Michael Ledeen Quotes
Top secret is when you give a press conference and nobody comes.
Michael Ledeen, Historian, Philosopher, Foreign Policy Analyst], Consultant to the U. S. National Security Council, Department of State, and the Department of Defense, Speech, Intelligence and Free Society Conference, National Forum Foundation, Washington, May 30, 1989
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a friend in a hunting accident becoming the first U. S. Vice President to shoot a man since Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. However, the Vice President and his staff did not make the shooting public till the next day and then by having a member of the hunting party call a small local, friendly, Texas newspaper. Finally, under great pressure the Vice President gave an interview to the Fox News Network, the network who had been most favorable in reporting on the administration.
John Nance Garner was a U. S. Congressman from Texas who never made speeches or campaigned in his district, rarely spoke in the House, and would not permit his remarks to be printed in the Congressional Record. Speaker Cannon once said to him:. John Nance Garner was later Vice President of the United States during Franklin Roosevelt's first two terms.
In the specific case, Stone had proposed that some of the conservative counties of Southern California secede from California and become a 51st state. Such an arrangement might fine for the rest of California many of whom would love to have the most conservative elements out of policy making for the rest of the state. However, others outside of California would not be very comfortable with every area on any state were to use this device to get two of their own Senators. Every major city would also love to have two senators of its own and would want to secede. There are large population counties which might want the same.
And the New York press is probably the most difficult and cynical in the world.
Just quotation tells us something about Mrs. Roosevelt that is fascinating. Note that she tells us that she had her usual press conference. She typically had several press conferences a week. Before Mrs. Roosevelt, first Ladies did not have press conferences by themselves. She did almost wherever she went. She had more than the President did. And the presidents staff rarely knew what she was going to say. They found out about it in the next day’s newspapers. No first lady before or since then has ever had as much access to the press or as independent access as Mrs. Roosevelt.
At the time there was no Secrecy & Classification System nor any laws enforcing secrecy or confidentiality. However there was no freedom of information laws of expectations even on the part of journalists. This was the first Freedom of Information policy of the American government. Some politicians were more open than others but there was no national, governmental before this. There were however leakers and whistleblowers though the terms were not in use. Note that Roosevelt herein created the first whistle blower protection—himself.
Michael Arthur Ledeen is an American historian, neoconservative foreign policy analyst, and author with a PhD in philosophy. He is a former consultant to the United States National Security Council, the United States Department of State, and the United States Department of Defense. He held the Freedom Scholar chair at the American Enterprise Institute where he was a scholar for twenty years and now holds the similarly named chair at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
