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Richard Nixon

224 quotes

“Present subsidized housing programs are marked by inconsistencies and inequities. Many families pay the same rent despite wide differences in income. A small increase in earnings may force the family to move, losing much more housing assistance than is gained in income. We have proposed a solution to many of these problems in the Housing Act of 1970. Rents would vary directly with income. A family would not be forced to move at some arbitrary income limit. We will offer this provision of the Housing Act to the Senate Finance Committee for its consideration.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In other amendments, we are proposing significant changes in social services for the poor. This proposal has been developed in recent months and will be ready for submission to the Congress next week. These amendments will: Encourage accountability and program results; Strengthen the role of Governors, mayors, and county executives; Seek to eliminate duplication and overlap.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have the greatest affection for them but I know they're not going to make it for 500 years. They aren't. You know it, too. The Mexicans are a different cup of tea. They have a heritage. At the present time they steal, they're dishonest, but they do have some concept of family life. They don't live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I just say that we've got to keep our eye on the main ball. The main ball is [[Daniel Ellsberg|[Daniel] Ellsberg]]. We've got to get this son of a bitch. You can't be in a position of ever allowing, just because some guy is going to be martyr, of allowing the fellow to get away with this kind of wholesale thievery, or otherwise it's going to happen all over the government. Don't you agree?”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Within groups, there are geniuses. There are geniuses within black groups. There are more within Asian groups ... This is knowledge that is better not to know.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fall of 1971, conversation with Harvard professor Daniel Patrick Moynihan; as qtd. in Tim Naftali, "Ronald Reagan's Long-Hidden Racist Conversation With Richard Nixon", The Atlantic, (Jul 30, 2019)
“I'm not saying that blacks cannot govern. I'm saying that they had a helluva time. Now that must demonstrate something. Now, having said that, let's look at Latin America. Latin America has had 150 years of trying at it and they don't have much going down there, either. Mexico is a one-party government; Colombia, they trade it off every two years, Venezuela is tipty toe, and the rest are dictatorships, except for [[Salvador Allende|[President Salvador] Allende]] [of Chile], which is a communist dictatorship. Elected but communist.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nixon: Let's look at that. The Italians aren't any good at government. The Spanish aren't any good at government . . .”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nixon: Now you look at Asia and you can say, well, what about there, you don't have democracies. Of course, you don't, except Japan, where we imposed it, and the Philippines, and it's a helluva mess. But, on the other hand, Thailand with its oligarchy has the right kind of government for Thailand. And we have to say, too, that Iran, with the benevolent shah, with the benevolent shah, that's the right thing for those folks.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Undoubtedly the most unattractive women in the world are the Indian women, undoubtedly... The most sexless, nothing, these people. I mean, people say, what about the Black Africans? Well, you can see something, the vitality there, I mean they have a little animallike charm, but God, those Indians, ack, pathetic. Uch... To me, they turn me off. How the hell do they turn other people on, Henry? Tell me. [...] They turn me off. They are repulsive and it's just easy to be tough with them.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In conversation with Henry Kissinger, remarks about Indians made during the in 1971. Conversation 300-013 of the . Quoted by Gary J. Bass ["The Terrible Cost of Presidential Racism The Terrible Cost of Presidential Raci…
“I don't know how they reproduce!.. They are a scavenging people.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On November 12, 1971, in the middle of a discussion about India-Pakistan tensions with Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State William P. Rogers, after Rogers mentioned reprimanding Indira Gandhi. Conversation 617-009 of…
“Let me say something before we get off the gay thing. I don't want my views misunderstood. I am the most tolerant person on that of anybody in this shop. They have a problem. They're born that way. You know that. That's all. I think they are. Anyway, my point is, though, when I say they're born that way, the tendency is there.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My point is that Boy Scout leaders, YMCA leaders, and others bring them in that direction, and teachers. And if you look over the history of societies, you will find, of course, that some of the highly intelligent people.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oscar Wilde, Aristotle, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, were all homosexuals. Nero, of course, was, in a public way, in with a boy in Rome.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They can do it. Just leave them alone. That's a lifestyle I don't want to touch.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If he gets shot, it's too damn bad.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conversation about Senator Edward Kennedy with White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman (September 7, 1972)
“Screw State! State's always on the side of the blacks. The hell with them!”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976 Volume E-5, Part 1, Documents on Sub-Saharan Africa, 1969-1972, Document 258 Conversation Between President Nixon and the President's Assistant for National Security Aff…
“The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conversation with Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig on December 14, 1972
“The important thing in our process, however, is to play the game, and in the great game of life, and particularly the game of politics, what is important is that on either side more Americans voted this year than ever before, and the fact that you won or you lost must not keep you from keeping in the great game of politics in the years ahead, because the better competition we have between the two parties, between the two men running for office, whatever office that may be, means that we get the better people and the better programs for our country.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Several commentators have reflected on the fact that this may be one of the great political victories of all time. In terms of votes that may be true, but in terms of what a victory really is, a huge landslide margin means nothing at all unless it is a victory for America. It will be a victory for America only if, in these next four years, we, all of us, can work together to achieve our common great goals of peace at home and peace for all nations in the world, and for that new progress and prosperity which all Americans deserve.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Or a rape.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Nixon Tapes, Ambivalence Over Abortion, Not Watergate by Charlie Savage, The New York Times (June 23, 2009).
“[discussing the politics of clemency for Watergate conspirators:] No — it is wrong that's for sure.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (March 21, 1973). Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, "Nixon Debated Paying Blackmail, Clemency", The Washington Post (May 1, 1974). Walter Rugaber "Close‐ Up View of Nixon Under Pressure Emerges From the Transcripts", The…
“The peace we seek in the world is not the flimsy peace which is merely an interlude between wars, but a peace which can endure for generations to come. It is important that we understand both the necessity and the limitations of America's role in maintaining that peace. Unless we in America work to preserve the peace, there will be no peace. Unless we in America work to preserve freedom, there will be no freedom.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In any organization, the man at the top must bear the responsibility. That responsibility, therefore, belongs here, in this office. I accept it. And I pledge to you tonight, from this office, that I will do everything in my power to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice and that such abuses are purged from our political processes in the years to come, long after I have left this office.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On Christmas Eve, during my terrible personal ordeal of the renewed bombing of North Vietnam, which after 12 years of war finally helped to bring America peace with honor, I sat down just before midnight. I wrote out some of my goals for my second term as President. Let me read them to you:”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Together with the Soviet Union we have made the crucial breakthroughs that have begun the process of limiting nuclear arms. But we must set as our goal not just limiting but reducing and finally destroying these terrible weapons so that they cannot destroy civilization and so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world and the people. We have opened the new relation with the Soviet Union. We must continue to develop and expand that new relationship so that the two strongest nations of the world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For more than a quarter of a century in public life I have shared in the turbulent history of this era. I have fought for what I believed in. I have tried to the best of my ability to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I shall continue to work for the great causes to which I have been dedicated throughout my years as a Congressman, a Senator, a Vice President, and President, the cause of peace not just for America but among all nations, prosperity, justice, and opportunity for all of our people. There is one cause above all to which I have been devoted and to which I shall always be devoted for as long as I live.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Any nation that decides the only way to achieve peace is through peaceful means is a nation that will soon be a piece of another nation.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No More Vietnams (1987)
“No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No More Vietnams (1987)
“In the age of nuclear warfare to continue our political differences by means of war would be to discontinue civilization as we know it. War is an option whose time has passed. Peace is the only option for the future. At present we occupy a treacherous no-man’s-land between peace and war, a time of growing fear that our military might has expanded beyond our capacity to control it and our political differences widened beyond our ability to bridge them.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Real peace will not come from some magic formula that will suddenly and once and for all be "discovered," like the promised land or the holy grail. Real peace is a process — a continuing process for managing and containing conflict between competing nations, competing systems, and competing international ambitions. Peace is not an end to conflict but rather a means of living with conflict, and once established it requires constant attention or it will not survive.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perfect peace has no historical antecedents and therefore no practical meaning in a world in which conflict among men is persistent and pervasive. If real peace is to exist, it must exist along with men’s ambitions, their pride, and their hatreds. A peace that fails to take these things into account will not last.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nowdays, If a news report does not tie up loose ends as neatly as The A Team, it is considered a flop.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From In The Arena (1990)
“But by God, there are exceptions. But Bob, generally speaking, you can't trust the bastards. They turn on us.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Jews, to H. R. Haldeman, as quoted in "Nixon: I Am Not an Anti-Semite" by Timothy Noah, in Slate (October 7, 1999)
“But, Bob, generally speaking, you can't trust the bastards. They turn on you. Am I wrong or right?”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking about Jews "New Tapes Reveal Depth of Nixon's Anti-Semitism" in The Washington Post (October 9, 1999)
“We may have created a Frankenstein ['s monster].”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Before Nixon died, he feared that opening the world to the China may created a 'Frankenstein'. "Essay; The Biggest Vote" (May 18, 2000)
“I'm not for women, frankly, in any job. I don't want any of them around. Thank God we don't have any in the Cabinet.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Rehnquist Choice (2001) by John Dean; also in "Double Dipping at the Waffle House" by Dahlia Lithwick in Slate (11 October 2001)
“I don't think women should be in any government job whatever. I mean, I really don't. The reason why I do is mainly because they are erratic and emotional.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in John Boertlein, Presidential Confidential (2010), p. 293
“As long as I'm sitting in the chair, there's not going to be any Jew appointed to that court. [No Jew] can be right on the criminal-law issue.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: National Review (19 November 2001)
“Nixon: I still think we ought to take the North Vietnamese dikes out now. Will that drown people? Kissinger: About two hundred thousand people. Nixon: No, no, no, I'd rather use the nuclear bomb. Have you got that, Henry? Kissinger: That, I think, would just be too much. Nixon: The nuclear bomb, does that bother you?. I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christsakes.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In conversation with Henry Kissinger regarding Vietnam, as quoted in Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. (2002) by Daniel Ellsberg p. 418
“Nixon: The only place where you and I disagree is with regard to the bombing. You're so goddamned concerned about civilians and I don't give a damn. I don't care. Kissinger: I'm concerned about the civilians because I don't want the world to be mobilized against you as a butcher.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In conversation with Henry Kissinger regarding Vietnam, as quoted in Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. (2002) by Daniel Ellsberg
“I can't ever say that, but I believe it.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Responding to Rev. Billy Graham's assertion that the Jews have a "stranglehold" on the media that "has to be broken or the country's going down the drain." Quoted in The New Yorker (15 April 2002)
“You don't want to know.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Responding to Senator Howard Baker who asked him the question: "What do you know about the Kennedy assassination?" Quoted in Oral History Interview with Don Hewitt (8 October 2002)
“I think most Americans understood that the My Lai massacre was not representative of our people, of the war we were fighting, or of our men who were fighting it; but from the time it first became public the whole tragic episode was used by the media and the antiwar forces to chip away at our efforts to build public support for our Vietnam objectives and policies.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Convergences (2005) [second edition] by Robert Atwan, [Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 403]
“What are our schools for if not for indoctrination against communism?”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech before a meeting of San Diego educators during the 1962 gubernatorial election.
“Now listen here: Printing top secret information. I don't care how they feel about the war. Whether they're for or against it. They can't and should not do this and attack the integrity of government and by God, I'm gonna fight that son of a bitching paper. They don't know what's gonna hit them now.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After The New York Times started publishing the Pentagon Papers, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009)
“I want to tell you that I was so damn mad when that Supreme Court had to come down. First, I didn't like the decision. Unbelievable, wasn't it? You know, those clowns we got on there, I tell you, I hope I outlive the bastards.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, you can just stop and think of what could happen if anybody with a decent system of government got control of that mainland. Good God. There'd be no power in the world that could even — I mean, you put 800 million Chinese to work under a decent system and they will be the leaders of the world”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of course you know perfectly well that it has always been Tory men with liberal principles who have enlarged democracy.”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“the rate of increase of inflation is decreasing”
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) first seen 1108 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Often attributed to Nixon, this is a slight misquote of a second-hand account of what he said. "In the fall of 1972 President Nixon announced that the rate of increase of inflation was decreasing. This was the first tim…