Appointments to Office, Appointees Quotes

It's probably better to have the son-of-a-bitch inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.

You don’t have a staff General, you have a court.

The appointment of a woman to office is an innovation for which the public is not prepared, nor am I.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

I'll tell you what the coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight pussy; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to shit.

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

[Political] offices are as acceptable here as elsewhere, and whenever a man cast a longing eye on them, a rottenness begins in his conduct.

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.

Beware, as long as you live, of judging people by appearances.

The Ethiopians … are said to be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world. In their customs they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is the tallest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his height, and appoint him to rule over them.

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few

When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.

It takes a crook to catch those crooks.

A Senate chosen for six years will, in most instances, be an appointment for life, as the influence of such a body over the minds of the people will be coequal to the extensive powers with which they are vested, and they will not only forget, but be forgotten by their constituents.

Your first priority is to go after bin Laden.

The conspiracy is nearly completed. The Legislation of the Republic is in the hands of this handful of Slaveholders. The United States Senate assures it to them. The Executive power of the Government is theirs. Buchanan took the oath of fealty to them on the steps of the Capitol last Wednesday. The body which gives the supreme law of the land, has just acceded to their demands, and dared to declare that under the charter of the Nation, men of African descent are not citizens of the United States and can not be -- that the Ordinance of 1787 was void -- that human Slavery is not a local thing, but pursues its victims to free soil, clings to them wherever they go, and returns with them -- that the American Congress has no power to prevent the enslavement of men in the National Territories -- that the inhabitants themselves of the Territories have no power to exclude human bondage from their midst -- and that men of color can not be suitors for justice in the Courts of the United States!

Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it.

I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe.

The principle which the Queen would wish to see acted upon in her diplomatic appointments in general, is, that the good of the service should precede every other consideration, and that the selection of an agent should depend more on his personal qualifications for the particular post for which he is to be selected than on the mere pleasure and convenience of the person to be employed, or of the Minister recommending him.

In 44 states, the [parole] board is wholly appointed by the governor, and the well-paid positions can become gifts for former aides and political allies. While some state laws require basic qualifications, these statutes are often vaguely worded, with language that is easily sidestepped. Many states have no minimum requirements at all.

Fierce nomination fights have been going on since the early days of the Republic …. The founding fathers wanted to avoid a monarchy and instead created anarchy.

You must be a power on earth, and must therefore accept all the consequences of this position

No one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another .... The duties of all public officers are ... so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance.

All men prefer a false promise to a flat refusal.

... the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.