Presidential Secrecy Quotes

Unless a president can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.

During Grover Cleveland's second term, in the 1890s, the White House deceived the public by dismissing allegations that surgeons had removed a cancerous growth from the President's mouth; a vulcanized-rubber prosthesis disguised the absence of much of Cleveland's upper left jaw and part of his palate.

I'm just warning you here: Don't anybody ask about the president's religion! Don't even get close to going there. Don't do it. That is a forbidden area. You cannot even ask about it.

Every president thinks that all information that comes to the White House is their private preserve after they all promise an open administration on the campaign trail, but some are more secretive than others. Some want to lock down everything.

We have had plenty of atheist presidents; they just wouldn't admit it.

The president, by virtue of his office, can easily 'go dark' when it comes to conversations with foreign leaders, even if he makes promises or assurances that run contrary to the interests of the United States or even place the country in danger.

Given the pervasive secrecy of the Bush-Cheney administration, and the sorry consequences of that disposition, President Barack Obama's early emphasis on openness in government seems almost inevitable.

The longer presidents go without a press conference, the greater the suspicion that there is something to hide.

Concealing one's true medical condition from the voting public is a time-honored tradition of the American presidency.

I hope my order ending taping set a precedent that will end Presidential taping in the White House.

If I were to make public these tapes, containing blunt and candid remarks on many different subjects, the confidentiality of the office of the president would always be suspect.

The most secretive White House in modern history has learned the hard way …that it must reveal a pretty steady stream of secrets.