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James A. Garfield1831–1881

James A. Garfield on government

The chief duty of government is to keep the peace and stand out of the sunshine of the people.

James A. Garfield

Letter to H. N. Eldridge (12 December 1869) as quoted in Garfield (1978) by Allen Peskin, Ch. 13

Quote and source from Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.
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The President is the last person in the world to know what the people really want and think.
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If any theories or opinions of mine can be damaged by facts, so much the worse for my theories.
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