--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There had been reports in recent days…" description: "\"“There had been reports in recent days that Trump wanted a general to manage his office; generals appeal to him, perhaps because he believes, accuratel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg" --- # There had been reports in recent days that Trump wanted a… ![“There had been reports in recent days that Trump wanted a general to manage his office; generals appeal to him, perhaps because he believes, accurately or not, that they are tough individuals who nonetheless will follow orders—his orders, that is—or maybe just because he likes uniforms.” quote by Amy Davidson Sorkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg) > ““There had been reports in recent days that Trump wanted a general to manage his office; generals appeal to him, perhaps because he believes, accurately or not, that they are tough individuals who nonetheless will follow orders—his orders, that is—or maybe just because he likes uniforms.”” Amy Davidson Sorkin ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques the preference for military figures in political offices, suggesting it stems from perceived toughness and a desire for order. **In simple terms:** Trump likes generals for perceived toughness and order. Key Takeaway Question the merit of military leadership in civilian roles. Themes politics leadership military influence perception authority Mood critical analytical Type commentary opinion When to use this quote - campaign strategy - government staffing - media commentary Key Concepts civil-military relations executive decision‑making public image Questions to Reflect On - What are the risks of militarizing political offices? - How does uniform symbolism affect public trust? A Different Perspective General preference may ignore civilian expertise. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generals/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Donald\] Trump wanted the nomination, and all these other Republicans and their supporters didn't want Trump to have the nomination. So who became the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/donald-trump-wanted-the-nomination-and-all-these-other-republicans/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Donald Trump he wanted casino gambling in Florida. Yes, you did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/donald-trump-he-wanted-casino-gambling-in-florida-yes-you-did/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) > [If I wanted a circus ringmaster, I'd hire Trump. If I wanted advice on brain surgery or hospital management, I'd turn to Carson. 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And we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neera-tanden/i-think-trump-wanted-to-use-his-2016-campaign-to-basically-say-to-a/) [Neera Tanden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neera-tanden/) > [A defensive war is apt to betray us into too frequent detachment. Those generals who have had but little experience attempt to protect every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-ii-holy-roman-emperor/a-defensive-war-is-apt-to-betray-us-into-too-frequent-detachment/) [Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-ii-holy-roman-emperor/) > [Around the world, the generals are being ousted, and the poets are taking charge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/around-the-world-the-generals-are-being-ousted-and-the-poets-are/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [All through history it's the nations that have given most to generals and the least to the people that have been the first to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/all-through-history-it-s-the-nations-that-have-given-most-to-generals/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [As the First World War made painfully clear, when politicians and generals lead nations into war, they almost invariably assume swift victory, and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/as-the-first-world-war-made-painfully-clear-when-politicians-and/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [Generals who can write always make me nervous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bradlee/generals-who-can-write-always-make-me-nervous/) [Ben Bradlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bradlee/) > [“McClellan knew that Jackson’s force was relatively small, so he only sent 16,000 men under the command of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/mcclellan-knew-that-jackson-s-force-was-relatively-small-so-he-only/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Trump has claimed he knows more about ISIS than America's leading generals. Clearly, this is also total nonsense; he doesn't seem to have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bergen/trump-has-claimed-he-knows-more-about-isis-than-america-s-leading/) [Peter Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bergen/) > [We had generals who were admirals and admirals who wanted to be generals. Generals acting as admirals are bad enough, but it was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holland-smith/we-had-generals-who-were-admirals-and-admirals-who-wanted-to-be/) Holland Smith > [Successful generals make plans to fit circumstances, but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/successful-generals-make-plans-to-fit-circumstances-but-do-not-try-to/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) ## More by Amy Davidson Sorkin > [“Scaramucci is just a guy who knew that someone was being picked on, and jumped in. Now the rest of us can sit back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-davidson-sorkin/scaramucci-is-just-a-guy-who-knew-that-someone-was-being-picked-on/) Amy Davidson Sorkin Explore all 2 Amy Davidson Sorkin quotes ## More Generals quotes > [Successful generals make plans to fit circumstances, but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/successful-generals-make-plans-to-fit-circumstances-but-do-not-try-to/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [We had generals who were admirals and admirals who wanted to be generals. Generals acting as admirals are bad enough, but it was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holland-smith/we-had-generals-who-were-admirals-and-admirals-who-wanted-to-be/) Holland Smith > [Trump has claimed he knows more about ISIS than America's leading generals. Clearly, this is also total nonsense; he doesn't seem to have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bergen/trump-has-claimed-he-knows-more-about-isis-than-america-s-leading/) [Peter Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bergen/) > [“McClellan knew that Jackson’s force was relatively small, so he only sent 16,000 men under the command of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/mcclellan-knew-that-jackson-s-force-was-relatively-small-so-he-only/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Generals who can write always make me nervous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bradlee/generals-who-can-write-always-make-me-nervous/) [Ben Bradlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bradlee/) > [As the First World War made painfully clear, when politicians and generals lead nations into war, they almost invariably assume swift victory, and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/as-the-first-world-war-made-painfully-clear-when-politicians-and/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [All through history it's the nations that have given most to generals and the least to the people that have been the first to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/all-through-history-it-s-the-nations-that-have-given-most-to-generals/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Around the world, the generals are being ousted, and the poets are taking charge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/around-the-world-the-generals-are-being-ousted-and-the-poets-are/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [A defensive war is apt to betray us into too frequent detachment. Those generals who have had but little experience attempt to protect every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-ii-holy-roman-emperor/a-defensive-war-is-apt-to-betray-us-into-too-frequent-detachment/) [Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-ii-holy-roman-emperor/) > [ One of the things I would immediately do \[as Commander in Chief \], in addition to defeating them here at home, is bring back… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carly-fiorina/one-of-the-things-i-would-immediately-do-as-commander-in-chief-in/) [Carly Fiorina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carly-fiorina/) > [It is tragic that the Fuehrer should have the whole nation behind him with the single exception of the Army generals. In my opinion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jodl/it-is-tragic-that-the-fuehrer-should-have-the-whole-nation-behind-him/) [Alfred Jodl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jodl/) > [“Hullo, commandant,' I said, 'how's the General?' 'Which general?' he asked with a shy grin. 'Surely in the Caodaist faith,' I said, 'all generals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hullo-commandant-i-said-how-s-the-general-which-general-he-asked-with/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Great captains of industry are as rare as great generals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-graham-sumner/great-captains-of-industry-are-as-rare-as-great-generals/) [William Graham Sumner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-graham-sumner/) > [Generals are not to be too scrupulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/generals-are-not-to-be-too-scrupulous/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [That's why the army sends all its future generals to what we call "charm school." As soon as you are a general, people think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/that-s-why-the-army-sends-all-its-future-generals-to-what-we-call/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) [Browse all 143 Generals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There had been reports in recent days that Trump wanted a general to manage his office; generals appeal to him, perhaps because he believes, accurately or not, that they are tough individuals who nonetheless will follow orders—his orders, that is—or maybe just because he likes uniforms.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amy Davidson Sorkin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-davidson-sorkin/there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-that-trump-wanted-a-general-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Generals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-davidson-sorkin/there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-that-trump-wanted-a-general-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/amy-davidson-sorkin-108050_generals_there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-th_165777.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There had been reports in recent days that Trump wanted a general to manage his office; generals appeal to…” — Amy Davidson Sorkin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amy Davidson Sorkin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-davidson-sorkin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There had been reports in recent...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-davidson-sorkin/there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-that-trump-wanted-a-general-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-davidson-sorkin/there-had-been-reports-in-recent-days-that-trump-wanted-a-general-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```