Commanders Quotes - Page 3

• They actually think I would abandon the Commander. they have no concept of loyalty.

  Maria V. Snyder

  Loyalty, Thinking, Abandon

  Maria V. Snyder (2012). “Poison Study”, p.245, Harlequin

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• Eisenhower had run the Army; he knew all the ways decision making can go off the rails, and insisted on collective debate precisely to prevent senior officials from freelancing, or putting their departmental interests first. For all the formal machinery, Eisenhower was very literally the commander in chief, making the key decisions himself and monitoring closely how they were carried out. Even years after D-Day, when critics needled him for not being on the front lines with the invading forces, he retorted, “I planned it and took responsibility for it. Did you want me to unload a truck?

  Nancy Gibbs

  Senior, Running, Responsibility

  Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy (2012). “The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity”, p.118, Simon and Schuster

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• In the World War [WW1] nothing was more dreadful to witness than a chain of men starting with a battalion commander and ending with an army commander sitting in telephone boxes, improvised or actual, talking, talking, talking, in place of leading, leading, leading.

  J. F. C. Fuller

  War, Army, Men

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• If our commanders on the ground say we need more troops, I will send them. But our commanders tell me they have the number of troops they need to do their job. Sending more Americans would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in this fight. And sending more Americans would suggest that we intend to stay forever, when we are, in fact, working for the day when Iraq can defend itself and we can leave.

  George W. Bush

  Jobs, Fighting, Iraq

  President Bush's Fort Bragg Speech, North Carolina, www.nbcnews.com. 2005.

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• One can look at John McCain and say that he's not ready to be commander-in-chief.

  Rudy Giuliani

  Looks, Chiefs, Ready

  Republican National Convention Speech, delivered 3 September 2008, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota

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• To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.

  Fernando Pessoa

  Needs, Dependent

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• As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the Armed Forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries, men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel, and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength...an aid in attaining the highest aspiration of the human soul.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Book, Inspiration, Reading

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• The President, and government, will only control the militia when a part of them is in the actual service of the federal government, else, they are independent and not under the command of the president or the government. The states would control the militia, only when called out into the service of the state, and then the governor would be commander in chief where enumerated in the respective state constitution.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Independent, Government, President

  "The Federalist Papers". Book by Alexander Hamilton, essay No. 69, 1787 - 1788.

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• Good commanders look after their troops, and good troops look after their commanders.

  Harvey Mackay

  Leadership, Troops, Looks

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• Whenever I spoke with anybody who said they did not have a problem in the military it was because their commander treated them well. Every single time it was about the commander as to whether they had a good or bad experience.

  Amy Ziering

  Military, Problem, Spokes

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• An army to be useful must be a unit, and out of this has grown the saying, attributed to Napoleon, but doubtless spoken before the days of Alexander, that an army with an inefficient commander was better than one with two able heads.

  William Tecumseh Sherman

  Army, Two, Able

  William Tecumseh Sherman (1990). “Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman”, p.934, Library of America

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• If I get an order to evacuate a Jew from his home, to expel him, me, personally, my conscience would not let me do it. I'll ask my commander to excuse me, but I won't publicly call on others to refuse an order. I personally can't.

  Naftali Bennett

  Home, Order, Excuse

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• Egotism is not a good quality. It's not something to be admired or even tolerated. It wouldn't be tolerated in a field commander and it shouldn't be tolerated in a movie director.

  John Milius

  Quality, Directors, Fields

  Interview with Ken P., www.ign.com. May 7, 2003.

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• The true history of Vietnamese civilian suffering does not fit comfortably into America's preferred postwar narrative - the tale of a conflict nobly fought by responsible commanders and good American boys, who should not be tainted by the occasional mistakes of a few 'bad apples' in their midst.

  Nick Turse

  Mistake, Boys, Apples

  Nick Turse (2013). “Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam”, p.256, Macmillan

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• Although deceit is detestable in all other things, yet in the conduct of war it is laudable and honorable; and a commander who vanquishes an enemy by stratagem is equally praised with one who gains victory by force.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  War, Enemy, Victory

  Niccolo Machiavelli (2017). “The Prince”, p.216, Knickerbocker Classics

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• The only situation a commander can know fully is his own: his opponent's he can know only from unreliable intelligence.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Opponents, Situation, Knows

  Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.84, Princeton University Press

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• 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.

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• Of all those in the army close to the commander, none is more intimate than the secret agent.

  Sun Tzu

  Army, Secret, Agents

  "The Art of War". Book by Sun Tzu (Chapter XIII: Intelligence and Espionage), 5th century BC.

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• Great commanders write their actions with simplicity; because they receive more glory from facts than from words.

  Baron de Montesquieu

  Writing, Simplicity, Facts

  Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (2015). “The Spirit of Laws”, p.456, Library of Alexandria

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• The President may indeed in one respect resemble the commander of an army in peace, but in another and more essential sense he resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek. He must sooner or later be convinced that a perpetual calm is as little to his purpose as a perpetual hurricane, and that without headway the ship can arrive nowhere.

  Henry Adams

  Army, Sea, President

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• A skillful commander is not overbearing. A skillful fighter does not become angry. A skillful conqueror does not compete with people. One who is skillful in using men puts himself below them. This is called the strength to use men. This is called matching Heaven, The highest principle of old.

  Laozi

  Character, Men, People

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• I had always enjoyed the title of Commander-in-Chief until I was informed ... that the only forces that cannot be transferred from Washington without my express permission are the members of the Marine Corps Band. Those are the only forces I have. I want it announced that we propose to hold the White House against all odds at least for some time to come.

  John F. Kennedy

  Marine, White, Odds

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• We really want to send the message that commanders need to understand and be accountable. We saw that with the Catholic Church. No one cared when they went after the priests, but when they focused on the bishops then things began to change. And we see that analogy working with the military.

  Amy Ziering

  Military, Catholic, Church

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• I was not the commander, I was a junior person, so once both were outside, I followed my leader, because we (NASA) had not put together detailed jobs of people outside. I believe it could have been improved. But it was very successful for what it was.

  Buzz Aldrin

  Jobs, Believe, Successful

  Reddit AMA, www.reddit.com. July 08, 2014.

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• A commander-in-chief cannot take as an excuse for his mistakes in warfare an order given by his sovereign or his minister when the person giving the order is absent from the field of operations and is imperfectly aware or wholly unaware of the latest state of affairs. It follows that any commander-in-chief who undertakes to carry out a plan which he considers defective is at fault; he must put forward his reasons, insist on the plan being changed, and finally tender his resignation rather than be the instrument of his army's downfall.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Faults, Reason, Instruments

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