Quote

Messrs. Washington and Lincoln faced enormous difficulties, but they both gave their lives to make sure America survived.

The greatest presidents have been those who demonstrated astute judgment in times of crisis - often despite the advice they were getting.

In America, we may acknowledge Washington and Lincoln as great men, and probably Franklin and Jefferson and maybe Franklin Delano Roosevelt and possibly even several more, but we would probably disagree about precisely what it was that made them great, what it was that enabled them to give a lasting direction to the course of events.

Success in war underpins the claims to greatness of many presidents.

From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan, every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner, I think, if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next.

We saw what happened in Jimmy Carter's administration. President Carter was a good man with the best of intentions. But he came to Washington without a good working relationship with Democratic members of Congress, which played a big part in his administration's problems.

Roosevelt's magic lay in one facet of his personality: He knew how to take the risk. No other man in public life I knew could so readily take the challenge of the new.

Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation.

Politically there were failures. And also on the personal level, there were tremendous failures.

Few American presidents have been unhappier or lonelier in office than Woodrow Wilson.