Top Michael Beschloss Quotes

Michael Beschloss Biography

Michael Richard Beschloss (born November 30, 1955) is an American historian. A specialist in the United States presidency, he is the author of nine books. His next book, "Presidents of War," will be published by Crown in the fall of 2018.

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Michael Beschloss Quotes

We cannot be spun, or at least we'd like to think that we cannot be. And the presidents who are trying to - too overtly to try to say, here is what you historians and what you later Americans should think of my presidency, 30 or 40 years later, they look silly.

Silly, Thinking, Trying, Spun, Like, Historians

To people who remember JFK's assassination, JFK Jr. will probably always be that boy saluting his father's coffin.

Boy, Boys, Fathers Day, Jfk, People, Probably

Roosevelt understands that there are things that are worth surrendering your career for, like defending the country against [Adolf] Hitler.

Country, Careers, Defending, Adolf, Like, Surrendering

So if 1960 had occurred under the old convention system, Kennedy would have had a very hard time getting the Democratic nomination because he would have been rejected by all those people who had worked with him in Washington.

Convention, Hard Times, Nomination, Nominations, People, Under

You don't say that for a senator to be a great senator he has to vote against his constituency.

Vote, Senators, Say, Senator, Constituency

The original thing that fascinated me most was why we expect leaders, and especially presidents, at times to destroy themselves - and that's a sign of being a good leader or a good president. We usually don't expect that of almost anyone else in any profession, in particular, in public life.

Leader, President, Profession, Original, Leaders, Expect

Legacy is what a president does that affects later generations.

Affects, Doe, Generations, Legacy, President

The Founding Fathers would be sorry to see that America had become so divided and factionalized.

America, Father, Founding, Sorry

We [the United States] are the world's only superpower right now, so everyone notices every bit of what we do or don't do.

Right, Right Now, States, United, United States, World

Under the system that we now have to nominate presidential candidates, for instance, I would prefer that we have a system that is closer to, say, the one we had in the 1960s.

1960S, Closer, Instance, Presidential

So the result was that as one approached a political convention for most of the 19th century and for most of the 20th century until the 1960's, part of the drama was the fact that you didn't know ultimately who was going to be the nominee at the end of that convention week.

Drama, Fact, Facts, Part, Political, Result

A lot of it was, you know, you look for moments where, for instance, we were dependent on Abraham Lincoln making sure that the slaves were freed or John Kennedy bringing civil rights, or the first one I wrote about, George Washington trying to stop the British from invading and ending this country before it even began. Those were turning points where, if you had not had a president stepping up to the plate, if there wasn't a story like that, we would not be here.

Country, Trying, President, Slaves, Dependent, Stop

I'm defining [presidential courage] pretty narrowly. It's not only taking a big political risk but it's also the risk that in the hindsight of history, people think it's wise.

Wise, Thinking, People, Defining, Presidential, Taking

First of all, there's no mention of political parties in the Constitution, so you begin American history with not only no political conventions but also no parties.

Conventions, Firsts, Mention, Party, Political

What if we had a culture that prevented these presidents from being courageous? And I worry now that we have a system that makes it very hard to choose people who would make the same courage choice as our great presidents. And I guess what I would say is, in this next campaign, take a look at the people who are running. If they don't remind you of the great presidents, do not vote for them.

Courage, Guess, People, Running, Take, Worry

Michael Beschloss Biography

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