times, 1 Dec. 1967, p. 1.
This is a precursor to the famous JFK inaugural address quotation. See also, Khalil Gibran {601423} and Warren G. Harding {622594} and {629021}.
Russell despised the Commission Chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren and had refused to serve. Johnson changed Russell's mind. See Richard B. Russell.
The motto was worn on their uniforms which unlike the blue of the rest of the American army was white as can be seen in the famous paining by muralist David R. Wagner. Rhode Island offered freedom to all slaves who would enlist. It not only included Negroes but Indian slaves as well. See {613949} and {614120} for details. The motto itself is interesting in that there was little concept of a country then as most Americans identified themselves as Virginians, New Yorkers or Rhode Islanders. There was no Constitution—only a confederation of States. But the former slaves joining the regiment had never voluntarily associated themselves with Rhode Island, and the first free decision they made was to join the regiment and have a new country.
The phrase “Loyalty to the government is our national creed” was advocated by almost all politicians after the Civil War. There were a few communists of the left and libertarians on the right who would disagree but every president tool this position until the administration of Ronald Reagan who then many politicians claimed that the government was a problem and even an enemy of the people. Loyalty was in their view, not to be given to the Government, but to the ideas and ideals of America (as they saw them.) Since then many politicians would talk of “loyalty to America” but not use the McKinley phrase “loyalty to the government.”
Theodore Roosevelt had just been nominated as Vice President and the Republicans were almost certain to win the general election. The Chairman was alsays very distressed by Roosevelt. The New York conservative Republicans leaders had pushed him out of the Governorship by getting him nominated as VP as NY business leaders were fearful of TR’s business reform ideas. Hanna worried that if TR ever reached a position of power, he would alienate business from the national Republican party. When McKinley was assassinated, Hanna’s worst fears were realized. See his reaction {585078}
Eugene Joseph McCarthy was an American politician and poet from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. McCarthy sought the Democratic nomination in the 1968 presidential election, challenging incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson on an anti–Vietnam War platform. McCarthy sought the presidency five times, but never won.
