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Quotes about the presidency

66 quotes from 43 people

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You are apprehensive of monarchy; I, of aristocracy. I would therefore have given more power to the President and less to the Senate.
John Adams1735–1826
Had I been chosen President again, I am certain I could not have lived another year.
John Adams1735–1826
I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.
John Adams1735–1826On the White House, in a letter to Abigail Adams (2 November 1800)
- Prayer
PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom — and of whom only — it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary, p. 266 (1948). Originally published in 1906 as The Cynic’s Word Book.
PRESIDENCY, n. The greased pig in the field game of American politics.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary.
I feel that my duty has been faithfully, though it may be imperfectly, performed, and, whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my country.
James Buchanan1791–1868Speech to Congress (8 January 1861).
- Patriotism
You may think the President is all-powerful, but he is not. He needs a lot of guidance from the Lord.
Barbara Bush1925–2018
- God
Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the president’s spouse. I wish him well!
Barbara Bush1925–2018
I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.
George H. W. Bush1924–2018News conference (22 March 1990)
- Comedy
- Food
A President is neither prince nor pope, and I don’t seek a window on men’s souls. In fact, I yearn for a greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other’s attitudes and way of life.
George H. W. Bush1924–2018George H. W. Bush’s Inaugural Address (1989)
Democracy means that anyone can grow up to be president, and anyone who doesn’t grow up can be vice president.
Johnny Carson1925–2005
- Democracy
I’ve worked for four presidents and watched two others up close, and I know that there’s no such thing as a routine day in the Oval Office.
Dick Cheney1941–2025
In our nation’s 246 year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.
Dick Cheney1941–2025Campaign advertisement for Liz Cheney’s re-election (August 2022)
- Politics
You don’t have to be smart to act — look at the outgoing president of the United States.
Cherborn 1946Remark (December 1988), reported in Brewer’s Cinema (1995)
- Acting
- Clever Jabs
Winning the Nobel Prize does not automatically qualify you to be commander in chief. I think George Bush has proved definitively that to be president, you don’t need to care about science, literature or peace.
Stephen Colbertborn 1964“A Mock Columnist, Amok”, in The New York Times (14 October 2007)
- Clever Jabs