Corrupt Practices Quotes
The British Ambassador was having difficulty determining whom to negotiate with regarding a tax treaty:
In 1862 after a Sioux uprising, a U. S. military commission condemned 303 Indians to death. The President personally reviewed the records of each case and pardoned most. On December 26, 1862 the largest public execution in American history took place with 38 Indians hanged. Lincoln's decision to commute most of the sentences was not politically popular and in the 1864 election the Republican vote margin in Minnesota was smaller than before. Minnesota Senator Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln that he should have hanged more Indians and obtained a bigger majority.
This was a best seller when published in China. It is surprising to many that the Chinese censors even allowed it to be published.
When his wife Benizir Bhutto was prime minister, there was a perception of many Pakistanis that he was getting 10% graft on all government construction, development and purchases. After his wife was assassinated, he was elected Prime Minister, and the notorious nickname stuck even then.
What makes this quotation memorable is that fact that it was public stated. Presidents have almost never gone into a local area and publicly stated that one of its governmental institutions was corrupt. Moreover, the corruption had not only gone on with the laxity of the state and city officials who had been Republicans and of the President’s own party—Democrats. The speech was, surprisingly to some, very warmly received by a public and political audience who had known of the corruption for years, but finally someone was trying to do something about it.
As a candidate for the Republican Presidential Nomination, Trump was very forthright about the fact that when he was a business tycoon, he gave money to many politicians not for any ideological reasons but he considered the money an investment which paid off handsomely. Almost all large campaign donors believe that they are making an investment and most have continued to be satisfied with the results so they continue to donate. See {583282} as an example of Trump's candid view.
This is a logically equivalent phrasing of Lord Acton’s famous quote: {292904}.
