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Gerald Ford

86 quotes

“Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Time and Chance (1994) by James Cannon, p. 411.
“Too often critics seem more intent on seeking new ways to alter Congress than to truly learn how it functions. They might well profit from the advice of Thomas Huxley, who said a century ago: "Sit down before facts as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion — or you shall learn nothing.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (3 November 1966); published in Gerald R. Ford,Selected Speeches (1973) edited by Michael V. Doyle
“America now is stumbling through the darkness of hatred and divisiveness. Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and democratic people will give us a torch to light the way. And we will survive and become the stronger — not only because of a patriotism that stands for love of country, but a patriotism that stands for love of people.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the state conference of the Order of DeMolay, Grand Rapids, Michigan (7 September 1968); published in Gerald R. Ford, Selected Speeches (1973) edited by Michael V. Doyle
“An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two-thirds of the other body considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks in the U.S. House of Representatives in an effort to impeach Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (15 April 1970); recorded in the Congressional Record, vol. 116, p. 11913 and .
“We have come tardily to the tremendous task of cleaning up our environment. We should have moved with similar zeal at least a decade ago. But no purpose is served by post-mortems. With visionary zeal but the greatest realism, we must now address ourselves to the vast problems that confront us.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Earth Day address, Grand Rapids, Michigan (22 April 1970); published in Gerald R. Ford, Selected Speeches (1973) edited by Michael V. Doyle
“In a political sense, there is one problem that currently underlies all of the others. That problem is making Government sufficiently responsive to the people. If we don't make government responsive to the people, we don't make it believable. And we must make government believable if we are to have a functioning democracy.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Florida (16 December 1971); published in Gerald R. Ford, Selected Speeches (1973) edited by Michael V. Doyle
“He's the smartest guy in Congress, but he insists on voting his conscience instead of party.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks about John B. Anderson in 1973, later quoted in an Anderson 1980 Presidential campaign ad
“I believe in friendly compromise. I said over in the Senate hearings that truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: During hearings before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, on his nomination to be Vice-President (15 November 1973)
“We must proceed with our own energy development. Exploitation of domestic petroleum and natural gas potentialities, along with nuclear, solar, geothermal, and non-fossil fuels is vital. We will never again permit any foreign nation to have Uncle Sam over a barrel of oil.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech as Vice President to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, West Palm Beach, Florida (26 January 1974); entered into the Congressional Record vol. 120, p. 2044.
“It's the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It's a quality to be proud of. But it's a quality that many people seem to have neglected.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by Time magazine (28 January 1974)
“The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks about the Committee to Re-elect the President, as quoted in The New York Times (31 March 1974)
“I cannot imagine any other country in the world where the opposition would seek, and the chief executive would allow, the dissemination of his most private and personal conversations with his staff, which, to be honest, do not exactly confer sainthood on anyone concerned.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Nixon tapes, in a speech to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as quoted in The New York Times (4 May 1974)
“I know well the coequal role of the Congress in our constitutional process. I love the House of Representatives. I revere the traditions of the Senate despite my too-short internship in that great body. As President, within the limits of basic principles, my motto toward the Congress is communication, conciliation, compromise, and cooperation.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to a joint session of Congress (August 12, 1974); in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Gerald R. Ford, 1974, pp. 6–7
“All my children have spoken for themselves since they first learned to speak, and not always with my advance approval, and I expect that to continue in the future.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The New York Post (13 August 1974)
“All of us who served in one war or another know very well that all wars are the glory and the agony of the young.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the 75th annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chicago, Illinois (19 August 1974)
“As I rejected amnesty, so I reject revenge. I ask all Americans who ever asked for goodness and mercy in their lives, who ever sought forgiveness for their trespasses, to join in rehabilitating all the casualties of the tragic conflict of the past.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement about Americans who avoided the draft during the Vietnam War, to Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chicago, Illinois (19 August 1974)
“I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole alone.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dedication speech at the World Golf Hall of Fame, Pinehurst North Carolina, as quoted in The New York Times (12 September 1974)
“The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dedication speech at the World Golf Hall of Fame, Pinehurst North Carolina, as quoted in The New York Times (12 September 1974)
“(Gail A. Cobb) has our lasting admiration for the cause of law enforcement and the well-being of our society, a cause for which she made the highest sacrifice.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conference of the International Association of Police Chiefs (24 September 1974).
“Let us put an end to self-inflicted wounds. Let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset. Let us deny our adversaries the satisfaction of using Vietnam to pit Americans against Americans.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to joint session of Congress (10 April 1975)
“Obviously, it's a great privilege and pleasure to be here at the Yale Law School Sesquicentennial Convocation. And I defy anyone to say that and chew gum at the same time.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at Yale Law School's 150th anniversary (25 April 1975)
“The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion? I am confident of the American answer. Let it become a vital element on America's new agenda. Let us show that we can temper together those opposite elements of liberty and restraint into one consistent whole. Let us set an example for the world of a law-abiding America glorying in its freedom as well as its respect for law.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at Yale Law School's 150th anniversary (25 April 1975)
“I can tell you, and tell you now, that I am prepared to veto any bill that has as its purpose a Federal bailout of New York City to prevent a default.… It encourages the continuation of "politics as usual" in New York, which is precisely not the way to solve the problem.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the National Press Club (29 October 1975)
“I am the first to admit that I am no great orator or no person that got where I have gotten by any William Jennings Bryan technique.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Time magazine (2 February 1976)
“I'm Gerald Ford, and you're not.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Saturday Night Live, referencing the catchphrase of Chevy Chase (17 April 1976)
“For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the International Eucharistic Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as quoted in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner (13 August 1976)
“There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the International Eucharistic Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as quoted in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner (13 August 1976)
“Americans are beautiful -- individually, in communities, and freely joined together by dedication to the United States of America.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at Naturalization Ceremonies at Monticello, Virginia (5 July 1976)
“The veto is a President's Constitutional right, given to him by the drafters of the Constitution because they wanted it as a check against irresponsible Congressional action. The veto forces Congress to take another look at legislation that has been passed. I think this is a responsible tool for a president of the United States, and I have sought to use it responsibly.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Reader's Digest (October 1976)
“There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe — and there never will be under a Ford administration... The United States does not concede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gaffe in the television debate with Jimmy Carter (6 October 1976)
“It is only as the temporary representatives and servants of the people that we meet here, we bring no hereditary status or gift of infallibility, and none follows us from this place.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: State of the Union Address (12 January 1977)
“The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to the National Restaurant Association, in Chicago, Illinois (28 May 1978)
“America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On pardoning Nixon, in A Time to Heal (1979)
“I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Time to Heal (1979)
“I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a man of the Congress, let me reaffirm my conviction that the collective wisdom of our two great legislative bodies, while not infallible, will in the end serve the people faithfully and very, very well.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech — just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many. If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman — my dear wife — as I begin this very difficult job.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy. As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is good to be back in the People's House. But this cannot be a real homecoming. Under the Constitution, I now belong to the executive branch. The Supreme Court has even ruled that I am the executive branch — head, heart, and hand.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not asking for conformity. I am dedicated to the two-party system, and you know which party I belong to. I do not want a honeymoon with you. I want a good marriage. I want progress, and I want problemsolving which requires my best efforts and also your best efforts. I have no need to learn how Congress speaks for the people. As President, I intend to listen. But I also intend to listen to the people themselves — all the people — as I promised last Friday. I want to be sure that we are all tuned in to the real voice of America.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Reagan from informal remarks to reporters 10 October 1984,and to students and faculty at St. John's University 28 March 1985. The statement was made a decade earlier by Gerald Ford in an address to a Joint…
Also quoted by: Barry Goldwater (misattributed), Ronald Reagan (misattributed)
“I am a little late getting around to it, but confession is good for the soul. I have sometimes voted to spend more taxpayer's money for worthy Federal projects in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while I vigorously opposed wasteful spending boondoggles in Oklahoma. [Laughter] Be that as it may, Mr. Speaker, you and I have always stood together against unwarranted cuts in national defense. This is no time to change that nonpartisan policy.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A strong defense is the surest way to peace. Strength makes détente attainable. Weakness invites war, as my generation—my generation—knows from four very bitter experiences. Just as America's will for peace is second to none, so will America's strength be second to none. We cannot rely on the forbearance of others to protect this Nation. The power and diversity of the Armed Forces, active Guard and Reserve, the resolve of our fellow citizens, the flexibility in our command to navigate international waters that remain troubled are all essential to our security.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the higher plane of public morality, there is no need for me to preach tonight. We have thousands of far better preachers and millions of sacred scriptures to guide us on the path of personal right-living and exemplary official conduct. If we can make effective and earlier use of moral and ethical wisdom of the centuries in today's complex society, we will prevent more crime and more corruption than all the policemen and prosecutors governments can ever deter. If I might say so, this is a job that must begin at home, not in Washington.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me, though surely it deeply troubles every decent and every compassionate person. My concern is the immediate future of this great country. In this, I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a long-time friend of the former President, nor my professional judgment as a lawyer, and I do not. As President, my primary concern must always be the greatest good of all the people of the United States whose servant I am. As a man, my first consideration is to be true to my own convictions and my own conscience.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests:”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source