He said WHAT?

These, to my mind, are the ten greatest quotes of 19th- and 20th-century American history. They have been chosen for their historical significance, their eloquence, their wit, or their cattiness. They are in no particular order. They are not chosen on the basis of ideology or partisanship. They are simply the ones that I enjoy the most. I give you:

THE TEN GREATEST QUOTES OF 19th and 20TH-CENTURY AMERICA

1. Context: United States UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson addresses Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin (who has one of the BEST names of all time), questioning Zorin about his country's placing of missiles in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961. Stevenson asked if Zorin's country was installing missiles, to which he abruptly added this gem,

"Don't wait for the translation, answer 'yes' or 'no'!"

Sock it to 'em, egghead.

2. Context: The 1988 Vice Presidential debate between Sen. Dan Quayle (Republican running mate of George H. W. Bush) and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic running mate of Michael Dukakis). The campaign highlighted Quayle's relatively short time in the Senate as a marker of his inexperience, should he ever be elevated to the presidency. In rebuttal, Quayle often compared himself to John F. Kennedy by saying that Kennedy had no more experience than he had when Kennedy sought the presidency, to which Bentsen replied,

"Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy; I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

Meow, baby.

3. Context: The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., adressed the crowd from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This is classic, and should be read in its entirety by ALL Americans.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

Obviously.

4. Context: In 1954, during the Army-McCarthy hearings in which Sen. Joseph McCarthy was attempting to weed out communists from the Army. During some aggressive questioning from the Army's lawyer, Joseph Welch, McCarthy fired back that Welch should be more concerned with tending to his own organizations. He specifically referenced an attorney from Welch's Boston law office, Fred Fisher, who had come under suspicion because of his involvement with the National Lawyers' Guild, an organization suspected of being a communist front. In a pre-trial agreement McCarthy and Welch had agreed not to bring Fisher up because the matter was already under investigation. When McCarthy violated this agreement in mentioning Fisher, Welch fired back with this classic retort.

"Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator... You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

I use this one myself sometimes. The reference usually gets lost on most people.

5. Context: The Minnesota State Fair in 1901, at which Vice President Theodore Roosevelt articulated what's known as "Big Stick Diplomacy" in which the United States had the right to not only oppose European intervention in the Western hemisphere, but also to use forceful means to head it off. Examples are mostly from United States involvement in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Weirdly, President McKinley would be assassinated twelve days later, giving Roosevelt the chance to implement his policy as 26th President of the United States.

6. Context: December 8, 1941, the day after the Empire of Japan bombed the US Naval installation at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Franklin Roosevelt stood before the assembled Congress to ask for a declaration of war.

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

7. Context: The 1832 Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia. At the time, Georgia required any white person living in Native American territory to be licensed by the state. Several missionaries refused to obtain the license on the grounds that the state of Georgia had no right to enforce laws on sovereign Indian nations. They contested the law all the way to the Supreme Court. In a surprise decision, the Court (under the stewardship of Chief Justice John Marshall) struck down the Georgia law, effectively acknowledging the existence of sovereign Indian communities within the United States. President Andrew Jackson, who nearly always took an unfavorable view towards Native Americans, and is credited with something of a Native American holocaust with his Indian removal policies, expressed his reaction to the decision.

"John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!"

8. Context: At the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania several months after the Union armies decisively defeated the Confederacy in the Battle of Gettysburg. To commemorate the battle, and those lost in it, Lincoln gave the now-famous Gettysburg Address, which many a grade-schooler ever since has been obliged to memorize.

"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

9. Context: The 1925 Scopes trial, in which Tennessee schoolteacher Thomas Scopes was brought to court for teaching the theory of evolution in defiance of state laws the prohibited the teaching of any theory that denied the story of divine creation presented in the Bible. In a famous turn of events, the defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, called for an expert on the Bible, a call that was readily answered by the prosecuting attorney and influential politician, William Jennings Bryan. During the questioning, Darrow attempted to show that belief in the historicity of the Bible was unreasonable and should not be taught as science.

"You insult every man of science and learning in the world because he does not believe in your fool religion. [...] We have the purpose of preventing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States."

10. Context: The 1949 Supreme Court case Terminiello v. Chicago, in which a priest had been convicted under a Chicago ordinance for breach of peace. Terminiello was convicted of breaching the peace at a rally where his anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi ranting incited quite a large protest (understandably). Terminiello appealed, and on review Justice William Douglas wrote the majority opinion overturning Terminiello's conviction and striking down the city ordinance as unconstitutional. According to Douglas, no matter how inflamatory, free speech must be protected:

"The choice is not between order and liberty. It is between liberty with order and anarchy without either. There is danger that, if the court does not temper is doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact."


And there you have it, folks!