George Washington (1789 1797)

John Adams (1797 1801)

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
Jan. 8, 1790
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a
dangerous servant and a fearful master."
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."
"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."
"A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to infl
ame his ambition."
"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessing on this house (the White House) an
d on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever
rule under this roof!"
"Let every sluice of knowledge be open and set a-flowing."
"The happiness of society is the end of government."
Thomas Jefferson (1801 1809)
"One man with courage is a majority."

James Madison (1809 1817)

"That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline
themselves."
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
en having power ought to be mistrusted."

"The truth is that all m

"The problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which
of the forms is least imperfect."
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the peo
ple by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and su
dden usurpations."
James Monroe (1817 1825)
John Quincy Adams (1825 1829)
"National honor is a national property of the highest value."
"The American continents . . . are henceforth not to be considered as subjects f
or future colonization by any European powers."
"A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue."
"May our
country be always successful, but whether successful or otherwise, always right
."
"America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, pr
oclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only la
wful foundations of government."
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the s
weetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
Andrew Jackson (1829 1837)
Martin Van Buren (1837 1841)
"The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his government,
deserves to be a slave, and must be punished as an enemy of his country and frie
nd to her foe."

"I know what I am fit for. I can command a body of men in a rough way; but I am
not fit to be President."
"Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be prom
oted by the constitutional acts of the Federal Government, are of high importanc
e."
"It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't."
"I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men, whose superiors it is our happines
s to believe are not found on the executive calendar of any country."
"As to the Presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entranc
e upon the office and my surrender of it."
William Henry Harrison (1841)
John Tyler (1841 1845)
"The prudent capitalist will never adventure his capital . . . if there exists a
state of uncertainty as to whether the Government will repeal tomorrow what it
has enacted today."
"A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Government should be not only
tolerated, but encouraged."
"But I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.
"
"Popularity, I have always thought, may aptly be compared to a c
oquette the more you woo her, the more apt is she to elude your embrace."
"Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of f
rugality."
"Here lies the body of my good horse, 'The General.' For twenty years he bore me
around the circuit of my practice, and in all that time he never made a blunder
. Would that his master could say the same!"
James Knox Polk (1845 1849)
Zachary Taylor (1849 1850 )
"With me it is exceptionally true that the Presidency is no bed of roses."
"Public opinion: May it always perform one of its appropriate offices, by teachi
ng the public functionaries of the State and of the Federal Government, that nei
ther shall assume the exercise of powers entrusted by the Constitution to the ot
her."
"I am heartily rejoiced that my term is so near its close. I will soon cease to
be a servant and will become a sovereign."
"For more than half a ce
ntury, during which kingdoms and empires have fallen, this Union has stood unsha
ken. The patriots who formed it have long since descended to the grave; yet stil
l it remains, the proudest monument to their memory. . ."
"It would be judicious to act with magnanimity towards a prostrate foe."
"The idea that I should become President seems to me too visionary to require a
serious answer. It has never entered my head, nor is it likely to enter the head
of any other person."
Millard Fillmore (1850 1853)
Franklin Pierce (1853 1857)
"It is not strange . . . to mistake change for progress."
"An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory."
"The man who can look upon a crisis without being willing to offer himself upon
the altar of his country is not for public trust."
"We have nothing

in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon u

s to the cultivation of relations of peace and amity with all nations."
"The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the
unshaken rock of the Constitution."
"The revenue of the country, levied almost insensibly to the taxpayer, goes on f
rom year to year, increasing beyond either the interests or the prospective want
s of the Government."
James Buchanan (1857 1861)
Abraham Lincoln (1861 1865)
"To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy ever since the day
s of Washington, and its wisdoms no one will attempt to dispute."
"The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among freemen."
"There is nothing stable but Heaven and the Constitution."
"You can
fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time
, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."
"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"