On November 18, 1956, Communist leader Nikita Khrushchev, the head of the Soviet Union, attended a party at the Polish Embassy in Moscow. At that event, he made some boasting…
Category: Historical quotes
The 1984 presidential debate that launched the term “Spin Doctors” – and a famous quip…
Nowadays, most people are familiar with the term “spin doctors.” I think they’ve been more omnipresent than ever during the 2016 presidential campaign, though few people know how they got…
“A statesman is a politician who’s been dead ten or fifteen years.”
During Harry S Truman’s years as President of the United States, from 1945 to 1954, he was known as a feisty politician. It earned him the nickname “Give ‘em Hell…
“No rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
On March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court issued it’s controversial decision on Scott v. Sandford — generally referred to as “the Dred Scott case.” The plaintiff, Dred Scott, was…
“A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing” for “the tree of liberty”…
In 1786, the new democratic government of the United States of America wasn’t quite working out like some Revolutionary War veterans had expected. Many had not been paid for their…
The origin of the slogan “Sisterhood is Powerful.”
In 1970, feminist leader and author Robin Morgan edited an anthology of articles about the growing woman’s liberation movement titled Sisterhood Is Powerful. The book quickly became a bestseller and…
“Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!”
On December 7, 1941 — which President Franklin D. Roosevelt would memorably name “a date which will live in infamy” on the following day — hundreds of Japanese warplanes made a…
Queen Elizabeth’s “Annus Horribilis” and it’s ancestor, the “Annus Mirabilis”…
On November 24, 1992, Elizabeth II gave a speech in London to mark the 40th anniversary of her Accession as Queen of England and “the Commonwealth realms.” The speech immediately…
“Business as usual”
It’s not uncommon to see credible sources claim that the phrase “business as usual” was coined by Winston Churchill. For example, a glossary of World War I words and phrases…
“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.”
It’s difficult to pigeonhole Teddy Roosevelt. He was a Republican for most of his political career, including his two terms as President of the United States from 1901 to 1909.…