H. W. Brands Quotes

American - Historian | August 7, 1953 -

There is a certain kind of sobering, civilizing effect that being president imposes on people. There is a certain kind of dignity with which you comport yourself. As an observer of the presidency, I have to wonder if Trump would follow that pattern.

H. W. Brands

YourselfPeopleYouWonderDignity

Every work of history is a combination of argument and narrative. The longer I write, the more I emphasize the narrative, the story, and the less attention I give to the argument. Arguments come and go.

H. W. Brands

WorkHistoryStoryAttentionGo

I'm more inclined to say the presidency has changed Trump rather than Trump changed the presidency. He has moderated or reversed himself on most of the positions he took as a candidate. Reality has set in, as it does with every new president.

H. W. Brands

RealityNewSayPresidentMoreMost

By the early 1960s, there was a moral consensus on what needed to be done on civil rights.

H. W. Brands

EarlyMoralDoneCivil RightsRights

The president is the one person who potentially could be the unifying figure in the country. And if the president or a presidential candidate basically writes off 40 states, then how in the world do the people in those 40 states feel like they have a stake in that person or that election?

H. W. Brands

PeopleWorldFeelElectionPerson

When you're actually president, the spin matters a lot less.

H. W. Brands

YouPresidentMattersSpinActually

For Andrew Jackson, politics was very personal. He hated not just the federal debt. He hated debt at all.

H. W. Brands

PoliticsDebtPersonalJustHated

In the early days of the republic, the secretary of state was the heir apparent to the president. Presidents could easily hand-pick their party's next candidate. The party caucuses formally selected the candidates, but presidents guided the process.

H. W. Brands

ProcessEarlyPartyPresidentDays

Booker Washington was essentially the head Republican boss in the South. He was a power broker.

H. W. Brands

PowerBossWashingtonRepublicanHe

Booker Washington was branded an accommodationist by many of the people who criticized him.

H. W. Brands

PeopleWashingtonHimWhoMany

Presidents are evaluated not by what they did by the stroke of their own pen; it's what they persuade Congress to do.

H. W. Brands

PenCongressOwnPersuadeDid

America can change its presidents, but the world doesn't change.

H. W. Brands

ChangeWorldAmericaPresidents

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