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Dwight D. Eisenhower

157 quotes

“We were depending on considerable assistance from the insurrectionists in France. Throughout France the Free French had been of inestimable value in the campaign. ... Without their great assistance the liberation of France and the defeat of the enemy in Western Europe would have consumed a much longer time and meant greater losses to ourselves.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "What Americans forget about French resistance" (7 May 2015), by Charles Kaiser, Cable News Network, Atlanta, Georgia.
“When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Baseball's Greatest Quotes (1992) by Paul Dickson; cited in "Game Day in the Majors" at the Library of Congress
“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm going to command the whole shebang.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Comment to his wife Mamie, after being informed by George Marshall that he would be in command of Operation Overlord, as quoted in Eisenhower : A Soldier's Life (2003) by Carlo D'Este, p. 307
“The chief of staff says I'm the guy.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry after being informed by George Marshall that he would be in command of Operation Overlord, as quoted in Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life (2003) by Carlo D'Este, p. 307
“This is a long tough road we have to travel. The men that can do things are going to be sought out just as surely as the sun rises in the morning. Fake reputations, habits of glib and clever speech, and glittering surface performance are going to be discovered.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Vernon Prichard (27 August 1942), published in The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower (1970) edited by Alfred Dupont Chandler, p. 505
“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Notes for an announcement, written in advance of the Normandy invasion, in case of its failure, but never delivered (June 1944); reported in John Gunther, Eisenhower: The Man and the Symbol (1952), p. 41
“Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity of size and age. Rather we should turn to those inner things — call them what you will — I mean those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess. To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to provisions that he trespass not upon similar rights of others — a Londoner will fight. So will a citizen of Abilene. When we consider these things, then the valley of the Thames draws closer to the farms of Kansas and the plains of Texas.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Guildhall, London (12 June 1945)
“Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Guildhall, London (12 June 1945)
“I thought so at first, but there is reason to believe that he is still alive. But that in itself does not constitute a problem.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: *On being asked whether he thought Hitler was dead. Reported in the Ottawa Citizen, October 6, 1945: Reason to Believe Hitler is Alive Eisenhower Says, London, Oct. 7 - (CP) - "Gen. Eisenhower was reported by the Dutch …
“Steady, Monty. You can't speak to me like that. I'm your boss.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Response to violent criticism by Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein about Eisenhower's broad front tactics before Operation Market Garden, as quoted in Arnhem — A Tragedy of Errors (1994) by Peter Ha…
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Ottawa (10 January 1946), published in Eisenhower Speaks : Dwight D. Eisenhower in His Messages and Speeches (1948) edited by Rudolph L. Treuenfels
“The freedom of the individual and his willingness to follow real leadership are at the core of America's strength.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont (9 June 1946)
“Democracy is essentially a political system that recognizes the equality of humans before the law.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to Constituent Assembly, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (8 August 1946)
“War is mankind's most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men. Though you follow the trade of the warrior, you do so in the spirit of Washington — not of Genghis Khan. For Americans, only threat to our way of life justifies resort to conflict.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Graduation Exercises at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, U.S. (3 June 1947)
“Incidentally, four other pieces of equipment that most senior officers came to regard as among the most vital to our success in Africa and Europe were the bulldozer, the jeep, the two-and-a-half-ton truck, and the C-47 airplane. Curiously enough, none of these items is designed for combat.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Crusade in Europe (1948), Eisenhower, William Heinemann Ltd (Melbourne, London, Toronto), p. 181.
“The proudest human that walks the earth is a free American citizen.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talk at the Commercial Club of Chicago (21 May 1948)
“To blend, without coercion, the individual good and the common good is the essence of citizenship in a free country.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Columbia University Inaugural Address (12 October 1948)
“The free individual has been justified as his own master; the state as his servant.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Commencement Address at Columbia University (1 June 1949)
“Censorship, in my opinion, is a stupid and shallow way of approaching the solution to any problem. Though sometimes necessary, as witness a professional and technical secret that may have a bearing upon the welfare and very safety of this country, we should be very careful in the way we apply it, because in censorship always lurks the very great danger of working to the disadvantage of the American nation.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Associated Press luncheon (24 April 1950), New York City, New York
“The hand of the aggressor is stayed by strength — and strength alone.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A speech at an English Speaking Union Dinner (3 July 1951). It is currently on display on the wall of Eisenhower Hall at the USMA at West Point in New York. Eisenhower Memorial Commission
“Neither a wise man or a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Time magazine (6 October 1952)
“There is -- in world affairs -- a steady course to be followed between an assertion of strength that is truculent and a confession of helplessness that is cowardly.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: State of the Union Address (February 2, 1952). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
“The true purpose of education is to prepare young men and women for effective citizenship in a free form of government.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Williamsburg College (15 May 1953)
“May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at the Columbia University National Bicentennial Dinner, New York City. (31 May 1954)
“We have not taken and we shall not take a single backward step. There must be no second class citizens in this country.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (June 6, 1953); Source: United States of America Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 84th Congress, First Session, Volume 101, Part 8, July 1, 1955 to July 19, 1955 (Pa…
“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book, as long as that document does not offend our own ideas of decency. That should be the only censorship.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the Dartmouth College Commencement Exercises (14 June 1953)
“From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city, every village, and every rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Signing into law the phrase "One nation under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance (14 June 1954)
“There is one thing about being President — nobody can tell you when to sit down.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in"Sayings of the Week" in The Observer (9 August 1953), and The MacMillan Dictionary of Quotations (1989) by John Daintith, Hazel Egerton, Rosalind Ferguson, Anne Stibbs and Edmund Wright, p. 447
“From behind the Iron Curtain, there are signs that tyranny is in trouble and reminders that its structure is as brittle as its surface is hard.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: State of the Union Address to Congress (7 January 1954)
“You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the falling domino principle. You have a row of dominoes set up. You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have the beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Press conference (7 April 1954), introducing the "domino theory" as a justification for US intervention in Indochina
“The general limits of your freedom are merely these: that you do not trespass upon the equal rights of others.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (22 April 1954)
“Once he called upon General McClellan, and the President went over to the General's house — a process which I assure you has been reversed long since — and General McClellan decided he did not want to see the President, and went to bed. Lincoln's friends criticized him severely for allowing a mere General to treat him that way. And he said, "All I want out of General McClellan is a victory, and if to hold his horse will bring it, I will gladly hold his horse.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln", Hodgenville, Kentucky (April 23, 1954). The story originates from F. A. Mitchel, son and aide of General Mitchel.
“You have got to have something in which to believe. You have got to have leaders, organization, friendships, and contacts that help you to believe that, and help you to put out your best.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to the Leaders of the United Defense Fund (April 29, 1954). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionaries and rebels—men and women who dared to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Columbia University Bicentennial (31 May 1954), Public papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1961), p. 524
“I illustrate it by quoting the statement of a former college president....This President said, "I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Evanston, Illinois (19 August 1954)
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Edgar Newton Eisenhower, his brother (8 November 1954) More information at Snopes.com
“This is something, eh, that is the kind of thing that must be gone through with what I believe is best not talked about too much until we know whatever answers there will be.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1954), p. 435
“Now I think, speaking roughly, by leadership we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Federal Career Service: A Look Ahead (1954)
“Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first—the most basic—expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God's help, it will continue to be.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From remarks recorded for the "Back to God" Program of the American Legion, which was broadcast over radio and television from 8:00 – 8:30 PM on 20 February 1955
“The work of Dr. Salk is in the highest tradition of selfless and dedicated medical research. He has provided a means for the control of a dread disease. By helping scientists in other countries with technical information; by offering to them the strains of seed virus and professional aid so that the production of vaccine can be started by them everywhere; by welcoming them to his laboratory that they may gain a fuller knowledge, Dr. Salk is a benefactor of mankind. His achievement, a credit to our entire scientific community, does honor to all the people of the United States.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks while presenting a Presidential citation to Jonas Salk (22 April 1955)
“In attempting to summarize the philosophy of the Republican Party I, myself, have sometimes used such phrases as moderate progressive and dynamic conservative, because we want to be known for what we are, the party of progress. And if we are the party of progress, we must be the party of peace and prosperity, because this is implicit in the term "progress.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1955 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 1 to December 31, 1955, Remarks at the Breakfast Meeting of Republican State Chairmen, Denver, Colorado. Sep…
“I think the women, therefore, must be concerned with these values, and I return to my statement that if a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at Fourth Annual Republican Women's National Conference (6 March 1956)
“Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at the Cow Palace on Accepting the Nomination of the Republican National Convention (August 23, 1956). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
“The essence of leadership is to get others to do something because they think you want it done and because they know it is worth while doing -- that is what we are talking about.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the Republican Campaign Picnic at the President's Gettysburg Farm (September 12, 1956). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
“The history of free men is never really written by chance-but by choice-their choice.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address in Pittsburgh (9 October 1956)
“The only way to win the next world war is to prevent it.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at a Rally in the Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington (October 17, 1956). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
“We have erased segregation in those areas of national life to which Federal authority clearly extends. So doing in this, my friends, we have neither sought nor claimed partisan credit, and all such actions are nothing more -- nothing less than the rendering of justice. And we have always been aware of this great truth: the final battle against intolerance is to be fought -- not in the chambers of any legislature -- but in the hearts of men.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at the Hollywood Bowl (19 October 1956)
“But I believe this: by and large, the United States ought to be able to choose for its President anybody that it wants, regardless of the number of terms he has served. That is what I believe. Now, some people have said "You let him get enough power and this will lead toward a one-party government." That, I don't believe. I have got the utmost faith in the long-term common sense of the American people. Therefore, I don't think there should be any inhibitions other than those that were in the 35-year age limit and so on. I think that was enough, myself.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Answer to question seeking his views on limiting U.S. presidents to two terms, news conference, Washington, D.C. (October 5, 1956), in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1956, p.…
“The peace we seek and need means much more than mere absence of war. It means the acceptance of law, and the fostering of justice, in all the world.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio and Television Report to the American People on the Developments in Eastern Europe and the Middle East (October 31, 1956). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.