Excellent quote by President Eisenhower

[BOSSHOG]

In 1966, Former President Eisenhower wrote a letter complaining about critics who

“Equate an individuals strength of dedication with oratorical bombast; equate determination with public repetition of a catchy phrase; equate achievement with the exaggerated use of the vertical pronoun “I”. To them the record means little; manner and method are vital.”

Most of us probably can’t remember the time when a decent Republican could occupy the White House. Yes, it has been that long.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

1. Not in my lifetime.

Where the first repuke was Nixon.

[Polybius]

6. Ford was sorta decent

Well, the most decent Republican President since Eisenhower at least.

[brush]

2. Here's an Eisenhower era repub salute to labor in 1956.

Today Eisenhower would be a centrist Dem. And also remember his warining about the military/industrial complex.

Now that party seems intent on installing a fascist government if they ever get the WH back.

[Seeking Serenity]

3. The last legitimately elected opposition party president (n/t)

[Polybius]

7. Nixon '68?

[DFW]

12. Nixon needed his "dirty tricks team"

Without them, Humphrey might well have won.

[Seeking Serenity]

13. Absolutely. And there's no way "Tricky Dick" Nixon would ever have been legitimate in any case

And if it hadn't been for Wallace picking off some Southern states, the Solid South would have gone Democratic.

[DFW]

14. Yes, we often seem to get knifed ten meters before the finish line by extremist "Democrats"

Wallace in 1968, Nader in 2000, for example.

Sure, they called themselves "American Independent Party" in 1968 and "Greens" in 2000, etc.,
but we all know where they came from, and what they were doing when they did it.

[Polybius]

16. Wallace's votes would have went to Nixon anyway

The South did not want Humphrey after LBJ, who admitted that his policies lost the South for a generation. 1968 was gonna be lost with Humphrey no matter what. RFK living and winning the nomination is a whole other story.

[Polybius]

15. Nixon won 301 Electoral votes that year

Wallace won 46. If all of them would have went to Humphrey instead, that gives him 237. He still loses. The rest of the South wasn't going to vote Democratic anymore, because of LBJ. And Johnson knew it, saying that we've lost the South for a generation (little did he know it would still be lost).

[Polybius]

17. What counts as dirty tricks?

If it's legal, does that count? Would lying count as dirty tricks?

What about 1960? Kennedy might have lost had it not been for that debate and him looking much better than Nixon. So, was he "legitimately elected"? Of course he was imo.

Personally, I think they both were legitimately elected. Unless something highly illegal happens (1972 for sure, and 1980 allegedly), then they are legit.

[DFW]

18. Donald Segretti and Roger Ailes were involved in that group

I don't think legality was their primary concern.

[Seeking Serenity]

19. No. No Gopper has legitimately won a presidential election since 1956

Period, end of it. They're enemies of the people, all in the pockets of big business. They cannot win but for illegitimate means.

[keep_left]

4. Another letter of Eisenhower's with which Americans should be familiar is the "Biggs letter".

Written to a constituent in 1959, Eisenhower warned against the tendency of many Americans to prefer the certainty of dictatorship to the doubt and disorder of more democratic forms of government. In closing, Eisenhower recommended one of his favorite books, Eric Hoffer's classic The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). Eisenhower himself was known to have given copies to friends.

I have thought for many years that The True Believer should be required reading for high school civics, along with Fromm's Escape from Freedom (1941). A lot of our fellow Americans could greatly benefit from both of them.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218041638#post17

I first heard about the Biggs letter in a talk given by reporter Max Blumenthal. Here is an excerpt of the letter.

I doubt that citizens like yourself could ever, under our democratic system, be provided with the universal degree of certainty, the confidence in their understanding of our problems, and the clear guidance from higher authority that you believe needed...in a democracy debate is the breath of life. This is to me what Lincoln meant by government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

The mental stress and burden which this form of government imposes has been particularly well recognized in a little book about which I have spoken on several occasions. It is The True Believer by Eric Hoffer; you might find it of interest. In it, he points out that dictatorial systems make one contribution to their people which leads them to tend to support such systems--freedom from the necessity of...making up their own minds concerning...complex and difficult questions. But while this responsibility is a taxing one to a free people it is their great strength as well--from...free minds come new ideas, new adjustments to emerging problems, and tremendous vigor, vitality and progress.

One of my own major aims and efforts has been to assist in every way open to me in giving our people a better understanding of the great issues that face our country today--some of them indeed issues of life and death. Through being better informed, they can best gain greater assurance regarding our nation’s situation and participate in establishing policies and programs which they think to be sound and right. The quest for certainty is at best, however, a long and arduous one. While complete success will always elude us, still it is a quest which is vital to self-government and to our way of life as free men.

[BOSSHOG]

5. Thank You for the post

General Ike was an anti maga. And the Hoffer book is probably on a ban list initiated by the Moms for Hitler Values.

“Prefer the certainty of Dictatorship.?” That’s why republicans love stupid people.

[keep_left]

10. You're welcome. Both the Hoffer and Fromm books really illuminate...

...the situation in which we now find ourselves. It would be great if they were required reading material for high school civics or history classes. The two works reinforce and complement each other.

[marybourg]

8. To say nothing of being able to write an English sentence with semicolons.

[BOSSHOG]

9. Yeah

I was thinking of that as I transcribed. Damn there’s a lot of semicolons. Old School English. They do come in handy when writing about what someone wrote 60+ years ago.

[DemocraticPatriot]

11. The LAST Republican President

who put "country before party"---


but he was also probably one of the least 'ideological' presidents in the last 100 years.....


He sent Federal troops to Little Rock to enforce desegregated schools....



What Republican would do that today??
More likely, they would send troops to enforce segregation....

(and to shut down those awful "gay drag" shows, OMG...)