Presidential Quotes (15 of 16): Jimmy Carter

Yes, we would probably get more hits by arbitrarily mentioning Phil Robertson of "Duck Dynasty," who is apparently not related to the televangelist Pat Robertson or the fringe minister Johnny Robertson, from Martinsville, Va.

But, we are sticking with our game plan and quoting former Democratic president Jimmy Carter, whose term lasted from 1977 to 1981; Carter was also the governor of Georgia before becoming president.

He is the only president we've quoted so far in this series who is still alive, and he is the second oldest president behind George H.W. Bush:

"You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it better than you think you can."

http://www.cartercenter.org

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org

Presidential Quotes: George HW Bush

Greetings to our blog-readers in Lithuania, Libya and Lebanon and a last minute Fourth of July to everyone here in les etats unis.

We will be quoting former President George H.W. Bush soon, but before we do, we thought we'd write a quick paragraph with some items which are trending on the web page for "The Washington Post" (we Aquaman to make it more interesting):

"The nation's capital celebrated the 4th of July as Egypt is in a major political crisis with a performance by Barry Manilow at the National Mall; Cong. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was among those in attendance. Meanwhile in New York, competitive eater Joey Chestnut won his seventh world hot dog eating championship. He ate 69 hot dogs, yeah, don't try that at home. And, a 10-year-old boy in Seattle wore his new Aquaman pajamas at a local Burger King to merely impress his friends."

On a more somber note, we are saddened to hear that John E. Grogan, 78, the mayor of Eden, North Carolina, a small near Greensboro, which borders Virginia, passed away today.

Here is our quote from Bush 41:

"You have to understand that people that are hurting are going to criticize you."

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.bushlibrary.tamu.edu

http://www.ci.eden.nc.us

Quote of the Day- Dan Quayle

If Bill O'Reilly is checking us out tonight, as are blog readers from Russia, Greece and Sweden, and he accuses of an arbitrary liberal bias, our response will be: 1) Ok, so what a tea partier is just Peppermint Patty in reverse and 2) our original choice was Charles Fairbanks, who was vice president under Theodore Roosevelt.

But, since no quotes from Fairbanks were anywhere to be found we went with a more recent Republican vice president in Dan Quayle, 65, who was veep under George H.W. Bush.

In spite of his now dubious political reputation, Quayle actually served in both houses of Congress for many years prior to becoming vice president. In 1976, at the age of 29, Quayle was elected into the House of Representatives and from 1981-89, he was a U.S. Senator for Indiana.

His son Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), 35, is following the family's political tradition as he was elected to represent his district in Arizona. Quayle is one of many freshman Congressional reps who were elected in November of 2010; a class which is now the subject of a book from seasoned reporters at "Politico" (we need to ask Javier the Intern* to bing the author's names when he gets back from the Salt Lake City Library**).

As for Vice President Charles Fairbanks (1852-1918), he had a similar background to Quayle as he once a U.S. Senator before becoming Theodore Roosevelt's veep, but he got stabbed in the back by his boss as Teddy decided to support William Howard Taft instead, and Taft did indeed become president back in....where's Javier? But, we do know that it was 66 degrees in Fairbanks, Alaska, today.

As for the photo, we are not sure what the context is. This salute in Turkey is for the far, far-right Grey Wolves political movement; and at North Carolina State University, nicknamed the Wolfpack, it is the school's partisan salute at athletic events.

Here is Quayle's quote, and we are NOT making this one up:

"A low voter turn-out is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

Links: 1) Dan Quayle's official home page, 2) Politico, 3) NC State U, 4) SLC, Utah Public Library and 5) Turkishpoliticsinaction.com, a site which is not in any way linked to far-right political movements in Turkey or anywhere else.

http://www.vicepresidentquayle.com

http://www.politico.com

http://www.ncsu.edu

http://www.slcpl.org

http://www.turkishpoliticsinaction.com

*-Javier the Intern is a fictional person; one day we will have to post a Wikipedia entry about him

**- We are not in Salt Lake City, Utah, but we hear the city's public library is among the best in the country.

Quote of the Day/Week-Jimmy Carter

We continue our posts of the last eight American presidents with a quip from the 39th president and the first one from the state of Georgia, Jimmy Carter.

In addition to being a former president, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

After his presidency, Carter founded the Carter Center, a non-profit group dedicated to human rights. He was also a key figure in the development of Habitat for Humanity.

Carter is also a fan of music, and his favorite singers include Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.

Dan Aykroyd played Carter on "Saturday Night Live" as did Joe Piscopo, who was the only "SNL" player to perform as Ronald Reagan and Carter.

Carter is the same age as former president George H.W. Bush, who is slightly older than Carter. Both former American presidents were born in 1924.

Here is Carter's quote:


"Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political social boundaries."http://www.cartercenter.orghttp://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org

Quote of the Day/Week-George H.W. Bush

We continue quoting the last eight presidents of the United States this month with a quip from George H.W. Bush, last week, we quoted his son George W. Bush.

Even though I voted against Bush twice and his son twice again, one has to admire someone who has lived an active life and is still striving at age 87. By a mere two months, Bush 41 is the oldest living president of America. While he was born in June of 1924, Jimmy Carter, who was the 39th president, was born in October of that year.

Here is Bush's quote:

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."

Quote of the Day/Week- George McGovern

Hmmm...for some reason, we are seemingly popular in Iraq and Slovenia these days.

Today, we start our series on quotes of men who couldn't quite become king as we profile and quip men who lost the presidency of the United States.

On our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Bob Dole, 88, the Republican nominee who lost the presidency in 1996 to Bill Clinton.

Here, we quote George McGovern, 89, the Democratic nominee who lost the presidency to Richard Nixon in 1972. McGovern is the oldest man to have either run for or become president. He edges out Dole as well presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, who are both 86.

McGovern is also considered to be the most progressive candidate to have run for president in the modern era, though some may argue that Al Gore, known for his environmental politics, is more liberal. Ironically, McGovern represented South Dakota, a conservative state in the U.S. Senate.

This quote reflects McGovern's strong opposition to the Vietnam War:

"I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."

CLARIFICATION: Apparently, the Harvard men's basketball team is not on their way to the NCAAs quite yet. Apparently, the Penn Quakers can tie for first place with a win over Princeton tonight and force a one-game playoff. The Ivy League is the one remaining conference in NCAA Division-I basketball without a conference tournament.

Yesterday, Virginia Commonwealth, Loyola (Md.) and Davidson were among the teams to win their respective tourneys.

Quote of the Week- George HW Bush aka Papa Smurf

Yes, we had to make fun of the Bush family though in all fairness to the veep who went on to beat Michael Dukakis (who I voted for which did not go over well with my Turkish relatives in Istanbul), George H.W. Bush now seems like a voice of rational sanity in the GOP.

At the George HW Bush Library in College Station, Tex. (on the Texas A&M campus), there is an interesting-looking exhibit of red dresses worn by first ladies ranging from Lady Bird Johnson to Pat Nixon to Hillary Clinton to Laura Bush. Sponsored by The Heart Truth Foundation, the exhbit runs through Aug. 14, 2011.

Ben Franklin impersanator Art Yeoman also stops by the Bush Library on Nov. 30, and the museum will host a screening of the original 1947 version of "Miracle on 34th Street" on Dec. 9.

Here is the quote from 'Papa Smurf:' "I'll be glad to reply or to dodge any of your questions, depending on what I think will help me get elected."

SIDEBAR: An actual conversation (more or less) that I had with servants at the 24/7 diner Texas Tavern in Roanoke, Va., last night:

Me: What's a Cheezy?

Server One: It's a cheesy western. They're very popular 'round here. It's a cheeseburger with a fried egg that's got relish on top it.

Me: Wow! That can't be good for the heart? So, is it really that popular 'round here?'

Server Two: Far and away, it's our most popular sandwich. People come from all over to have it.

Me: You mean like from Lynchburg? (an hour away)

Server One: Oh, a lot farther than that!

Me: Like where? Pittsburgh?

Server Two: We've had people come from the west coast for our burgers.

Me: Really?

Server Two: You betcha, man. We got some of the best burgers in the country around here.

SIDEBAR TWO: We wanted to mention the town of Strasburg, Va., an hour and a half south of DC, two and a hlaf hours north of Roanoke, which up until this year housed the kitschy, but unique Museum of American Presidents. But, the town which now has a coffeehouse called Cristina's Cafe downtown has gotten more attention lately because pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg is playing for the nearby Washington Nationals.