Shooting
From the Hip: Quips From "The Gipper"
On
Politics:
"Politics
is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to
realize it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
"Politics
is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, you
coast for awhile, you have a hell of a closing."
"Politics
is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards,
if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."
On
Actors and Politics:
"How
can a president not be an actor?" (Upon being asked how
an actor could become president.)
"I
dont know. Ive never played a governor."
(Upon being asked by a reporter in 1966 what kind of governor
he would be.)
"What
makes him think a middle-aged actor, whos played with a
chimp, could have a future in politics?" (On Clint Eastwoods
bid to be Mayor of Carmel, California.)
On
Congress:
"I
have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked
like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."
"Im
afraid I cant use a mule. I have several hundred up on Capitol
Hill."
On
Government:
"Government
is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one
end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
"My
friends, some years ago the federal government declared war on
poverty and poverty won."
On
the Economy and Taxes:
"Governments
view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases:
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it
stops moving, subsidize it."
"Republicans
believe every day is 4th of July, but Democrats believe every
day is April 15."
"I
am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care
of itself."
"Recession
is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose
yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
On
Communism:
"How
do you tell a Communist? Its someone who reads Marx and
Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? Its someone
who understands Marx and Lenin."
On
Being President:
"I
have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national
emergency even if Im in a cabinet meeting."
"But
there are advantages to being elected President. The day after
I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."
On
the Assassination Attempt:
"Honey,
I forgot to duck." (Explaining to his wife, Nancy Reagan,
why he had been hit by John Hinckleys bullet.)
"I
hope youre all Republicans." (To the surgeons in
the operating room after the assassination attempt.)
On
His Age:
"I
want you to know that I will not make age an issue in this campaign.
I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents
youth and inexperience." (In response to a question during
the second of the 1984 Presidential Debates against opposing candidate
Walter Mondale.)
[Posted
June 9, 2004]
Tribute
images courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation,
all rights reserved.
|