H. W. Brands

“Booker Washington was branded an accommodationist by many of the people who criticized him.”

“I had long known the story of Aaron Burr, but when I heard about his remarkable daughter, Theodosia, about the relationship between the two and about her tragic disappearance, I knew I wanted to tell their story.”

“He used humor more effectively than any president since Abraham Lincoln. Reagan was not an especially warm person, but he appeared to be. Many people disliked his policies, but almost no one disliked him.”

“In modern times, the American military has become more bureaucratised.”

“Toward the end of the 1964 presidential campaign, Reagan gives a speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater. It was like a screen test for a new career.”

“The president was not the most important political player in the 19th century. Besides Jefferson at the beginning, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, the center of politics was Congress.”

“Although this should not be so, historians reconsider presidencies based on how the presidents conduct themselves after leaving office.”

“The Catalonian movement is quite serious; I don't think it's simply symbolic. I think that they believe that Catalonia can be more successful on its own than as part of Spain.”

“The president is the one person who potentially could be the unifying figure in the country. And if the president or a presidential candidate basically writes off 40 states, then how in the world do the people in those 40 states feel like they have a stake in that person or that election?”

“The historic dearth of labor was perhaps the central feature of the American economy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.”

“The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They're probably not likely to get it done.”

“Presidents have to decide what their popularity is for. Lyndon Johnson probably understood best that political popularity is a wasting asset. You had to use it when you had it.”

“Reagan is the subject of ongoing political debate, and a lot of liberals don't want to take Reagan any more seriously than they did when he was president. I understand why they don't, but they should.”

“The stories that I tell, the topics that I choose to write about, usually are suggested by something that I've done before.”

“It's hard to say that Trump actually has a health care policy.”

“If it's a good story, it's a good story, and it draws readers in.”

“President Trump is doing what he can to act decisively. And if there's one thing most people have in mind in distinguishing the business world from the political world is that the CEO of a business can act decisively.”

“Reagan conspired in the underestimation of his own ability.”

“Reagan refused to demonize his foes. Instead he charmed them, with a few exceptions, including Tip O'Neill, the Democratic Speaker of the House and the embodiment of the liberalism Reagan sought to reverse.”

“Once you become president, you don't even have to stop for red lights. And if it looks like traffic's too bad, you just take a helicopter.”