Today is President’s Day in the U.S. Originally established in 1885 as a recognition of George Washington’s birthday (February 22), it was later expanded to include Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and all other U.S. presidents.
Over the centuries, there have been some amusing statements by various U.S. presidents. While you read them, think of how you might work humor into your nonfiction or your novel in a way that surprises the reader with a smile, but also stays with the character of your book or story.
“If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: ‘President Can’t Swim.'” – Lyndon Johnson
“When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer ‘present’ or ‘not guilty.’” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” – Abraham Lincoln
“I have often wondered what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.” – Ronald Reagan
“These stories about my intellectual capacity are really getting under my skin. For a while, I thought even my staff believed it. There on my schedule, first thing every morning, it said, ‘Intelligence briefing.’” – George W. Bush
“No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.” – John Adams
“Washington D.C. is twelve square miles bordered by reality.” – Andrew Johnson
“Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.” – Ronald Reagan
“Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say, ‘On the one hand … on the other.” – Harry Truman
“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” – Abraham Lincoln
“I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.” – Gerald Ford
“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of a national emergency–even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.” – Ronald Reagan
“I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m president of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” – George H.W. Bush
[By the way, this is not a post about politics, nor is this blog a place to voice political opinions. Please keep to the topic of writing and not the politics of your country of residence or elsewhere. Thanks!]
