Ex-Presidents Quotes

Most ex-Presidents would be glad to become ex-officio members of the Senate without a vote.

We have exchanged the Washingtonian dignity for the Jeffersonian simplicity, which was in truth only another name for the Jacksonian vulgarity.

I can't deny I'm a better ex-president than I was a president.

Any man who has ever been honored by being made President of the United States is thereby forever after rendered the American people.

For more than 70 years, the presidents of both parties believed that American security and prosperity were directly tied to the success of freedom in the world. And they knew that the success depended, in large part, on U.S. leadership. This mission came naturally, because it expressed the DNA of American idealism.

I have serious doubts about the value of debates in a presidential election. They tend to be a test of reaction time rather than a genuine exposition of the participants' philosophies and programs

During the Reagan Administration, Bob Dole was present at a ceremony that included each living ex-president. Looking at a tableau of Ford, Carter and Nixon, Dole said, 'There they are: Hear No Evil, See No Evil and Evil.'

When you leave the White House, you wonder if you’ll ever draw a crowd again.

The more you live the greater your obligations to the public grow.

I’ve made the decision to get off the stage.

Once they have actually left office, we seem to grow fonder of our ex-presidents - and they of each other. That's why so many sighed in approval at Michelle Obama's public display of affection with George W. Bush at last month's dedication of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

After the White House, what is there to do but drink?

I can't stand that Richard Nixon fellow.

It is a very good warning to all of the dictators. If you lose an election, you have to go gacefully, or you will be disgraced.

Now that I am no longer in office, I can say things that may be unpopular… Let’s roll!

Bill Clinton is the only ex-president who hasn't planned his own funeral. But, in his defense, in the past he has said he wants to be buried next to Hillary. I guess he figures he never slept next to her when they were alive, might as well try it now that they're dead.

No foreign ruler or man of eminence could have aroused more universal attention, received a warmer welcome or achieved greater popularity among every class of society

I have one consolation, No candidate was ever elected ex-president by such a large majority.

You can't ignore one billion people.

I left the White House but I’m still here.

I think you are going to have to send troops to Vietnam and if you do, I will come up from Gettysburg to support you.

There is one good thing about no longer being President. You can make your own notes and say what you want. Of course no one cares any more what you say.

We have seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. At times, it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates into dehumanization. Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions.

History buffs probably noted the reunion at a Washington party a few weeks ago of three ex-presidents. Carter, Ford and Nixon. See no evil, hear no evil and evil.

Ex-Presidents of the United States get state subsidies. Not so in Russia. You get no government support.