"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." Buddha

Joseph Roux said that "A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool." Looking back over a baker's dozen of presidencies, we can see that the frequency of diamonds is in real decline. I selected only one representative quotation from each President (although a variety of other examples are readily available). Here's a baker's dozen of good and not-so-good words from recent American Presidents.

1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933)
This quote is from FDR's first inaugural address on 4 March 1933 and was a message of hope to encourage Americans to overcome the difficulties of the Great Depression.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

2. Harry S Truman (1945)
This quote is actually from a sign on HST's Oval Office desk. He used the line frequently when addressing the American people and on the role of the President.

"The buck stops here."

3. Dwight David Eisenhower (1957)
Ike reportedly used this line, or a variation of it, on several occasions. To some, it is paradoxical, but in both military and civilian situations, it emphasizes the process over any particular result. Ike related that he heard the line while in the military in WWI and prior to traveling across the United States in 1919, a journey that influenced his support for the Interstate System funded during his administration.

"Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

4. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961)
This quote was from JFK's inaugural address in January 1961 and served as a call for citizens to engage in public service, focusing on their responsibilities and contributions to their nation rather than the reverse.

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

5. Lyndon Baines Johnson (unk)
While this quote is not well-known, it is certainly prophetic today, where we see states, politicians, and political parties taking extreme positions to protect their perceived turf rather than seeing the American experiment as truly e pluribus unum.

"We live in a world that has narrowed into a neighborhood
before it has broadened into a brotherhood."

6. Richard Milhous Nixon (1977)
If LBJ's quote was prophetic in describing the zeitgeist of the 21st Century, then Nixon's quote captures the current perspective of those driving our democracy down an authoritarian road. Nixon's quote is from part 3 of the David Frost interviews and 47 years later the Supreme Court ruled in a similar manner for official acts.

"When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal."

7. Gerald Rudolf Ford (1976)
Perhaps given the circumstances of assuming office after Nixon's resignation, Ford sought to emphasizes the importance of truthfulness and integrity in governance. While great insight may not have been attributed to Ford, this comment underscores the importance of truth and transparency as the first line of defense against the spread of misinformation.

"Truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself"

8. James Earl Carter (1981)
Carter's farewell address to the Nation expressed this sentiment (as phrased in a 2016 OpEd below).

"In our democracy, the only title higher and more powerful than that of president is the title of citizen."

9. Ronald Wilson Reagan (1986)
Included in remarks to State Chairpersons of the National White House Conference on Small Business. Reagan claimed that this was the old way of doing business and that he already, with the help of entrepreneurs and small businesses, fixed it.

"If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it".

10. George Herbert Walker Bush (1989)
The first Bush was the last non-incumbent Republican to win the popular vote and the Democratic party would capture a plurality in six of the next seven presidential elections. He stressed the importance of public service.

"We don't want an America that is closed to the world.
What we want is a world that is open to America."

11. William Jefferson Clinton (2004)
Clinton's presidency featured significant economic growth and welfare reform, the expansion of NATO, and participation in peace efforts in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. He commented frequently on the differences between political perspectives being no reason to seek compromise.

"We all do better when we work together.
Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more."

12. George Walker Bush (2004)
The second Bush presidency featured more malapropisms (more and more imports come from overseas) than words of wisdom, such as the following from his State of the Union Address in 2004.

"[America has] no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace --
a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman.

13. Barack Hussein Obama (2012)
Obama seemed to have few concise statements and expressed his ideas in a more conversational style.

We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies
are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a
commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of
our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense."

As with Bush 43, Joe Biden was not known for concise words of wisdom. But I will include one comment by Biden from 2014 since it is relevant to the last ten years.

"In the 21st century, the countries that thrive will be the ones where citizens
know their voices will be heard because the institutions are transparent."

The last four GOP presidents (and throw in Biden for good measure) were, at some point, decidedly challenged at public speaking, if not with fundamental English. Reagan was a skillful orator but then dementia took over, but the Bushes didn't have the dementia excuse (although Biden may have, perhaps it was just age). The jury is out on which explanation will fit Me/Now.

Finale
An appropriate post ending, in the hope that there will be many more words of leadership, if not wisdom, both good and not-so-good, is a chorus from Billy Joel's "Famous Last Words" (1993):

These are the last words I have to say
That's why it took so long to write
There will be other words some other day
Ain't that the story of my life?