Benjamin Harrison Quotes
When I came into power, I found that the party managers had taken it all to themselves. I could not name my own Cabinet. They had sold out every place to pay the election expenses.
Benjamin Harrison, 1833-1901, 23rd President of the United States (Republican, IN), To Theodore Roosevelt, Quoted in Wallechinsky and Wallace, The Peoples' Almanac, Doubleday, 1975
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Editorializing on Daniel D. Rostenkowski, U. S. Congressman (Democrat, IL) and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee:
He was protesting President Truman’s appointments of old friends.
Bryan had reached the point where he advocated public financing of campaigns.
Alluding to the many scandals of the Reagan administration:
Smith had written to most of the then likely Presidential candidates of both major parties asking for their position on the Mormons who were facing persecution wherever they went. None of the politicians would make and satisfactory commitments. Smith took Direct Action and became the only major religious official to have run for the Presidency of the United States until Pat Robertson tried and failed in 2000. Smith’s assassination shortly thereafter cut his run for the Presidency short before it made much headway and politically he had no chance to affect the race.
Roosevelt was running again for the presidency, however this time as a Third Party Candidate. He lost to Woodrow Wilson but outpolled the Republicans. This was the Third Party performance since Abraham Lincoln.
The United States had just ousted the popularly elected leader Patrice Lumumba {640611}, and backed Mobuto. Lumumba was an idealist who was not corrupt at all, but were not so sure about our new protégé. Sadly he turned out to be one of the worst kleptocrats of all time, and he stole with more United States money than we gave to many nations in toto. Many believe that one of the reasons, corruption of our “allied” leaders was so bad lies in the wording of this cable. Note that to the State Department writers there was “normal” corruption as opposed to excessive corruption. Once that view is taken there is a constant battle to determine whether each new act of corruption is “normal “ or not, and corruption is simply lessened by pushing back against the most abnormal schemes. These critics advocate a zero tolerance for corruption especially with United States AID money. The State Department has been ambivalent and have often used the corruption system to bribe leaders to obtain national objectives.
Benjamin Harrison was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, a founding father who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.
