Commander In Chief Quotes

• In battles two things are usually required of the Commander-in-Chief: to make a good plan for his army and, secondly, to keep a strong reserve.

  Winston Churchill

  Strong, Army, Two

  Sir Winston Churchill, Andrew Scotland (1965). “Churchill on men and events: a selection from "Thoughts and adventures" and "Great contemporaries"”

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. As commander in chief, the president does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the president would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent.

  Barack Obama

  Military, Self, President

  Boston Globe, December 20, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• You want to be commander-in-chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient.

  Barack Obama

  Men, Want, Uniforms

  "Republicans rue 'dysfunctional dates'". "The World Today" with Peter Cave, www.abc.net.au. October 3, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• In war, the chief incalculable is the human will.

  B. H. Liddell Hart

  Military, War, Marine Corps

  60 Copy quote

• As a commander-in-chief what you do and what you say has real consequences.

  Stephanie Cutter

  Real, Chiefs, Commanders

  Source: abcnews.go.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The national security issues are a really good window into the character of the person that somebody wants to have as commander in chief.

  Tim Kaine

  Character, Issues, Want

  Source: www.pbs.org

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• No commander in chief would ever say, "I'm not going to listen to the guys on the ground."

  Claire McCaskill

  Guy, Chiefs, Commanders

  "Meet the Press" with Tom Brokaw, www.nbcnews.com. July 13, 2008.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is the Creator´s Grand Army, and he is the Commander-in-Chief... With these facts before you, now try to guess man´s chiefest pet name for this ferocious Commander-in-Chief? I will save you the trouble but you must not laugh. It is Our Father in Heaven.

  Mark Twain

  Father, Army, Men

  4 Copy quote

• My advice for the next commander in chief: Listen to your military advisers. Listen to your generals. They are the experts. Even if you have a commander in chief who has served in the military, that person still isn’t engaged on a daily basis. The generals will know best.

  Ralph Abraham

  Military, Advice, Next

  "Congress at War". www.politico.com. July, 2015.

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• I believe we should work and want to have the most powerful military, but hope we never have to use it. I strongly believe the military should know they are 100 percent supported by the commander in chief.

  Phil Roe

  Powerful, Military, Believe

  6 Copy quote

• The admiral, or commander in chief of a squadron, being frequently invested with a great charge, on which the fate of a kingdom may depend, ought certainly to be possessed of abilities equal to so important a station and so extensive a command.

  William Falconer

  Fate, Important, May

  William Falconer (2012). “Falconers Marine Dictionary (1780)”, p.3, BoD – Books on Demand

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• We need a president who will lead with a stronger, more consistent foreign policy. We also need our commander in chief to put more faith in military leadership who have all of the combat experience. It’s bad policy to try to micromanage too much operationally and tactically from a desk in the Oval Office.

  Lee Zeldin

  Military, Office, Trying

  "Congress at War". www.politico.com. July, 2015.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• I intend to make America strong again. I'm going to be the champion of the middle class, where I came from. If you make me your president, our best days are ahead. I'm ready to be commander-in-chief, ladies and gentlemen, on day one. I intend to win a war that we cannot afford to lose.

  Lindsey Graham

  Strong, War, Winning

  "Republican Candidates "Undercard" Debate in Boulder, Colorado". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. October 28, 2015.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• National security, the government is in charge of that. And you better have a president that understands the threats we [the state] face and what we have to do about it and if you can't articulate that as a candidate, you cannot be commander-in-chief.

  Marco Rubio

  Government, President, Faces

  Source: www.foxnews.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I would encourage the next commander in chief to be more cooperative and communicative with Congress, particularly when entering a conflict.

  Don Young

  Entering, Next, Conflict

  5 Copy quote

• If the Commander-in-Chief will look beyond the defence forces, he will discover that the real India is not military but peace-loving.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Military, Real, India

  Mahatma Gandhi (1958). “Collected Works”

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The general verdict among the German generals I interrogated in 1945 was that Field-Marshal von Manstein had proved the ablest commander in their Army, and the man they had most desired to become its Commander-in-Chief. It is very clear that he had a superb sense of operational possibilities and equal mastery in the conduct of operations, together with a greater grasp of the potentialities of mechanized forces than any other commander who had not been trained in the tank arm. In sum, he had military genius.

  Erich von Manstein

  Military, Army, Men

  103 Copy quote

• One of the great things about being commander in chief is getting to know our men and women in uniform in a very intimate way, whether it's visiting Walter Reed and seeing our wounded soldiers, or being on a base and talking to families, or interacting with them on missions. They're the best of the best: always thinking about the mission, not thinking about credit, not thinking about who's up front.

  Barack Obama

  Men, Thinking, Talking

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• America's military is the best in the world, but this president [Barack Obama] is hollowing out our military. We need a commander in chief that believes in American exceptionalism again.

  Bobby Jindal

  Military, Believe, America

  "Is the Confederate flag controversy a Democratic problem?". "Hannity" with Sean Hannity, www.foxnews.com. June 24, 2015.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• The business of the English commander-in-chief being first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  Horatio Nelson

  Mean, Enemy, Battle

  Horatio Nelson, Nicholas Harris Nicolas (2011). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.443, Cambridge University Press

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• As president, I wouldn't be making the day-to-day combat decisions. The job of the commander-in-chief is to lay the objective out and then you rely upon the generals and admirals and commanders to give you their expert advice on the tools needed to carry out that objective.

  Ted Cruz

  Jobs, Rely Upon, Giving

  "Ted Cruz on opposition to trade bill, ObamaCare alternative". "Special Report" with Bret Baier, www.foxnews.com. June 24, 2015.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• A Commander-in-Chief needs to do two things. One - tell us who the enemy is. And two - say we are fighting to win.

  Oliver North

  Fighting, Winning, Two

  15 Copy quote

• Ultimately, only diplomacy can bring about a durable solution to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program. As President and Commander in Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. However, I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Wisdom, Spring

  "Obama admits Israel has good reason for scepticism over Iran nuclear deal" by Dan Roberts, www.theguardian.com. November 25, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The day General Soleimani flew back from Moscow to Iran was the day we believed that Russia used cyber warfare against the joint chiefs. We need a new commander in chief that will stand up to our enemies.

  Ted Cruz

  Russia, Iran, Enemy

  Ted Cruz at GOP primary debate in Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, www.washingtonpost.com. August 6, 2015.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• For a decade Americans have been steeped in the rhetoric of "zero tolerance" and the faith that virtually all problems from drug addiction to lousy teaching can be solved by pouring on the punishment. Even without a Commander in Chief who pledges to rid the world of evildoers, smoke them out of their holes and the like, we would be vulnerable to the temptation to brush aside frustrating complexities and relieve intolerable fear (at least for the moment) by settling on one or more scapegoats to crush. To imagine that trauma casts out fantasy is a dangerous mistake.

  Ellen Willis

  Crush, Zero, Mistake

  "Dreaming of War". "The Nation", October 15, 2001.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source