On January 13, 1898, the front page of the French newspaper L’Aurore featured a scathing letter about the “Dreyfus Affair” written by popular author Émile Zola and addressed to the…
Category: Political quotes
True or false: Stephen Colbert coined the word truthiness? (Hint: you’re right!)
During the very first Colbert Report show on October 17, 2005, the witty faux Conservative media pundit Stephen Colbert unleashed the word truthiness on the world. (Click here to see…
“About one-fifth of the people are against everything all of the time.”
Some observers have expressed surprise that two populist, anti-establishment candidates who many people view as “extremists” won sizeable percentages of the votes in the 2016 presidential primary elections. But in…
The origins of the “The Domino Effect”…
Contrary to what many sites on the Internet say, President Dwight D. Eisenhower did not coin the famous Cold War term “the Domino Effect.” He did use the phrase “falling…
“The business of America is business” – a famously unfair misquote…
When President Warren G. Harding died from a heart-related problem in 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States. The following year, with his popularity…
“I am not a crook!”
In retrospect, it’s ironic that one of the slogans used by Richard M. Nixon during his first presidential campaign in 1968 was: “The ‘I’ in Nixon stands for integrity.” Today,…
The origins of the Cold War term “hot line” and the mythical “red phones”…
Many books and websites note that the famed “hot line” communication link between the Pentagon and the Kremlin was established on August 30, 1963. Press reports about this new tool,…
“Preserve, protect and defend…"
The oath an American president recites upon taking office includes the famous promise to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Interestingly, one of the first decisions…
“I’m mad as hell” — the misquote of a movie line that is itself a misquote!
During almost every recent election season, political commentators seem to talk about “angry voters” of one kind or another. These disgruntled voters are usually said to be angry about certain…
Spiro Agnew vs. the “effete intellectuals” and “nattering nabobs”…
Nowadays, Conservative provocateurs like Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter get lots of media attention for coming up with snarky, quotable insults aimed at Liberals. But the way was…