Thomas Jefferson on rebellion

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.

~ Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
1938

John Tyler on vetoing Henry Clay's bank bill

The power of Congress to create a national bank to operate over the Union has been a question of dispute from the origin of the Government.... [M]y own opinion has been uniformly proclaimed to be against the exercise of any such power by this Government.

~ John Tyler, 10th president, August 16, 1841

John Tyler (1841-1845)
1938

~ Andrew Johnson, 17th president

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
1938

~ Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th U.S. president

Rutherford B. Hayes
1877-1881

~ James Garfield, 20th U.S. president

James Garfield
1881

~ Chester A. Arthur, 21st president

Chester A. Arthur
1881-1885

~ Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president

Benjamin Harrison
1889-1893

James K. Polk on manifest destiny

We must ever mandate the principle that the people of this continent alone have the right to decide their own destiny.

~ James K. Polk, 11th president

James K. Polk
1845-1849

1938 Presidential Series

Scott #803-834

1/2 cent - Benjamin Franklin

1 cent - George Washington

1 1/2 cents - Martha Washington

2 cents - John Adams




3 cents - Thomas Jefferson




4 cents - James Madison

4 1/2 cents - White House

5 cents - James Monroe

6 cents - John Q. Adams (1825-1829)




7 cents - Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)




8 cents - Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)




9 cents - William H. Harrison (1841)




10 cents - John Tyler (1841-1845)




11 cents - James K. Polk (1845-1849)




12 cents - Zachary Taylor

13 cents - Millard Fillmore

14 cents - Franklin Pierce

15 cents - James Buchanan

16 cents - Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)




17 cents - Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)




18 cents - Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)




19 cents - Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)




20 cents - James A. Garfield (1881)




21 cents - Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)




22 cents - Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897)




24 cents - Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)




25 cents - William McKinley (1897-1901)




30 cents - Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)




50 cents - William H. Taft (1909-1913)




$1 - Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)




$2 - Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)




$5 - Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

William McKinley on war: "We carry the national conscience wherever we go"

We go to war only to make peace. We never went to war with any other design. We carry the national conscience wherever we go.

~ William McKinley, 25th president

1897-1901

William H. Taft on the limits of legislation

The world is not going to be saved by legislation.

~ William H. Taft, 27th president

William H. Taft
1909-1913

John Quincy Adams: Go not abroad "in search of monsters to destroy"

Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her [America’s] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.  But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.  She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.  She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.  She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.  She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.  The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force...  She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit...

~ John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, speech honoring the 45th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 1821

John Quincy Adams
1825-1829

Ulysses Grant on secession

The right of revolution is an inherent one. When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.

~ Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant
1869-1877

John Adams on debt

There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.

~ John Adams (1735-1826)

John Adams
1797-1801

Woodrow Wilson on neutrality

Neutrality is a negative word. It does not express what America ought to feel. We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt.

~ Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
1938

Jefferson on legislators and natural rights

Our legislators are not sufficiently apprized of the rightful limits of their power; that their true office is to declare and enforce only our natural rights . . . and take none of them from us. No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another; and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him . . . and the idea is quite unfounded, that on entering into society we give up any natural right.

~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis W. Gilmer, June 27, 1816

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
1938

Warren Harding on war

My best judgment of America's needs is to steady down, to get squarely on our feet, to make sure of the right path. Let's get out of the fevered delirium of war, with the hallucination that all the money in the world is to be made in the madness of war and the wildness of its aftermath. Let us stop to consider that tranquility at home is more precious than peace abroad, and that both our good fortune and our eminence are dependent on the normal forward stride of all the American people.

~ President Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
1938

Calvin Coolidge on living within your means

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.

~ Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
1938

Andrew Jackson on mercantilism

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.

~ Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
1938

Martin van Buren on government bailing out business losses

Those who look to the action of this government for specific aid to the citizen to relieve embarrassments arising from losses by revulsions in commerce and credit, lose sight of the ends for which it was created, and the powers with which it is clothed. It was established to give security to us all. … It was not intended to confer special favors on individuals. The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for the general prosperity.

~ Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States, 1837

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
1938