Trent Lott Quotes

Chester Trent Lott Sr. is a former American politician and author. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He entered Congress as one of the first of a wave of Republicans winning seats in Southern states that had been solidly Democratic. He became Senate Majority Leader, then stepped down from power after praising Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential bid.

From 1968 to 1972, Lott was an administrative assistant to Representative William M. Colmer of Mississippi, who was also the chairman of the House Rules Committee. Upon Colmer's retirement, Lott won Colmer's former seat in the House of Representatives. In 1988, Lott ran successfully for the U.S. Senate to replace another retiree, John C. Stennis. After Republicans took the majority in the Senate, Lott became Senate Majority Whip in 1995 and then Senate Majority Leader in 1996, upon the resignation of presidential nominee Bob Dole of Kansas.

On December 20, 2002, after significant controversy following comments regarding Strom Thurmond's presidential candidacy, Lott resigned as Senate Minority Leader. He resigned from the Senate in 2007 and fellow Republican Roger Wicker won the 2008 special election to replace him. Lott became a lobbyist, co-founding the Breaux–Lott Leadership Group. The firm was later acquired by law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs. Lott serves as a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center , where he focuses on issues related to energy, national security, transportation and congressional reforms. Lott is also a co-chair of BPC's Energy Project. Wikipedia  

✵ 9. October 1941
Trent Lott photo
Trent Lott: 15   quotes 0   likes

Famous Trent Lott Quotes

“I want the President to look across the country and find the best man woman or minority that he can find.”

On Harriet Miers as Supreme Court Justice.
2000s

“You could say that I favored segregation then. I don't now.”

To Time magazine, as quoted in The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi http://www.pdfarchive.info/pdf/N/Ne/Newton_Michael_-_The_Ku_Klux_Klan_in_Mississippi.pdf (2010), by Michael Newton, p. 195.
1990s

“The spirit of Jefferson Davis lives in the 1984 Republican Platform.”

Speech before the Sons of Confederate Veterans (1984), as quoted in The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi http://www.pdfarchive.info/pdf/N/Ne/Newton_Michael_-_The_Ku_Klux_Klan_in_Mississippi.pdf (2010), by Michael Newton, p. 195.
1980s

“I've already seen enough. Why would I want to go see a bunch of perverted pictures?”

On why he did not want to review more evidence during congressional hearings regarding the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, as quoted in The New York Times (2004).
2000s

“[Congress] is not the British Parliament, and I hope it never will become the British Parliament… Are we going to bring the president in here and have a question period like the prime minister has in Great Britain?”

On whether to hold a "vote of no confidence" in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, as quoted in Dana Milbank, " A Jolly Good Show, but the Wrong Side of the Pond http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/11/AR2007061102092.html" The Washington Post 2007-06-12.
2000s

“The filibuster of federal district and circuit judges cannot stand. … It's bad for the institution. It's wrong. It's not supportable under the Constitution. And if they insist on persisting with these filibusters, I'm perfectly prepared to blow the place up. No problem.”

On filibustering, as quoted in The Clarion-Ledger (23 May 2003), "Lott aims to change filibuster rules" http://orig.clarionledger.com/news/0305/23/m05.html
2000s

Trent Lott Quotes

“When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it.”

On Strom Thurmond, from a speech at Thurmond's 100th birthday party (5 December 2002)
2000s
Context: I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either.

“I have made my condemnation of the white supremacist and racist view of this group, or any group, clear.”

Source: To The Washington Post (1998), as quoted in The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi http://www.pdfarchive.info/pdf/N/Ne/Newton_Michael_-_The_Ku_Klux_Klan_in_Mississippi.pdf (2010), by Michael Newton, p. 195.

“I don't agree with the libertarians. I want my security first. I'll deal with all the details after that.”

On security versus liberty, as quoted in The Philadelphia Inquirer http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/13427302.htm (17 December 2005).
c.f. Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
2000s

“I'm sure you petroleum folks understand that solar power will solve all our problems. How much money have we blown on that? This is the hippies' program from the seventies and they're still pushing this stuff.”

On solar energy in a speech to the Independent Petroleum Association of America, as quoted in The Washington Post (23 May 1997).
1990s

“I am an advocate of having a gold dollar with Reagan's picture on it, and calling it the Ronnie. The Canadians have the Loonie, and we can have the Ronnie.”

On Ronald Reagan, as quoted in an interview in the New York Times Sunday Magazine (20 June 2004).
2000s

“We need more meetings like this across the nation. The people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy.”

To the CCC (1992), as quoted in The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi http://www.pdfarchive.info/pdf/N/Ne/Newton_Michael_-_The_Ku_Klux_Klan_in_Mississippi.pdf (2010), by Michael Newton, p. 195.
1990s

Similar authors

John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy 469
35th president of the United States of America
Franklin D. Roosevelt photo
Franklin D. Roosevelt 190
32nd President of the United States
Arthur Miller photo
Arthur Miller 147
playwright from the United States
George S. Patton photo
George S. Patton 77
United States Army general
Ben Carson photo
Ben Carson 191
17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urb…
Dwight D. Eisenhower photo
Dwight D. Eisenhower 173
American general and politician, 34th president of the Unit…
Donald J. Trump photo
Donald J. Trump 904
45th President of the United States of America
Eleanor Roosevelt photo
Eleanor Roosevelt 148
American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady…
William Faulkner photo
William Faulkner 214
American writer
Ronald Reagan photo
Ronald Reagan 264
American politician, 40th president of the United States (i…