“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.” This verse, from Proverbs 25:11, aptly describe the desire of any public figure’s feelings about his own words. But timeless phrases are few and far between.
But most Americans can identify the speaker by some of the remarks made. The title of this essay, “I Have a Dream” is well known as the high point of a speech made by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his “March on Washington” in 1963. Also, if you were to ask any good red-blooded Democrat (or Republican) who used the phrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”, he or she will answer, John Kennedy. But most will not realize he was not the first to use this idea; many attribute it to Oliver Wendell Holmes in a speech in 1884, but even that is open to question.
What we will do is to take a few of these “timeless” words from history, give a short biography of the phrase, and then use real or imagined words from today’s politicians.
In his Farewell Address in 1796, George Washington famously warned against “entangling alliances” with foreign countries. Thomas Jefferson penned the words, “All men are created equal” for the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Although no words are recorded for posterity, we can but imagine what John Quincy Adams had to say when an enterprising newspaper reporter, Anne Royall, discovered that Adams, when the weather was favorable, would arise at 5 each morning and take a swim in the nude in the Potomac River. Ms. Royall, a widow of a Revolutionary War soldier, hid the President’s clothes until he agreed to an interview. Perhaps he just demanded, “Where are my clothes?!!”
Because President Andrew Jackson caused, with his 1830 Indian Removal Act, the infamous Trail of Tears, he could have said, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead”, but that was really uttered by the Indian fighter General Philip Sheridan. However, when Jackson fought the Battle of New Orleans in January of 1815, part of his force were several friendly Indians.
James Knox Polk, the 11th President, used the memorable words that Mexican forces had “shed American blood on American soil”, and thus got his war with that country declared by Congress. Of course, we know now that the soil was disputed territory; whose soil it belonged to was determined finally by the treaty that ended the Mexican War.
All Americans know that Abraham Lincoln used these words to begin his Gettysburg Address, spoken on November 19, 1863: “Four score and seven years ago . . .”
One of Lincoln’s more successful generals, William Tecumseh Sherman, when speaking of war some twenty years later, claimed, “War is hell!” Another war prompted an American diplomat, Elihu Root, to remark, “It was a splendid little war.” For the U. S. it was; in only four months this nation’s forces claimed Guam and Puerto Rico, and controlled the Philippines and Cuba for decades because of our victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898.
The 20th century has given us more “words fitly spoken”, and given us some words not fitly spoken. Teddy Roosevelt claimed his foreign policy was to “speak softly, but carry a big stick”. His cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, had two of the most widely remembered. His first inauguration featured, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, and “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy . . .”
His successor, Harry Truman, had one of his favorite sayings on his desk, “The buck stops here”. Dwight Eisenhower ended his administration by warning of the “military-industrial complex” being too influential in American politics. Kennedy’s words were spoken in 1961, with King’s in 1963. Who can forget Richard Nixon’s defense of his actions when he declared “I am not a crook!”?
Everett Dirksen, Republican Senator from Illinois, remarked in 1962 or so, words to this effect: “A billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money” when considering the federal budget.
Jimmy Carter claimed that American suffered from a “national malaise”, and no one over the age of 40 will forget Ronald Reagan’s 1987 speech in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”!
In 1988, George H. W. Bush regretted making his most memorable utterance as he campaigned for President: “Read my lips; no new taxes”. Bill Clinton had one of the most hilarious (but telling phrases), “It depends on the what the meaning of the word is is.” Perhaps apocryphal, but apt, he could have said, “Where are the women at?”
When speaking at the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York in 2001, George W. Bush repeated an oft quoted phrase, “You can run but can’t hide” about the perpetrators of the terror attack.
How can one forget the words of Barack Obama, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor?” And his successor, Donald Trump will forever be linked to the MAGA slogan, Make America Great Again.
Contemporary politicians have yet to utter words that will last for eternity, but some have made statements that are both preposterous and stupid. Some of these will, of necessity, be compiled from actual words spoken and from words given to the actors. (In other words, some will be created statements!)
“I am the public face of Chicago”. So declared Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot, after violating her own stay at home order and getting a salon treatment in what was supposed to be a shuttered business. Although not an actual statement, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, did the same in California, violating both the place where the hair treatment took place and the mask mandate ordered in California. It could have been simply, “I needed a perm!”
Ilhan Omar, the Somalian immigrant who is a Moslem Congresswoman from Minnesota, said of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, “Somebody did something”.
Joe Biden, President-elect as of this writing, has more than once spoken of the “Harris administration”, somehow forgetting that Kamala Harris is actually the Vice-President elect. I predict, since he has had trouble remembering where he was at times, that his next batch of words unfitly spoken will be, “Where am I?” as he prepares to take the oath of office.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has made numerous verbal gaffes. (Spoiler alert: some of these may be just created out of thin air!) One of her forever quotes was, “The unemployment rate is so low is because so many are working two or three jobs.” No one can forget her Green New Deal included cows to be eliminated because they farted too much methane gas. Still another (perhaps not too authentic) was “Everyone wants me to read the Constitution but it is written in cursive.” AOC compounded her assault on words fitly spoken by claiming, “Nothing is made in America anymore. I just bought a TV which said ‘built in antenna’, and I don’t even know where that country is!”
Chuck Schumer, soon to be the Majority Leader of the Senate, famously claimed, “I don’t want to hear we can’t afford it” when discussing another huge spending bill.
I suppose all of us have made verbal mistakes, but is seems that politicians want to speak so much they, to paraphrase Jesus’ words, “for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking”. Matthew 6:7
But because those elected and selected to high office are expected to explain their positions and actions, it might also be expected by their constituents that their speaking make sense, even as Paul told the Corinthians, “I would rather speak five words with my understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:19, adapted for most politicians today).
Some of our present political leaders will end up being mentioned in the future History books, but few of them will be remembered for “words fitly spoken . . . like apples of gold in settings of silver”.