“I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week.”

The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
Context: I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week. If you go to the city of Washington, and you examine the pages of the Congressional Directory, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of Congress, and misrepresentatives of the masses — you will find that almost all of them claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from the ranks.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with bein…" by Eugene V. Debs?
Eugene V. Debs photo
Eugene V. Debs 108
American labor and political leader 1855–1926

Related quotes

Louis Riel photo

“I will perhaps be one day acknowledged as more than a leader of the Half-breeds, and if I am, I will have an opportunity of being acknowledged as a leader of good in this great country.”

Louis Riel (1844–1885) Canadian politician

Address to Grand Jury (1885)
Context: I am glad that the Crown have proved that I am the leader of the Half-breeds in the North-West. I will perhaps be one day acknowledged as more than a leader of the Half-breeds, and if I am, I will have an opportunity of being acknowledged as a leader of good in this great country.

Éamon de Valera photo
Richard II of England photo

“I am your leader: follow me.”

Richard II of England (1367–1400) King of England

Remark to the peasants at Smithfield, London, during the Peasants' Revolt, quoted in Gwilym Dodd, The Reign of Richard II (Tempus, 2000), p. 20

Benjamin Disraeli photo

“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
Brigham Young photo
John Major photo

“The Conservative Party must make its choice. Every leader is leader only with the support of his party. That is true of me too. That is why I am no longer prepared to tolerate the present situation. In short, it is time to put up or shut up.”

John Major (1943) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Michael White, "Major's ultimate gamble", Guardian, 23 June 1995.
Statement in the garden of 10 Downing Street announcing his resignation as Conservative Party leader in order to seek re-election, 22 June 1995.
1990s, 1995

Newt Gingrich photo

“I'm not a natural leader. I'm too intellectual; I'm too abstract; I think too much.”

Newt Gingrich (1943) Professor, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

1995-10-09
The Politics of Perception
Connie
Bruck
The New Yorker
0028-792X
71
31
51
paragraph 1
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1995/10/09/1995_10_09_050_TNY_CARDS_000374071
1990s

Desmond Tutu photo

“I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

As quoted in The Christian Science Monitor (20 December 1984)

Lee Kuan Yew photo

“I have never been over concerned or obsessed with opinion polls or popularity polls. I think a leader who is, is a weak leader. Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless.”

Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) First Prime Minister of Singapore

The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, 1998, as quoted by http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-24/tech/30081331_1_singaporean-lee-kuan-yew-political-landscape
1990s

Miguna Miguna photo

“Every single leader here, I can take to The Hague. Mark my word. I have it right here! And I am saying, Come, baby come!”

Miguna Miguna (1962) lawyer, author and columnist

During his book launch, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ex-toronto-lawyer-takes-on-kenyas-pm/article4446166/, 2012
2012

Related topics