dots-menu
×

Home  »  Respectfully Quoted  »  Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)

Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.

 
NUMBER: 1506
AUTHOR: Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)
QUOTATION: Our loyalty is due entirely to the United States. It is due to the President only and exactly to the degree in which he efficiently serves the United States. It is our duty to support him when he serves the United States well. It is our duty to oppose him when he serves it badly. This is true about Mr. Wilson now and it has been true about all our Presidents in the past. It is our duty at all times to tell the truth about the President and about every one else, save in the cases where to tell the truth at the moment would benefit the public enemy.
ATTRIBUTION: THEODORE ROOSEVELT, “Lincoln and Free Speech,” The Great Adventure (vol. 19 of The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, national ed.), chapter 7, p. 297 (1926).
SUBJECTS: Presidency