The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [6]
—Speech, April 30, 1979
One by one, issue by issue, program by program, the Republican Right has methodically turned away from policies which brought about a century of progress for working Americans. They want to build the 21st century economy on 19th century economic values, as if the last 100 years had not occurred. For them, the law of the jungle is the best economic policy for America—not equal opportunity, not fairness, not the American dream. Their policies will inevitably result in a lesser America, and have already meant a growing gulf between rich and poor.
—Speech, “Creating a Genuine
‘Opportunity Society,’” March 1, 2004
More than any of our Presidents, John Adams secured the institutions of the freedoms and the democracy that we have enjoyed for many generations of Americans. John Adams helped bind an emerging young nation by appointing George Washington, a southerner, to lead the largely northern Continental Army—one of the first acts of national unity. … John Adams laid the basis for our independent judiciary by appointing John Marshall to the Supreme Court. From his influence on the Constitution, his belief in the importance of a bicameral legislature, his insistence on a separation of powers and an independent judiciary—to his service as the nation’s first Vice-President and second President—Adams’ marks on our political institutions and judicial system are unique in our nation’s history.
—Statement Proposing a National Memorial
in Honor of President John Adams,
April 5, 2001
The fall of the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of this century is widely attributed to the excesses of a top-heavy civil service and a system of administrative regulation imposed by a bureaucracy run wild. The traditional American reaction to a problem or abuse has been to say, “There ought to be a law.” But now, as we survey the complex legal framework of the nation, we should also be prepared to say of many areas, “There ought not to be a law.”
—Speech, June 14, 1979
It is time for all governments, political leaders and peoples everywhere to recognize the Armenian Genocide. These annual commemorations are an effective way to pay tribute to the courage and suffering and triumph of the Armenian people, and to ensure that such atrocities will never happen again to any people on earth.
—Statement on the 86th Anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide,
April 4, 2001
Even without the bonds of blood and history, the deepening tragedy of Ulster today would demand that voices of concerned Americans everywhere be raised against the killing and the violence in Northern Ireland, just as we seek an end to brutality and repression everywhere. … Ulster is becoming Britain’s Vietnam.
—Senate address, October 20, 1971
Perhaps never before in the history of the world has there been an emblem so full of the great aspirations of all men everywhere as the flag of the United States. … The flag our forebears received at their citizenship ceremony initiated them into the life of love and freedom, and they went forth to build a new nation. Our common aspirations today are as boundless as the mind of man. … They exceed even the deepest divisions of our time, because they reflect the timeless quest of men to be free, to live in a society that is open, where the principles of freedom and justice and equality prevail.
—Fourth of July Address, Wakefield, MA, 1970
Rarely if ever in our history have private-interest groups been better organized, better financed, or more resistant to the force of change. It was Lord Bryce who commented in the Nineteenth Century that American government was all engine and no brakes. Today it could be said … that our government is all brakes and no engine.
—Speech, September 22, 1978
What we do in the outside world must be based on a deep moral sense of our purpose as a nation. Without that sense of our enduring heritage—the values on which this nation was