From J. Edgar Hoover to Christopher Reeve

[Integration] won't work. It doesn't solve the problem. Do you know what integration really means? It means intermarriage. That's the real point behind it. You can't have it without intermarriage. And that would result in disintegration of both races. The Negro is better off by himself, so he can develop his character and his culture in accord with his own nature.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower
Nov. 7, 1966
In his farewell address to the nation, President Eisenhower famously warned about the growing influence of the "military-industrial complex." In retirement more than five years later, he spoke about the perils of concentrating too much power in the hands of the president.

I read where members of the so-called intelligentsia, some professors, urge a strong President. They are deluding themselves, their readers, and everyone else, with this idea of an all-powerful Chief Executive. A strong President is one who will be concerned about doing things in a constitutional way, respecting the legislative and the judiciary. Yet some writers are beginning to worship this concept of 'strongman' government. This has a very serious connotation for America. It means autocracy in the long run.

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Daniel Patrick Moynihan
June 15, 1970
An adviser to three presidents, Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a respected expert on social welfare. Critics complained that the more money the government poured into public assistance, the worse the welfare load became. Moynihan, too, complained that welfare encouraged families to split up and discouraged work. The future senator was asked about the common objection: "Why should I work if I am going to just end up emptying slop jars?"

That's a complaint you hear mostly from people who don't empty slop jars. This country has a lot of people who do exactly that for a living. And they do it well. It's not pleasant work, but it's a living. And it has to be done. Somebody has to go around and empty all those bed pans. And it's perfectly honorable work. There's nothing the matter with doing it. Indeed, there is a lot that is right about doing it, as any hospital patient will tell you.

Vice President Gerald Ford
Dec. 17, 1973
The Watergate scandal, which started with five men burglarizing the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, reached all the way to the White House when tape recordings confirmed that President Richard Nixon had participated in a coverup. Impeachment was looming when Gerald Ford talked about Nixon's future in 1973. Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974.

I have talked with [Nixon] personally and I can assure you that he has no intention whatsoever of resigning.... There is no evidence in my opinion that would justify the [congressional] committee or the House passing the resolution necessary to impeach. I am positive the President is innocent of any involvement in Watergate.

Somebody should have been held responsible and fired at the very outset. If that had been done, I think there would have been nothing like the turmoil that we've seen. Either someone was negligent in not pressing for that kind of action or else it was hoped that time would take care of the problem. But it hasn't. And the net result is that it has festered.