Abraham Quote by Bill Ayers
![“Now in my view, if you were to line up the Presidents in the order of who made the greatest accomplishments, you'd put Lyndon Johnson in that arena with both Roosevelts probably, and [Abraham] Lincoln and so on. But the idea that Lyndon Johnson was operating as a free agent and coming up with…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a3a/bill-ayers-1848_abraham_now-in-my-view-if-you-were-to-line-up-th_2684631.jpg)
“Now in my view, if you were to line up the Presidents in the order of who made the greatest accomplishments, you'd put Lyndon Johnson in that arena with both Roosevelts probably, and [Abraham] Lincoln and so on. But the idea that Lyndon Johnson was operating as a free agent and coming up with these ideas on his own is nonsense.”
About This Quote
Assessing presidents by achievements is complex; attributing success solely to one individual oversimplifies history.
In simple terms: Presidential success is shared, not just one person’s work.
Key Takeaway
Recognize collective effort in history.
Themes
history
leadership
politics
collaboration
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
historical
political
When to use this quote
- education
- policy making
- public discourse
- leadership studies
Key Concepts
historical analysis
collective impact
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we fairly evaluate leaders?
- What role do teams play in historic achievements?
A Different Perspective
Attribution can ignore systemic factors.
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![“[Lyndon ] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do as a conservative politician.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4e4/bill-ayers-1848_black_lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black_39317.jpg)
![“I'm wary of government. Part of [the Tea Party] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So I don't find them to be as atrocious as most people do, as your liberals do. I'm not a liberal.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f9a/bill-ayers-1848_dislike_i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-p_60556.jpg)
![“I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years [from 1965 till 1968].” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0f8/bill-ayers-1848_arrested_i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d_88658.jpg)
![“[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg)
![“Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee, because we are not going to allow - people will wake up and we're not going to allow a con artist to take over the party of [Abraham] Lincoln and [Ronald] Reagan.” quote by Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c6a/marco-rubio-355_abraham_donald-trump-is-not-going-to-be-the-nomi_14750.jpg)
