Some years ago, I read Thomas Carlyle's history of the French Revolution, and I was very taken by the way he told… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
I had long known the story of Aaron Burr, but when I heard about his remarkable daughter, Theodosia, about the relationship between… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
I'm trying to tell the story of the evolution of America. Each biography is a life in time, and I can see… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Theodore Roosevelt, when he was out of office, he would do things to draw attention. But when you are president, you don't… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
When you tell a story, there are imperatives of structure, of style, of pacing and all of this, that are there simply… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Every work of history is a combination of argument and narrative. The longer I write, the more I emphasize the narrative, the… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
I certainly don't think that the heirs of the American Revolution were a particularly noble class. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The Republican Party has moved substantially to the right of where Reagan was. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Reagan gave essentially the same speech from the beginning to the end of his political career, which was always, 'The American people are great,… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Presidents are evaluated not by what they did by the stroke of their own pen; it's what they persuade Congress to do. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
In the business arena, the standard rules of morality don't apply. What we're really looking for is efficiency. It doesn't do anyone any good… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
There is a certain kind of sobering, civilizing effect that being president imposes on people. There is a certain kind of dignity with which… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The Founders were anything but demigods to themselves and their contemporaries, who recognized full well that the experiment in self-government had only begun. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The American political system is based on the president taking the initiative and Congress responding. With President Trump, it's been the opposite. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The president was not the most important political player in the 19th century. Besides Jefferson at the beginning, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, the… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They're probably not likely to… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
When you look at the development of the American presidency, you see that the presidents who have had the greatest impact are the ones… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
