Political Quotes

“Barbara's a perfect 10, the man says. Okay. But let me tell you why, in a serious moment here before we take this exciting train trip, let me tell you why I believe that character really does count. Remember, I cited this in the debate, but Horace Greeley said this: ``Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing; only character endures.'' And I really believe that that's especially true in the Presidency. It matters not just because of the plans you make but because of the crises that you never possibly can foresee. Yes, the world is much safer today. But as Dick Cheney, our able Secretary of Defense, reminded us the other day, who knows where the next crisis will come? The Soviet bear is dead, but there are a lot of wolves out there in the woods. So imagine, a year from today, if you picked up a newspaper out in front of your house and you read about some upheaval, some unforeseen upheaval, some terrorist getting ahold of a nuclear weapon, and how you would react to that. I believe that you've got to close your eyes, imagine in that dangerous situation an American leader without any experience, completely untested, a leader about whom literally we know very, very little. And what we do know is this troubling pattern that I mentioned, this pattern of being on one side, pattern of indecisiveness. So I don't believe that we can take this kind of risk, not now, not in this incredibly uncertain time, and not when our children's security is at stake. When that next crisis occurs, and you can bet that somewhere it will, whether it's at home or abroad, the entire world is going to look to the American Presidency. Bill Clinton says it's not the character of the President, it's ``the character of the Presidency.'' Wrong. They're interconnected; they're locked. So you've got to ask, what is character? A friend said, well, it's acting alone the same way you would act with a million people watching. That's a good description. But while nobody may be watching in the Oval Office, millions will feel the impact of the judgment of the President of the United States. I've been tested. We've managed world change that I think history will record as almost Biblical proportions. These young kids here go to bed at night without the same fear of nuclear war that their mothers and dads had. That is a major accomplishment, and we as a country can take great pride in it. But I'll never forget when we were faced with a crisis now known as Desert Storm. I didn't waver. I took a stand. I made the decision to go to war because I knew it was right, not because I felt it was popular. You've got to go back and remember all the predictions of the body bags, and how I hadn't convinced the country, and how the demonstrators were expressing the will of the people, and that I had to make a lonely decision. I'll never forget being with Barbara up at a little chapel we have there at Camp David, when we had to make a decision, when I had just made a decision. A couple of days later, America's sons and daughters would go into war again. It is not an easy decision. You've got to do it from conviction all the way. It's an awesome responsibility to ask anybody's kid to possibly knock on death's door a little early. It's a responsibility that I've tried very hard to fulfill with honor and decency and, yes, duty; above all, I hope, integrity. And so that's your call. And now as we go down to the wire on November 3d, and all the polling and all the pundits won't make any difference at all. It's up to the American people. When you enter that voting booth, please ask yourself three commonsense questions: Who has the right vision for America's economic future? Who can lead us through this global transition? And which candidate has the character? Who would you trust with your family? Who would you trust with your country when a crisis arrives? Ideas, action, and character: I have tried hard to be a proponent of all three. May God bless this country. Go to the polls. We need your support. We are going to win this election for the young people here today. Thank you, and God bless each and every one of you. Note: The President spoke at 9 a.m. at the train depot.”