Watergate Quotes

• People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I earned everything I've got.

  Richard M. Nixon

  People, President, Crooks

  Speech, Orlando, Fla., 17 Nov. 1973

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• The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.

  Gerald R. Ford

  Party, Organization, America

  The New York Times, March 31, 1974.

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• The slow-rising central horror of "Watergate" is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn something from it.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Thug, Careers, Political

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time”, p.242, Pan Macmillan

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• I gave 'em a sword. And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their position, I'd have done the same thing.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Ems, Done, Twisted

  Television interview with David Frost, 19 May 1977, in David Frost I Gave Them a Sword (1978) ch. 10

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• From Watergate we learned what generations before us have known; our Constitution works. And during Watergate years it was interpreted again so as to reaffirm that no one - absolutely no one - is above the law.

  Leon Jaworski

  Years, Law, Generations

  76 Copy quote

• You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Presidential, Gentleman, Complaining

  Press conference, Los Angeles, Calif., 7 Nov. 1962

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• Watergate is a sad and tragic incident in our history. They were wrong, dead wrong, those men at Watergate. Men abused power, but the system still works. Men abused money, but the system still works. Men lied and perjured themselves, but the system still .

  John Wayne

  Men, Lied, Incidents

  85 Copy quote

• The fact of the Watergate cover-up is not nearly as interesting as the step into making the cover-up. And when you understand the step, you understand that Richard Nixon lied. That he was a criminal.

  Bob Woodward

  Interesting, Criminals, Cover Ups

  70 Copy quote

• What did the president know, and when did he know it?

  Howard Baker

  President, Knows

  82 Copy quote

• We're not going to have another Watergate in our lifetime. I'm sure.

  Bob Woodward

  Literature, Lifetime

  "Deja vu all over again". Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, May 15, 2013.

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• You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.

  Charles Colson

  Life, Mean, Important

  84 Copy quote

• Watergate was unique because it allowed the public to play its democratic role in expressing its outrage at the presidency. And as a result, for the first time in history a president resigned.

  Samuel Dash

  Unique, Play, President

  69 Copy quote

• You must pursue this investigation of Watergate even if it leads to the president. I'm innocent. You've got to believe I'm innocent. If you don't, take my job.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Jobs, Believe, History

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• Had the Senate or House, or both, censured or somehow warned Richard Nixon, the tragedy of Watergate might have been prevented. Hopefully the Senate will not sit by while even more serious abuses unfold before it.

  John Dean

  House, Abuse, Tragedy

  66 Copy quote

• Watergate had become the center of the media's universe, and during the remaining year of my presidency the media tried to force everything else to revolve around it.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Media, Years, Force

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• No one - absolutely no one - is above the law.

  Leon Jaworski

  Law, Us Constitution, Above The Law

  Leon Jaworski, Dick Schneider (1981). “Crossroads”, David C Cook

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• Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth, as was demonstrated with Watergate, we as the public are absolutely right to remain suspicious, contemptuous even, of the secrecy and the misinformation which is the digest of our news.

  John le Carre

  News, Literature, Secrecy

  32 Copy quote

• I'm just made differently. Man, I just love being an American, I love my country. But it happened to me during the Nixon time, especially pre-Watergate, that as I watched Nixon for the first time in my life I felt shame. I had to analyze myself. What is this emotion? I realized that my government was separate from my country. It was the first time I ever felt ashamed of the government, not the country.

  John Fogerty

  Country, Love Is, Men

  Interview with Joshua Klein, pitchfork.com. November 27, 2007.

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• This we learn from Watergate that almost any creep'll be glad to help the Government overthrow the people.

  Yip Harburg

  Government, People, Helping

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• I recently read some of the transcripts of Nixon's Watergate tapes, and they spent hours trying to figure out who was leaking and providing information to Carl and myself.

  Bob Woodward

  Trying, Tape, Information

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• This is a generation weaned on Watergate, and there is no presumption of innocence and no presumption of good intentions. Instead, there is a presumption that, without relentless scrutiny, the government will misbehave.

  Dee Dee Myers

  Government, Presumption Of Innocence, Generations

  "Dee Dee Myers : Press Secretary to an Administration Full of Talkers". Interview with Thomas B. Rosenstiel, articles.latimes.com. March 20, 1994.

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• I have a suggestion that I think would help fight serious crime. Signs. There are lots of signs for minor infractions: No Smoking, Stay Off the Grass, Keep Out, and they seem to work fairly well. I think we should also have signs for major crimes: Murder Strictly Prohibited, NO Raping People, Thank You for Not Kidnapping Anyone. It's certainly worth a try. I'm convinced Watergate would never have happened if there had just been a sign in the Oval Office that said, Malfeasance of Office Is Strictly Against the Law, or Thank You for Not Undermining the Constitution.

  George Carlin

  Humor, Fighting, Thinking

  George Carlin (2015). “3 x Carlin: An Orgy of George including Brain Droppings, Napalm and Silly Putty, and When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?”, p.69, Hachette UK

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• Watergate is the great liberal illusion that you can have public virtue without private morality.

  Clare Boothe Luce

  Morality, Illusion, Virtue

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• I can see clearly now... that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate.

  Richard M. Nixon

  History, Acting, I Can

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• Probably after Vietnam and Watergate, there was an increasing distrust of institutions, so that Jesus was still in, but the institutional church was no longer an attraction. So, I think that the dropping of the denominational label is to become more generic, less of a threat, less of a reminder of negative stereotypes if you've walked away from church.

  Eddie Gibbs

  Jesus, Thinking, Church

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