Inaugural address (1889)
Context: There is no constitutional or legal requirement that the President shall take the oath of office in the presence of the people, but there is so manifest an appropriateness in the public induction to office of the chief executive officer of the nation that from the beginning of the Government the people, to whose service the official oath consecrates the officer, have been called to witness the solemn ceremonial. The oath taken in the presence of the people becomes a mutual covenant. The officer covenants to serve the whole body of the people by a faithful execution of the laws, so that they may be the unfailing defense and security of those who respect and observe them, and that neither wealth, station, nor the power of combinations shall be able to evade their just penalties or to wrest them from a beneficent public purpose to serve the ends of cruelty or selfishness.
1960, Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association
On Bush, the GOP, and the Patriot Act,[Charles, Babington, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/20/AR2005122001488.html?nav=rss_print/asection, 4 GOP Senators Hold Firm Against Patriot Act Renewal, Washington Post, A04, December 21, 2005, 2006-10-16]
2005
“No one is a 'jack of all trades.' Be the Chief Delegation Officer, not Chief Executive Officer”
Source: https://medium.com/@mbriggs6/be-the-chief-delegation-officer-not-chief-executive-officer-11e1c9ac1b6
Letter accepting the nomination for governor of New York (October 1882).
2010s, Hard Truths: Law Enforcement (2015)
Source: Discipline and Punish (1977), Chapter One, pp. 56
1870s, Eighth State of the Union Address (1876)
Context: It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training. From the age of 17 I had never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of them was I eligible as a voter.
Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred. Even had they not, differences of opinion between the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict performance of his duties, and writers and debaters must have arisen. It is not necessarily evidence of blunder on the part of the Executive because there are these differences of views. Mistakes have been made, as all can see and I admit...
Source: Thinking and Destiny (1946), Ch. 5, Physical Destiny, p. 138
Context: Therefore public officials in monarchies, oligarchies and democracies, are as bad as they are. They are the representatives of the people; in them the thoughts of the people have taken form. Those who are not in office would do as the present officials do, or even worse, if they had the opportunity. Corrupt officials can hold office and sinecures only so long as the thoughts of the people are depraved.
2014, Speech: Sponsorship Speech for the FY 2015 National Budget
