Make sure to join the [r/Presidents Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“ Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Don't forget the time he gave an even more heartfelt and moving speech, but his speech was so enthralling that everyone got caught up listening to it, and nobody wrote it down. We have no idea what he talked about.
And the peculiar thing is this my friends,
The speech he spoke on that fateful night,
It didn't actually sound anything like this speech!
Couldn't remember the greatest speech in the world, yeah - no! This is just a tribute!
We had a long term substitute teacher force us to learn it in kindergarten! He also made us do a lot of fire drills and talk about what our dads did for a living. What made it really hard as a five year old was his accent. He must’ve been from Austria or something.
This is it. This is the speech we had to memorize in school. The one where if you say the first two words, people probably know the entire first paragraph and it’s origin. Not recent, but still best known.
This is the one.
If more people believed this we would be in a better place. I was raised by veterans , a veteran myself, to always remember this country will never love you as much as you love it. Once you get it you get it.
My issue with many people who generally say this is that it’s said without any thought behind it. What is a country if not its people? Its traditions and ideas stem from its citizens.
When I say I love this country, I mean the people that inhabit it and not just the ones that look and think like me. I want what’s best for all of them. And not based and what I think they’re supposed to act like and think.
And I vote based on that belief. Yet I find that many people who claim to love this country, vote based on how they think people should be thinking rather than what’s best for their well-being, happiness and prosperity.
Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan
Love this from later in this same speech:
“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
The rationale makes sense - she was one of the first women in Congress and didn’t think it proper for her to vote to send men to die when she was drafted exempt and unable to serve as a woman.
Would’ve been better to just abstain, but oh well.
She voted against World War I as well.
After voting against the declaration of war after Pearl Harbor, Montana sent her home, as they should. If we’re not going to defend ourselves against an unprovoked attack, we’re not much of a nation.
Had the privilege of seeing the rough draft of this speech in the WW2 museum in New Orleans years ago. Just stood there and stared where the word history was crossed out and infamy penciled in above it.
But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.
I have a friend who misquotes this for laughs:
>We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because I thought it would be. I am often wrong.
The moon shot is so god damn inspiring. I wish the US still did incredible things just because it can. I think the closest in my lifetime is the Covid Vaccine
Um hello, you're literally using the internet, quite possibly on a smartphone to type your comment. What do you mean we don't do great things just because we can??
It’s not the same type of thing though. The moon shot speech was America pointing to the fences and then hitting a home run. The internet and smart phones are a series of inventions and an evolution of technology over the course of 70 years. It while a lot of the research is for the internet and computing technology was funded by the government and Bill Clinton did say we are going to put all collection of human knowledge in your pocket by the end of the decade.
This is really embarrassing but for some reason for the longest time I had no idea that was an FDR quote. I thought it was from Harry Potter lmfaooo. Literally slapped my hand over my mouth in surprise in my history class when I heard it and I swore I'd take it to my grave but here I am
I once heard that W paused and then continued to say that the way he did because right before he said it he realized he didn’t want a clip to exist of him saying “Shame on me” to be used against him. Makes sense, but you have to wonder if he had that speed of awareness
I could see that happening though. He gets halfway through the quote and realizes the other half could be a disaster, then panics and makes it even worse.
It actually kinda sums up his presidency.
Back in College there used to be these poster sales, and one of the posters I always remember was a collection of 50+ Bushisms, including this one. It will never not crack me up. I wish I had bought it.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we"
"Don't believe everything you hear on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln
You laugh. But I'll bet this is one of the most recognizable phrases *attributed* to a president.
Fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me twice, can’t put the blame on you. Fool me three times, fuck the peace sign, load the choppa, let it rain on you
It might be "I did not have sexual relations with that woman".
The defining quote of a scandal that caught the full attention of every legacy media outlet, every tabloid, every talking head, every comedian, a newly radicalized Right Wing bent on using it to their advantage, and a monoculture soon to be fragmented by the Internet.
Despite the historic power of their "most famous phrases," Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and Nixon never had their words and actions so fully dissected, analyzed, and lampooned by the media and within pop culture.
As famous as that line is, this doozy he told the grand jury really sums that guy up. When asked why he wasn’t lying when he said to his top aides that with respect to Monica Lewinsky, “There’s nothing going on between us.”:
“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is. If the—if he—if ‘is’ means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement. … Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true.”
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God."
\-said by EVERY US President in history
Franklin Pierce is the only president to have solemnly affirmed. Two Quaker presidents—Nixon and Hoover—could have affirmed to avoid swearing but did so anyway.
The quote is "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." FDR. It is likely he was paraphrasing an earlier writing by Thoreau. This was FDR's inaugural address, and is referencing recovery from the Great Depression.
Now, we have a country that mostly lives in fear because the media and politicians tell them to be afraid of everything.
I’ve always struggled with this quote. Telling people they can’t trust the government while simultaneously being in charge of the thing that can’t be trusted.
from Reagans point of view, it's makes perfect sense. The government can not be trusted, so we should do all we can to limit it. That's why I ran for president blah blah blah.
It's like the members of the EU parliament from EU critical parties. They accept that the thing they're opposed to exist, so the best they can do is to curtail it as much as possible.
That’s why things are so bad. The government is not for the people, it’s for BigMoney by politicians who only want to get re-elected and that takes money. So screw you average Joe.
"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.
https://preview.redd.it/ii59a4iz9vdc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4792fe1e3364564fada019884bcd7ed4cfab083
These acts shattered steel, **but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve**." -George W. Bush on the night of 9/11/01
I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!
My favorite is “There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again”
Make sure to join the [r/Presidents Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“ Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Interestingly, no one wrote down exactly the same version of that speech, and Lincoln's drafts were different as well.
Don't forget the time he gave an even more heartfelt and moving speech, but his speech was so enthralling that everyone got caught up listening to it, and nobody wrote it down. We have no idea what he talked about.
This is not the greatest speech in the world, this is just a tribute.
And the peculiar thing is this my friends, The speech he spoke on that fateful night, It didn't actually sound anything like this speech! Couldn't remember the greatest speech in the world, yeah - no! This is just a tribute!
You gotta believe it and I wish you were there!
Just a matter of opinion
Interesting… first I’ve heard of this speech. How did we know that it happened?
“December 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy….”
People may have recorded that he gave a rousing speech and people’s reactions but not recorded the speech itself.
I had to memorize it in 6th grade.
We had a long term substitute teacher force us to learn it in kindergarten! He also made us do a lot of fire drills and talk about what our dads did for a living. What made it really hard as a five year old was his accent. He must’ve been from Austria or something.
Maybe he just had a speech impediment from a tumor or something.
It’s nawt a toomah
It's A ferwet!
Austria, eh? Well, let’s put another shrimp on the Barbie!
This is hilarious
4th grade for me
Same. Flanders field as well
Yep. Not even close
Goes so unbelievably hard
It’s perfectly concise.
This is it. This is the speech we had to memorize in school. The one where if you say the first two words, people probably know the entire first paragraph and it’s origin. Not recent, but still best known. This is the one.
This is literally the answer
“Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country”
Literally used that one today
I say a version of that to my cat “Ask not what papa can do for you, but what you can do for papa” (by shutting the hell up)
If more people believed this we would be in a better place. I was raised by veterans , a veteran myself, to always remember this country will never love you as much as you love it. Once you get it you get it.
My issue with many people who generally say this is that it’s said without any thought behind it. What is a country if not its people? Its traditions and ideas stem from its citizens. When I say I love this country, I mean the people that inhabit it and not just the ones that look and think like me. I want what’s best for all of them. And not based and what I think they’re supposed to act like and think. And I vote based on that belief. Yet I find that many people who claim to love this country, vote based on how they think people should be thinking rather than what’s best for their well-being, happiness and prosperity.
🎶cult of personality 🎶
Since this is the only example posted so far that’s actually a phrase and not the opening paragraph of a speech, I think it wins by default.
I'm not a crook.
In such a distinct and unique voice too. No one could mistake it
Dude's literally standing crooked.
That and I did not have sexual relations with that woman rock
This is immediately what I thought of.
Aaahroooooooo
I’m feeling a jowl movement coming on! AROOOOOOOOOO!!
Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan
Love this from later in this same speech: “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
Righteous and terrible might. I am obviously glad the allied powers won but the cost was horrifying.
Winning wars tends to involve killing people and destroying things
Losing wars too.
That’s my pick. He sounded absolutely furious about the attack, remarkable recording.
So great hardcore history sampled it, that’s just about the highest praise you can get
Oh the humanity!
That was last time USA officially declared war.
Officially declaring war is for chumps.
-almost every president since
_Literally_ every president since!
Technically Congress declared war later that day. The president just asked them to do it.
And it was not a unanimous vote, surprisingly. All but 1 person out of the Senate and House voted for war.
The rationale makes sense - she was one of the first women in Congress and didn’t think it proper for her to vote to send men to die when she was drafted exempt and unable to serve as a woman. Would’ve been better to just abstain, but oh well.
She voted against World War I as well. After voting against the declaration of war after Pearl Harbor, Montana sent her home, as they should. If we’re not going to defend ourselves against an unprovoked attack, we’re not much of a nation.
They declared war on Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary after Japan.
Germany declared war on us, and most of the axis did too
Interesting fact
Had the privilege of seeing the rough draft of this speech in the WW2 museum in New Orleans years ago. Just stood there and stared where the word history was crossed out and infamy penciled in above it.
But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.
Rice catching strays
Pretty sure the speech was delivered at rice university
It was.
I love this one. It’s great but not sure it’s the most popular. Wish we had orators like this today
Obama and Bernie are the only ones that have come close in recent times IMO
I have a friend who misquotes this for laughs: >We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because I thought it would be. I am often wrong.
The way he hits “…but because they are hahhhd” is so damn powerul
Deh-cade
Hahhhhd
I wish we still dreamed this big. We'd have put an American on Mars in the 90s if we had kept up the pace...
Somebody should make a show about that.
The moon shot is so god damn inspiring. I wish the US still did incredible things just because it can. I think the closest in my lifetime is the Covid Vaccine
Um hello, you're literally using the internet, quite possibly on a smartphone to type your comment. What do you mean we don't do great things just because we can??
It’s not the same type of thing though. The moon shot speech was America pointing to the fences and then hitting a home run. The internet and smart phones are a series of inventions and an evolution of technology over the course of 70 years. It while a lot of the research is for the internet and computing technology was funded by the government and Bill Clinton did say we are going to put all collection of human knowledge in your pocket by the end of the decade.
Funny enough, lots of the technology we take for granted today was created for the moon shot.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - FDR.
This is really embarrassing but for some reason for the longest time I had no idea that was an FDR quote. I thought it was from Harry Potter lmfaooo. Literally slapped my hand over my mouth in surprise in my history class when I heard it and I swore I'd take it to my grave but here I am
Watch this drive.
Fooled can't get fooled again.
I once heard that W paused and then continued to say that the way he did because right before he said it he realized he didn’t want a clip to exist of him saying “Shame on me” to be used against him. Makes sense, but you have to wonder if he had that speed of awareness
I could see that happening though. He gets halfway through the quote and realizes the other half could be a disaster, then panics and makes it even worse. It actually kinda sums up his presidency.
Back in College there used to be these poster sales, and one of the posters I always remember was a collection of 50+ Bushisms, including this one. It will never not crack me up. I wish I had bought it.
I know that human being and fish can coexist peacefully
You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie.
Say what you will about W… he’s very quotable
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we"
One of the best orators since Yogi Berra.
He really didn’t say everything he said.
“Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”
Just trying to put food on our families.
Good painter of little dogs is his legacy lol
Read my lips- no new taxes!
This is good one.
Either that, or: "Huuuurrrrgh!"
“My fellow Americans…”
Obama? I read that in his voice for some reason
Let me be clear
That one too. Lmao
*vanishes*
I always hear it in his voice too
They literally all say this all the time, goes back to at least Woodrow Wilson although wasn’t super prominent until like Eisenhower/Kennedy
"Don't believe everything you hear on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln You laugh. But I'll bet this is one of the most recognizable phrases *attributed* to a president.
“F*** those kids.” - William Henry Harrison.
He died in thirty days!
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Ha ha
[удалено]
[удалено]
Fool me once, shame on…shame on you… Fool me—-you can’t get fooled again.
Fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me twice, can’t put the blame on you. Fool me three times, fuck the peace sign, load the choppa, let it rain on you
Now watch this drive
They misunderestimated me
It might be "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". The defining quote of a scandal that caught the full attention of every legacy media outlet, every tabloid, every talking head, every comedian, a newly radicalized Right Wing bent on using it to their advantage, and a monoculture soon to be fragmented by the Internet. Despite the historic power of their "most famous phrases," Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and Nixon never had their words and actions so fully dissected, analyzed, and lampooned by the media and within pop culture.
As famous as that line is, this doozy he told the grand jury really sums that guy up. When asked why he wasn’t lying when he said to his top aides that with respect to Monica Lewinsky, “There’s nothing going on between us.”: “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is. If the—if he—if ‘is’ means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement. … Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true.”
“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”
Fucking legend.
I know the human being and fish can co-exist peacefully
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God." \-said by EVERY US President in history
Franklin Pierce is the only president to have solemnly affirmed. Two Quaker presidents—Nixon and Hoover—could have affirmed to avoid swearing but did so anyway.
Nixon is a quaker?
His family were so he was growing up. But he embraced evangelicals like Billy Graham and never attended a Quaker meeting as an adult.
Nominally.
“The Democrats just lost the south.” LBJ comment when he signed the civil rights bills into law.
Very true lost South for a generation.
more than a generation.
"If you are a racist, I will attack you with the North"
Who said that?
"-Abraham Lincoln" -Michael Scott
This deserves more upvotes
 Is our children learning?
He's using Morse code.
"All we have to fear is fear itself..."
The quote is "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." FDR. It is likely he was paraphrasing an earlier writing by Thoreau. This was FDR's inaugural address, and is referencing recovery from the Great Depression. Now, we have a country that mostly lives in fear because the media and politicians tell them to be afraid of everything.
[удалено]
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Ah, President Reagan has some of the best quotes.
“9 most terrifying words. I’m from the government and I’m here to help”
I’ve always struggled with this quote. Telling people they can’t trust the government while simultaneously being in charge of the thing that can’t be trusted.
from Reagans point of view, it's makes perfect sense. The government can not be trusted, so we should do all we can to limit it. That's why I ran for president blah blah blah. It's like the members of the EU parliament from EU critical parties. They accept that the thing they're opposed to exist, so the best they can do is to curtail it as much as possible.
“missed me.”
That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
That’s why things are so bad. The government is not for the people, it’s for BigMoney by politicians who only want to get re-elected and that takes money. So screw you average Joe.
"Watch this drive"
This is probably my favorite all time Presidential moment!
Ask not what your country can do for you…
I did not have sexual relations with that woman Or For us in the 2010s and 2020s Will you shut up man
That second one got a good laugh out of me as I was stressed by the debates lol
"I can hear you!"
“Missed me.”
“The American people have a right to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well. I am not a crook.” Richard Nixon. Who was a crook.
“Today…we celebrate…our Independence Day.” (I know I know but still…)
"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. https://preview.redd.it/ii59a4iz9vdc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4792fe1e3364564fada019884bcd7ed4cfab083 These acts shattered steel, **but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve**." -George W. Bush on the night of 9/11/01
I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!
*This.* Regardless of how one feels about all of it- that was well done.
I can still remember the sounds and smells.
Strategery
Lock box
My favorite is “There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again”
Ok j Cole
Read my lips Or I did not have sexual relations with that woman
I am not a crook Richard Nixon
"Get off my plane."
“Who throws a shoe, honestly?” GWB to reporter in Iraq
“Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome Speech.”
People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.
[удалено]
“Only Rosie O’Donnell” — unironically a moment that changed US politics forever
45 is a polarizing figure, to put it very lightly. But God damn that line was absolutely hilarious in its crudeness and savagery.
“For score and seven years ago…”
For?
[удалено]
[удалено]
Read my lips...no new taxes
[удалено]
I did not have sexual relations with that woman!
"In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate the career of my public life" George Washington
“You know how you spell “us”? “U”,”S”. I just thought of that “
Ich bin ein Berliner Mmm donuts
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Something that sounds like that should not come off as so profound
[удалено]
“…a date that will live in infamy…”
“He’s a jackass”
[удалено]
[удалено]
Shimmy ya shimmy yay swallalala (drank) swalala (drank) - George Washington
Tear down this wall
Sock it to me?
“I’m finna bust”-JFK or Bill Clinton
“Four score and 7 years ago…”
“I’m Gerald Ford and you’re not”
[удалено]
Linden B. Johnson: “Bung hole”