On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.

The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.

The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.

The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.

Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

Whether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion. In the politics of a democracy, the shortest distance between two points is often a crooked line.

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.