Every leader should have enough humility to accept, publicly, the responsibility for the mistakes of the subordinates he has himself selected and, likewise, to give them credit, publicly, for their triumphs.
Ideas more than once have prevailed against naked power. Guns and aircraft alone do not make a state powerful. Unless force is backed up by the will of the great body of people it loses its meaning.
Our best protection against bigger government in Washington is better government in the states.
Character in many ways is everything in leadership. It is made up of many things, but I would say character is really integrity.
Any nations right to a form of government and economic system of its own choosing is inalienable. Any nations attempt to dictate to other nations their form of government is indefensible.
Not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest.
Through knowledge and understanding we will drive from the temple of freedom all who seek to establish over us thought control – whether they be agents of a foreign power or demagogues thirsty for personal power and public notice.
I’ll tell you what leadership is. It’s persuasion and conciliation, and education, and patience.
The righteousness of men should be treated with the same respect that one would accord to a rattlesnake. Things are more like they are now than they ever were before.
First, separate ground, sea and air warfare is gone forever. If ever again we should be involved in war, we will fight it in all elements, with all services, as one single concentrated effort.
If people get together, so eventually will nations.
We must be strong at home if we are going to be strong abroad. We understand that. So we want to be strong at home in our morale or in our spirit, we want to be strong intellectually, in our education, in our economy and, where necessary, militarily.
We know something of the cost of that war. We were in it from December seventh, ’41, till August of ’45. Ever since that time, we have been waging peace. It has had its ups and downs just as the war did.
Arms alone can give the world no permanent peace, no confident security. Arms are solely for defense – to protect from violent assault what we already have. They are only a costly insurance. They cannot add to human progress.
We do not keep security establishments merely to defend property or territory or rights abroad or at sea. We keep the security forces to defend a way of life.
In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with the people’s money or their economy or their form of government, be conservative.
Censorship, in my opinion, is a stupid and shallow way of approaching the solution to any problem.
Well, it’s hard for a mere man to believe that woman doesn’t have equal rights.
Now this brings me to my main topic – our military strength – more specifically, how to stay strong against threat from outside, without undermining the economic health that supports our security.
My constant prayer, these days, as I start my backswing is, ‘Oh, please let me swing slowly.’ The trouble is that sometimes I wonder whether I swing at all; whether I am not strictly a chopper.