Our party to the diplomatic corps was all that could be desired.... The exclusion of wine from the list of refreshments has turned... out exceedingly well. There is a good deal of dissipation here. At the receptions of the British Minister, and at that of the Mexican Minister, disgraceful things were done by young men made reckless by too much wine. Hence the necessity for our course is obvious, and is commended in unexpected quarters. Many of the foreign gentlemen speak of it with approval. We shall stick to it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I saw the man my friend ... wants pardoned, Thomas Flinton. He is a bright, good-looking fellow.... Of his innocence all are confi...dent. The governor strikes me as a man seeking popularity, who lacks the independence and manhood to do right at the risk of losing popularity. Afraid of what will be said. He is prejudiced against the Irish and Democrats.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The truth is, I do not want that office. When the American people choose a President they require him to remain awake four years. ...I have come to a time in life when I need my sleep.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
[Rutherford B. Hayes] was a patriotic citizen, a lover of the flag and of our free institutions, an industrious and conscientious ...civil officer, a soldier of dauntless courage, a loyal comrade and friend, a sympathetic and helpful neighbor, and the honored head of a happy Christian home. He has steadily grown in the public esteem, and the impartial historian will not fail to recognize the conscientiousness, the manliness, and the courage that so strongly characterized his whole public career.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Chile consents to do all we can reasonably demand. My regret is that our Government blustered and bullied. President [Benjamin] Ha...rrison argued in his message like a prosecutor--made the most of the case against our weak sister. Forbearance, charity, friendship, arbitration should have been in our words and thoughts.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
When I became President I was fully convinced that whatever might be true in Europe and of Europeans, in our climate and with the ...excitable temperaments of the Americans, the habitual use of intoxicating drinks was not safe. I regarded the danger of the habit as especially great in political and official life. It seemed to me that the example of excluding liquors from the White House would be wise and useful, and would be approved by good people generally.... I was not a total abstainer when I became President.... During the greater part of my term and at least for the last three years, I have been in practice and in theory a consistent total-abstinence man, and I shall continue to be so.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Election day!... Spiegel Grove, my home, never looked so beautiful before.... I prefer success. But I anticipate defeat with very ...great equanimity. If victorious, I am likely to be pushed for the Republican nomination for President. This would make my life a disturbed and troubled one until the nomination, six or eight months hence. If nominated the stir would last until a year hence. Defeat in the next Presidential election is almost a certainty. In any event, defeat now returns me to the quiet life I sought in coming here.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Yesterday the Electoral Commission decided not to go behind the papers filed with the Vice-President in the case of Florida.... I ...read the arguments in the Congressional Record and can't see how lawyers can differ on the question. But the decision is by a strictly party vote--eight Republicans against seven Democrats! It shows the strength of party ties.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The President has the authority to do a great deal in promoting a reform of the civil service. But the great mass of evils to be d...ealt with require means, time agents, the work of intelligent and able officers, none of which the President has unless they are furnished by Congress. As at present situated, the great evil is congressional patronage. This I have resisted as a usurpation of executive prerogatives, until now few Congressmen assert openly their claim to it. But they withhold from the Executive the means to get information from other sources than through Congressmen.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I am not liked as a President by the politicians in office, in the press, or in Congress. But I am content to abide the judgment--...the sober second thought--of the people.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »