Americans will celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the United States throughout 2026. Many a notable leader has influenced the country in its 250-year history, and the following are some notable quotes from American presidents over the course of the nation’s history.
“If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.” Thomas Jefferson, 1802
“Peace is the best time for improvement and preparation of every kind; it is in peace that our commerce flourishes most, that taxes are most easily paid, and that the revenue is most productive.” - James Monroe, 1817
“Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters.” - Grover Cleveland, 1886
“In the history of mankind, many republics have risen, have flourished for a less or greater time, and then have fallen because their citizens lost the power of governing themselves and thereby governing their state; and in no way has this loss of power been so often and so clearly shown as in the tendency to turn the government into a government primarily for the benefit of one class instead of a government for the benefit of the people as a whole.” - Theodore Roosevelt, 1903
“Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments.” - Calvin Coolidge, 1926
“No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected.” - Harry S. Truman, 1947
“Mankind must put an end to war – or war will put an end to mankind.” - John F. Kennedy, 1961
“A president’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.” - Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
“American has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.” - George W. Bush, 2001
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” - Barack Obama, 2008 (delivered while campaigning for president in an election Obama ultimately won).
