The Notes Part 1

THE NOTES.

Ronald Reagan's Private Collection of Stories and Wisdom.

Edited by Douglas Brinkley.

Introduction.

At the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, it's known as the Rosetta stone-the secret collection of 4-by-6 note cards on which our fortieth U.S. president recorded his favorite aphorisms, jokes, asides, and timeless nuggets of political wisdom. Although White House speechwriters such as Peggy Noonan, Ken Khachigian, and Tony Dolan had heard heard about Reagan's private notes collection, even occasionally witnessing him s.n.a.t.c.hing an appropriate note out of his Oval Office desk drawer to insert into a speech draft, no one except Nancy Reagan had ever seen the full a.s.semblage. Just as the fact that Reagan kept a daily diary as U.S. president from 1981 to 1989 surprised most people, the publication of about Reagan's private notes collection, even occasionally witnessing him s.n.a.t.c.hing an appropriate note out of his Oval Office desk drawer to insert into a speech draft, no one except Nancy Reagan had ever seen the full a.s.semblage. Just as the fact that Reagan kept a daily diary as U.S. president from 1981 to 1989 surprised most people, the publication of The Notes The Notes is an equally important landmark event in Reagan studies. Anyone wondering about how Reagan-dubbed "The Great Communicator"-delivered such oratorical magic as a dinner speaker and itinerant statesman should read this compilation. These notes reveal the is an equally important landmark event in Reagan studies. Anyone wondering about how Reagan-dubbed "The Great Communicator"-delivered such oratorical magic as a dinner speaker and itinerant statesman should read this compilation. These notes reveal the real real Reagan-a fiercely patriotic, pro-democracy avatar of limited government. Reagan-a fiercely patriotic, pro-democracy avatar of limited government.

It's believed that Reagan started The Notes The Notes collection when he was serving as a spokesperson for General Electric, from 1954 to 1962. Compelled to deliver hundreds of upbeat speeches a year to the Fortune 500 company's far-flung employees, Reagan devised a pragmatic method of keeping his hour-long public presentations both high-minded and lighthearted. A consummate showman, Reagan always padded salient contemporary political points with a couple of Borscht Belt one-liners followed by a wallop of engraved truth from one of the Founding Fathers. All those optimistic Eisenhower-era speeches focused on the virtues of free-market capitalism over Sovietism. Reagan listened, before and after speeches, to GE workers complain about high taxation and unnecessary regulations. He a.s.similated many of their sentiments into his own. collection when he was serving as a spokesperson for General Electric, from 1954 to 1962. Compelled to deliver hundreds of upbeat speeches a year to the Fortune 500 company's far-flung employees, Reagan devised a pragmatic method of keeping his hour-long public presentations both high-minded and lighthearted. A consummate showman, Reagan always padded salient contemporary political points with a couple of Borscht Belt one-liners followed by a wallop of engraved truth from one of the Founding Fathers. All those optimistic Eisenhower-era speeches focused on the virtues of free-market capitalism over Sovietism. Reagan listened, before and after speeches, to GE workers complain about high taxation and unnecessary regulations. He a.s.similated many of their sentiments into his own.

The backstory of how The Notes The Notes were rediscovered in 2010 is endearing. Under the direction of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, the library was getting a face-lift in time for the centennial of her husband's birth (February 6, 2011). Fifteen million dollars was raised to renovate from top to bottom the 26,000 square feet of the original exhibit s.p.a.ce in the museum. Reagan Foundation executive director John Heubusch issued a clear directive: Let's find some exciting, new artifacts to put on museum display. The foundation's chief administrative officer and former Reagan aide Joanne Drake launched a hybrid treasure huntinventory to uncover hidden heirlooms-no easy task, given the sheer bulk of boxes deposited at the Reagan Library. were rediscovered in 2010 is endearing. Under the direction of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, the library was getting a face-lift in time for the centennial of her husband's birth (February 6, 2011). Fifteen million dollars was raised to renovate from top to bottom the 26,000 square feet of the original exhibit s.p.a.ce in the museum. Reagan Foundation executive director John Heubusch issued a clear directive: Let's find some exciting, new artifacts to put on museum display. The foundation's chief administrative officer and former Reagan aide Joanne Drake launched a hybrid treasure huntinventory to uncover hidden heirlooms-no easy task, given the sheer bulk of boxes deposited at the Reagan Library.

One afternoon in the spring of 2010, The Notes The Notes, published here, were discovered in a cardboard box marked only in pen with "RR's desk" on its side. There was no label on it. It was randomly stashed among boxes of a.s.sorted Reagan memorabilia. What a Eureka moment. Here were the personal belongings Reagan had kept in his office desk right up until his death in 2004. No one but Reagan himself probably ever recognized the historic value of these treasured notes, which he kept among a ma.s.s of rubber bands and paperclips. About 95 percent of the Reagan Library archive belongs to the U.S. federal government. The remaining 5 percent of material is the property of the Reagan Foundation. This amazing box of handwritten Reagan leavings-personal property owned by the former president-belongs to the foundation. A decision was soon made by the foundation to publish The Notes The Notes.

All of The Notes The Notes were handwritten. When Reagan was recopying various quotations he was especially neat. His scrawl is impeccable-seldom does he employ a cross-out or correct a mis-start. Clearly, legibility was a high priority to him. Sometimes he uses an asterisk or makes a hearty underline for emphasis. Shorthand is often the order of the day. The reader gets the impression that Reagan is a redwood tree and these are the decorations of his own philosophy, the ammunition he will need to survive the hustings ahead. were handwritten. When Reagan was recopying various quotations he was especially neat. His scrawl is impeccable-seldom does he employ a cross-out or correct a mis-start. Clearly, legibility was a high priority to him. Sometimes he uses an asterisk or makes a hearty underline for emphasis. Shorthand is often the order of the day. The reader gets the impression that Reagan is a redwood tree and these are the decorations of his own philosophy, the ammunition he will need to survive the hustings ahead.

In addition to admiring the former president's penmanship, those who a.n.a.lyzed The Notes The Notes made some preliminary historical a.s.sessment. The notes that are published in this volume under the heading "Humor" are one-liners that were maintained in a fat stack of cards with a rubber band around them. They were separate from the rest of the collection. Whenever Reagan heard or invented a joke that he deemed a "keeper," he'd carefully write it out on a 4-by-6 note card and insert it in this stack. All the other axioms and aphorisms in this volume-all written in his own hand and found under the rubrics "On the Nation," "On Liberty," "On War," "On the People," "On Religion," "The World," "On Character," and "On Political Theater"-were kept in the plastic sleeves of a black photo alb.u.m. There was no categorical arrangement of the notecards under headings. I devised that method to make it easier for the reader. This alb.u.m artifact, the notecards yellowed around the edges, is now on permanent display at the renovated Reagan Library, unveiled as part of the 2011 centennial celebration. made some preliminary historical a.s.sessment. The notes that are published in this volume under the heading "Humor" are one-liners that were maintained in a fat stack of cards with a rubber band around them. They were separate from the rest of the collection. Whenever Reagan heard or invented a joke that he deemed a "keeper," he'd carefully write it out on a 4-by-6 note card and insert it in this stack. All the other axioms and aphorisms in this volume-all written in his own hand and found under the rubrics "On the Nation," "On Liberty," "On War," "On the People," "On Religion," "The World," "On Character," and "On Political Theater"-were kept in the plastic sleeves of a black photo alb.u.m. There was no categorical arrangement of the notecards under headings. I devised that method to make it easier for the reader. This alb.u.m artifact, the notecards yellowed around the edges, is now on permanent display at the renovated Reagan Library, unveiled as part of the 2011 centennial celebration.

Longtime friends of Reagan's remember that sometimes when he delivered a speech he'd throw the card of a joke that fell flat or of a nugget of political wisdom that tanked in front of an audience's ears into a wastepaper basket. What made it into the photo alb.u.m were his golden oldies, his trench-tested winners, the intellectual ideas of notable others that best reflected his own worldview. At the collection's core is Reagan's bedrock belief that freedom and liberty come with the cost of being an alert and well-informed citizen. The collection const.i.tutes a love song to America, the backbone of his most cherished ideas.

Many of the one-liners, jokes, high wisdom, straight talk, and political aphorisms in The Notes The Notes were delivered at one time or another in a public forum. If Reagan had one artifact that he would have saved were his house on fire, it would probably have been his card-stuffed photo alb.u.m. Its contents were tools of his trade as GE spokesperson, roast master, California governor, and U.S. president. There are hundreds of Thomas Jefferson quotes, for example, that are regularly offered up by U.S. politicians at rubber-chicken dinners and in stump speeches. What is interesting is why Reagan gravitated toward the handful of Jefferson in this volume. It's his were delivered at one time or another in a public forum. If Reagan had one artifact that he would have saved were his house on fire, it would probably have been his card-stuffed photo alb.u.m. Its contents were tools of his trade as GE spokesperson, roast master, California governor, and U.S. president. There are hundreds of Thomas Jefferson quotes, for example, that are regularly offered up by U.S. politicians at rubber-chicken dinners and in stump speeches. What is interesting is why Reagan gravitated toward the handful of Jefferson in this volume. It's his choices choices that are fascinating. that are fascinating.

The reason the Reagan Library calls The Notes The Notes a Rosetta stone is that the general public can easily deconstruct from this collection Reagan's own political philosophy. There is a gravitas to the quotes he chose to save in his private alb.u.m. With the exception of the one-liners, all the collected wisdom in a Rosetta stone is that the general public can easily deconstruct from this collection Reagan's own political philosophy. There is a gravitas to the quotes he chose to save in his private alb.u.m. With the exception of the one-liners, all the collected wisdom in The Notes The Notes const.i.tutes Reagan's Greatest Hits. And there are some shockers-who ever thought Reagan would have found anything useful from Mao or Norman Thomas? Even Reagan's political adversaries in America, like George McGovern, Walter Mondale, and Pat Brown, conceded that the Gipper's great gift was an innate ability to deliver a pitch-perfect joke, put-down, or ice-breaking one-liner on cue. When Robert F. Kennedy debated Reagan in 1967 about the Vietnam War-and Kennedy lost-Kennedy recognized that his rival had honed his gladiatorial routine to utter perfection, with an acute sense of timing, aw-shucks nods, chuckles, and eye rolls. "Reagan," RFK concluded, "was the toughest debater I ever went up against." const.i.tutes Reagan's Greatest Hits. And there are some shockers-who ever thought Reagan would have found anything useful from Mao or Norman Thomas? Even Reagan's political adversaries in America, like George McGovern, Walter Mondale, and Pat Brown, conceded that the Gipper's great gift was an innate ability to deliver a pitch-perfect joke, put-down, or ice-breaking one-liner on cue. When Robert F. Kennedy debated Reagan in 1967 about the Vietnam War-and Kennedy lost-Kennedy recognized that his rival had honed his gladiatorial routine to utter perfection, with an acute sense of timing, aw-shucks nods, chuckles, and eye rolls. "Reagan," RFK concluded, "was the toughest debater I ever went up against."

Part of Reagan's political success was the shrewd incorporation of the Bartlett's Book of Quotations Bartlett's Book of Quotationslike truisms found in this volume. While others thought Reagan was a conservative revolutionary, our fortieth president knew that he was speaking in the same vein as Washington, Lincoln, Paine, and FDR. Books like John Stuart Mill's On Liberty On Liberty and Adam Smith's and Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations The Wealth of Nations infused Reagan with genuine intellectual excitement, a collected wellspring of ac.u.men. infused Reagan with genuine intellectual excitement, a collected wellspring of ac.u.men.

It's important for readers to understand that The Notes The Notes is composed of raw, unedited primary source doc.u.ments. Reagan, for example, quotes the historian Arnold Toynbee as having written, "Hist. is the pattern of silken slippers descending the stairs & thunder of hobnail boots coming." This quote is, in fact, a paraphrase of Voltaire. But Reagan learned it secondhand from Toynbee; therefore Toynbee receives the attribution. There are a number of examples like this in is composed of raw, unedited primary source doc.u.ments. Reagan, for example, quotes the historian Arnold Toynbee as having written, "Hist. is the pattern of silken slippers descending the stairs & thunder of hobnail boots coming." This quote is, in fact, a paraphrase of Voltaire. But Reagan learned it secondhand from Toynbee; therefore Toynbee receives the attribution. There are a number of examples like this in The Notes The Notes. Taken collectively, the notes in this book form a raw primary source doc.u.ment.

About 40 percent of The Notes The Notes published here were written on White House cards. The others were on the personal stationery cards he used as governor of California. It's thought that others date back to his GE years in the 1950s-survivors from the lecture circuit that he brought with him to his Oval Office desk. Only a handful of the quotes and jokes weren't handwritten on the 4-by-6 cards. A few rogue ones were penned on irregularly shaped cards, which he clearly scribbled down on the run. published here were written on White House cards. The others were on the personal stationery cards he used as governor of California. It's thought that others date back to his GE years in the 1950s-survivors from the lecture circuit that he brought with him to his Oval Office desk. Only a handful of the quotes and jokes weren't handwritten on the 4-by-6 cards. A few rogue ones were penned on irregularly shaped cards, which he clearly scribbled down on the run.

Around the time The Notes The Notes were discovered in Simi Valley, an archivist also found boxes of handwritten and typed speeches on more cards from Reagan's years as governor, between 1967 and 1975. An ambitious Reagan historian of the future can write a fine scholarly paper mixing and matching the roles the note cards played in these varied high-profile speeches. Over the years I got to know a lot of old Reagan hands, ranging from Martin Anderson to George Bush, James Baker to Michael Deaver and Paul Laxalt. All of them used to collect good jokes to share with Reagan, as if pursuing a hobby. As speechwriter Aram Bakshian noted, "I used to spend a lot of time writing funny lines in the President's speeches. Then I'd see them taken out by the President in favor of better lines that he would add." Those fresh infusions of humor came from his note card collection. were discovered in Simi Valley, an archivist also found boxes of handwritten and typed speeches on more cards from Reagan's years as governor, between 1967 and 1975. An ambitious Reagan historian of the future can write a fine scholarly paper mixing and matching the roles the note cards played in these varied high-profile speeches. Over the years I got to know a lot of old Reagan hands, ranging from Martin Anderson to George Bush, James Baker to Michael Deaver and Paul Laxalt. All of them used to collect good jokes to share with Reagan, as if pursuing a hobby. As speechwriter Aram Bakshian noted, "I used to spend a lot of time writing funny lines in the President's speeches. Then I'd see them taken out by the President in favor of better lines that he would add." Those fresh infusions of humor came from his note card collection.

What has become clear to me since I first wrote about Reagan in The New Yorker The New Yorker back in 1999 is that the former president had a communications system all his own. He controlled his own game. He was always his own man. The photo alb.u.m was how he kept his most essential reference material. Because we know Reagan discarded many cards over the decades, we should consider this collection his pruned and manicured game book. It must have been a nice feeling to have Jefferson, Hamilton, and even Thomas Wolfe in your a.r.s.enal. For if Reagan is remembered as the Great Communicator, these notes provide the most effective way of decoding how he perfected his craft. As a historical doc.u.ment, back in 1999 is that the former president had a communications system all his own. He controlled his own game. He was always his own man. The photo alb.u.m was how he kept his most essential reference material. Because we know Reagan discarded many cards over the decades, we should consider this collection his pruned and manicured game book. It must have been a nice feeling to have Jefferson, Hamilton, and even Thomas Wolfe in your a.r.s.enal. For if Reagan is remembered as the Great Communicator, these notes provide the most effective way of decoding how he perfected his craft. As a historical doc.u.ment, The Notes The Notes showcases Reagan as one of the wittiest residents of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address. It becomes obvious that he found solace from both predecessors and contemporaries who had something memorable to say that reinforced his own Main Street values. showcases Reagan as one of the wittiest residents of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address. It becomes obvious that he found solace from both predecessors and contemporaries who had something memorable to say that reinforced his own Main Street values.

NOVEMBER 17, 2010.

HOUSTON, T TEXAS.

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ON THE NATION.

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[image]John Stuart Mill & Daniel Webster The Pres. has ltd. power. He may err without causing great mischief to the state. Cong. may decide amiss without destroying the union because the people may retract their decision by changing the members. But if the Sup. Ct. is ever compounded of imprudent men the Union may be plunged into anarchy or civil war.

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The Despotism America will face will degrade even men without tormenting them. Above this race of men will stand an immense and tutelary power which takes upon itself alone to secure man's gratifications and to watch over their fate. The power which this govt. shall exert shall be absolute, minute, regular, prudent & mild. For the happiness of this race of men such a govt. willingly labors. But in return it elects to be their sole agent and the only arbiter of their happiness. The govt. provides for this race security, it foresees & supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their prim. concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of their property and sub divides their inheritance. What can remain for this races govt. but to spare them the care of thinking and the trouble of living. Thus through its regulations- [image]

Nothing will ruin the country if the people themselves will undertake its safety; and nothing can save it if they leave that safety in any hand but their own.

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But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished govt. Who shall rear again the well proportioned cols. of const.i.tutional lib. Who shall frame together the skillful architecture which unites nat. sovereignty with states rts. individ. security & pub. prosperity.

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Hold on to the const.i.tution of the U.S. of Am. & to the Rep. for which it stands. Miracles do not cl.u.s.ter what has happened once in 6000 yrs. may never happen again. Hold on to your const. for if the Am. Const. shall fall there will be anarchy throughout the world.

[image]Alexis de Tocqueville It sometimes happens in a people among whom various opinions prevail that the balance of parties is lost & one of them obtains an irresistible preponderance, overpowers all obstacles, annihilates its opponents & the vanquished despair of success, hide their heads and are silent. (Detoc. explaining the disappearance of the Fed. Party in the 1820's) [image]

Dem. will last until the people in power learn they can perpetuate themselves in power through taxation.

[image]Francis Lieber (Prof. U Columbia [1859] "On Civil Lib & Self Govt.") Woe to the country in which pol. hypocrisy first calls the people almighty, then teaches that the voice of the people is divine, then pretends to take a mere clamor for the true voice of the people & lastly gets up the desired clamor. (Getting up the desired clamor is what we call rocket engineering) [image]John Winthrop, Deck of Arbella, 1630, off Ma.s.sachusetts Coast We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our G.o.d in this work we have undertaken & so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story & a byword throughout the world.

[image]Whittaker Chambers It is idle to speak of saving western civ. because western civ. is already a wreck from within. That is why we can hope to do little more now than s.n.a.t.c.h a fingernail of a saint from the rock or a handful of ashes from the f.a.gots, & bury them secretly in a flower point against the day, ages hence, when a few men begin again to dare to believe that there was once something else, that something else is thinkable & need some evidence of what it was & the fortifying knowledge that there were those who at the great nitefall, took loving thought to preserve the tokens of hope & truth.

[image]Former P.M.-Australia I wonder if anybody has thought what the situation of the comparatively small nat's. of the world would be if there were not in existence the U.S.-if there were not this giant country prepared to make so many sacrifices. wonder if anybody has thought what the situation of the comparatively small nat's. of the world would be if there were not in existence the U.S.-if there were not this giant country prepared to make so many sacrifices.

[image]Letter by Samuel Adams (1789) I have always been apprehensive that through the weakness of the human mind often discovered even in the wisest & best of men, or the perverseness of the interested & designing, in as well as out of govt., misconstruction would be given to the Fed. Const.-hazard the liberty, independence & happiness of the people-would gradually, but swiftly & imperceptibly run into a consolidated govt. pervading & legislating through all the States, not for federal purposes only as it professes, but in all cases whatsoever. Such a govt. would soon totally annihilate the Sovereignty of the several states not necessary to the support of the confederated Commonwealth, & sink both in despotism. have always been apprehensive that through the weakness of the human mind often discovered even in the wisest & best of men, or the perverseness of the interested & designing, in as well as out of govt., misconstruction would be given to the Fed. Const.-hazard the liberty, independence & happiness of the people-would gradually, but swiftly & imperceptibly run into a consolidated govt. pervading & legislating through all the States, not for federal purposes only as it professes, but in all cases whatsoever. Such a govt. would soon totally annihilate the Sovereignty of the several states not necessary to the support of the confederated Commonwealth, & sink both in despotism.

[image]Anonymous Too many Americans today have little or no faith in Social Freedom. They put their trust in govt. as the distributor of material goods preferring laws pa.s.sed by their legislators to the works of the mkt. place.

[image]Sen. Fulbright at Stanford U.

The Pres. is our moral teacher & our leader he should be freed from the shackles of ill informed pub. opinion. He is hobbled in his task by the restrictions of power imposed on him by a Const. system designed for an 18th century agrarian society.

[image]Henry Steele Commager, 1953 Only the Pres. because he is the chief exec. is in a position to know all the facts. Only the Pres. and his advisors are in a position to weigh all the facts. Therefore the Pres. alone can lead the country.

[image]Alex Hamilton on Impeachment The greatest danger is that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by a real demonstration of innocence or guilt.

[image]Thomas Jefferson The germ of dissolution of our Fed. govt. is in the Fed. Judiciary, an irresponsible body working like gravity, gaining a little today & a little tomorrow, & advancing its noiseless step like a thief over the field of jurisdiction until all shall be usurped from the states & the govt. of all be consolidated into one.

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1813: The same pol. parties that agitate the U.S. have existed through all time. Whether the power of the people or of the elite should prevail were questions which kept the states of Greece & Rome in eternal convulsions.

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The policy of the Am. govt. is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.

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A character of good faith is of as much value to a nation as to an individual. The moral obligations const.i.tute the law of nations as well as individuals. character of good faith is of as much value to a nation as to an individual. The moral obligations const.i.tute the law of nations as well as individuals.

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I place ec. among the 1st & most important virtues and pub. debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. We must make our election between ec. & liberty or profusion & servitude. place ec. among the 1st & most important virtues and pub. debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. We must make our election between ec. & liberty or profusion & servitude.

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If we let Wash. tell us when to sow & when to reap the Nation shall soon want for bread.

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A rebuke to Cong. "How could it be otherwise in a body to which the people send 150 lawyers whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing & talk by the hour." rebuke to Cong. "How could it be otherwise in a body to which the people send 150 lawyers whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing & talk by the hour."

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The basis of our govt. being the opinion of the people, the very 1st object should be to keep that right; & were it left to me to decide whether we should have govt. without newspapers or newspapers without govt., I should unhesitatingly prefer the latter.

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Wise & frugal govt. which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.

[image]Abe Lincoln 1864-By general law life & limb must be protected, yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life, but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures otherwise unconst. might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong I a.s.sumed that ground & now avow it.

[image]Montesquieu, 1748-Forms of Govt.

Each has a special relationship to its people. When that relationship is changed that form of govt. is doomed. 1-Dictatorship-Fear (can't survive if people no longer fear the dictator). 2-Monarchy-respect & affection for the Crown. 3-Rep. Govt.-There must be virtue among the people.

[image]Winston Churchill Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse pulling a st.u.r.dy wagon.

[image]Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1935 The Fed. govt. must & shall quit this business of relief. Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual & moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to Nat. fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.

[image]F.D.R., Pittsburgh, Oct. 19, 1932 Most of this new govt. created credit has been taken to finance the govt.'s continuing deficits. The truth is that the burden is absorbing their resources. All this is highly undesirable & wholly unnecessary. It arises from one cause only and that is the unbalanced bud. and the continued failure of this admin. to take effective steps to balance it. If that budget had been fully & honestly balanced in 1930 as it could have been, some of the 1931 collapse would have been avoided. Even if it had been balanced in 1931 as it could have been, much of the extreme dip in 1932 would have been obviated.... Would it not be infinitely better to clear this whole subject of obscurity-to present the facts squarely to the Cong. and the people of the U.S. & secure the one sound foundation of permanent econ. recovery-a complete & honest balance of the Fed. Bud.?

[image]John F. Kennedy Re: His Tax Cut Our true choice is not between tax reduction on the 1 hand & the avoidance of large Fed. deficits on the other. Our economy stifled by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget. Just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits.

[image]Woodrow Wilson America is sauntering thru the mazes of pol.'s with easy nonchalance. But presently there will come a time when she'll be surprised to find herself grown old-a country crowded, strained, perplexed. When she will be obligated to fall back upon her conservatism-obliged to pull herself together, adopt a new regimen of life, husband her resources, concentrate her strength, steady her methods, sober her views, restrict her vagaries, trust her best, not her average members.

[image]Cicero The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, the pub. debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered & controlled. a.s.sistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. The mob should be forced to work & not depend on govt. for sustenance.

[image]F.D.R.

The doctrine of reg. & legis. by masterminds in whose judgment and will all the people may gladly & quietly acquiesce has been too glaringly apparent in Wash. Were it possible to find masterminds so unselfish, so willing to decide unhesitatingly against their own personal interest-such a govt. might be to the interest of the country but there are none such on the pol. horizon.

[image]Frederic Bastiat Addressing Nat. a.s.sembly-France, 12/12/1849 The govt. offers a cure for the ills of mankind. It promises to restore commerce, make agri. prosperous, expand industry, encourage arts & letters, wipe out poverty, etc. etc. All that is needed is to create some new govt. agencies & to pay a few more bureaucrats.

[image]Bastiat When a nation is burdened with taxes nothing is more difficult or impossible than to levy them equally. What is still more difficult however is to shift the tax burden onto the shoulders of the rich. The state can have an abundance of money only by taking from everyone especially from the ma.s.ses.

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The state is the fict.i.tious ent.i.ty by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.

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The state quickly understands the use of the role the pub entrusts to it. It will be the arbiter, the master of all destinies. It will take a great deal hence a great deal will remain for itself. It will multiply the number of its agents ... it will end by acquiring overwhelming proportions.

[image]Robert M. Hutchins The American experiment of leaving ed. to 50 states & 40,000 school boards is drawing to a close. Fed. aid to education formally on a ma.s.sive scale is inevitable & the sooner it comes the better.

[image]Leonard Read Inflation is a device for siphoning govt. property into the coffers of govt. Successful hedging would require finding a form of property that cannot be confiscated. It does not exist. Pare govt. back to size; that is the only way to protect private property against confiscation.

[image]Arthur Krock "Memoirs"

As a Wash. eyewitness of governmental and other public action through the years I formed the opinion that the U.S. merits the dubious distinction of having discarded its past & its meaning in one of the briefest spans of modern hist. Among the changes are-fiscal solvency & confidence in a stable $ driven from the national & foreign mkt. place by continuous deficit spending, easy credit, & growing unfavorable balance of payments in the international ledger of the U.S.; the free enterprise system shackled by organized labor & a govt.-managed economy; the govt. trans.m.u.ted into a [welfare] it subsidized from Wash. & spoiled generations young to old led to expect the govt. to provide for all their wants, free of any of the requirements of responsible citizenship.

[image]Vladimir Lenin The way to take over a country is to debauch the currency. Through a continuous policy of inflation a govt. can quietly & un.o.bservedly confiscate the wealth of its citizens.

[image]Calvin Coolidge The Nat. which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.

[image]Paul McCracken on Pub. Debt If we carry the arithmetic of projected savings flows & probable financing in '75 to its logical end we arrive at the interesting conclusion that the savings stream might well fall some short of what will then be required for financing.

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Economists traditionally have tended to ignore these financial questions, but pressure in the cap. mkts. during the last few years remind us about the need to bring together savings & investment or savers & borrowers in an orderly way through the cap. mkts.

[image]Randolph E. Paul, Under Sec.-Treasury-"Taxation For Prosperity" p.217 The point is that taxes may be imposed, wholly apart from the revenue-producing qualities, to achieve desired effects on particular occasions ... On this higher level taxes may be used to express public policy on the distribution of wealth & income; progressive income & estate taxes perform this function. They may be used to subsidize or penalize particular industries and econ. groups.

[image]Late Sumner Slichter Hvd.

The tax hist. of the U.S. in recent years has been fairly sensational. A visitor from Mars would suspect that a communist 5th columnist was writing the laws for the purpose of making private enterprise unworkable.

[image]William Gladstone 100 Years after Our Const.i.tution I consider the const. to be the more remarkable political advance ever accomplished one time by the human intellect. consider the const. to be the more remarkable political advance ever accomplished one time by the human intellect.

[image]Anonymous When the courts sub. their will for that of the legis. appealing to what ought ought to be law when they can find no law & what ought to be the const. when that doc.u.ment itself gives not the slightest justification for a.s.serting the new prin. then we have reached the end of the road. to be law when they can find no law & what ought to be the const. when that doc.u.ment itself gives not the slightest justification for a.s.serting the new prin. then we have reached the end of the road.

[image]Will Rogers We will never get anywhere with our finances till we pa.s.s a law saying that every time we appropriate something we got to pa.s.s another bill along with it stating where the money is coming from.

[image]Nation Magazine Letter from Woman Who Fled Poland Before Martial Law Among many of our American born friends it is not fashionable to be enthusiastic about Am. There is Vietnam, drugs, urban & racial conflict, poverty & pollution. Undoubtedly this country faces urgent & serious problems. But we newcomers see not only the problems but also democratic solutions being sought & applied. I love Am. because people accept me for what I am. They don't question my ancestry, my faith, my pol. beliefs. When I want to move from one place to another I don't have to ask permission. When I need a needle I go to the nearest store & get one. I don't have to stand in line for hours hours to buy a piece of tough fat meat. Even with inflation I don't have to pay a day's earnings for a small chicken. I love Am. because Am. trusts me. I don't have to show an ident.i.ty card to buy a pair of shoes. My mail isn't censored, my phone isn't tapped, my conversation with friends isn't reported to the secret police. to buy a piece of tough fat meat. Even with inflation I don't have to pay a day's earnings for a small chicken. I love Am. because Am. trusts me. I don't have to show an ident.i.ty card to buy a pair of shoes. My mail isn't censored, my phone isn't tapped, my conversation with friends isn't reported to the secret police.

[image]Letter I Received from Cub Scout I love America because you can join Cub Scouts if you want to. You have a right to worship as you please. love America because you can join Cub Scouts if you want to. You have a right to worship as you please.

[image]Mark Hawley, Seattle, Wash.

If you have the ability you can try to be anything you want to be. I also like Am. because we have about 200 flavors of ice cream.

[image]Ted Sorensen Decision in The White House Public opinion-often erratic, inconsistent, arbitrary & unreasonable-frequently hampered by myths & misinformation, by stereotypes & shibboleths & by innate resistance to innovation-for these reasons Pres. must not be bound by pub. opinion. He must reign in Wash. but he must also rule.