Bills Quote by Paul Kengor
“In the middle of Hillary Clinton's push for national healthcare in 1993, Bill Clinton cited Thomas Jefferson's concern for health issues as, somehow, apparently indicative of a need for federal management of the nation's healthcare system.”
About This Quote
The statement notes that Bill Clinton used Jefferson's historical concern for health to justify modern federal healthcare, implying political framing of past ideas.
In simple terms: Historical quotes are used to support current policies.
Key Takeaway
Critically assess political references.
Themes
politics
history
healthcare
policy
Mood
analytical
skeptical
Type
critical
informative
When to use this quote
- legislative debates
- public speeches
- academic analysis
Key Concepts
rhetoric
historical reinterpretation
Questions to Reflect On
- What motives drive such citations?
- Are the parallels valid?
A Different Perspective
Historical context may be selectively interpreted.
![“[The GOP] must decide soon where they stand on the issue of socialized medicine. President Clinton threw down the gauntlet in his State of the Union address, when he proposed guaranteeing health insurance for at least half of the 10 million American children who have none.” quote by Tony Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0af/tony-snow-12687_addresses_the-gop-must-decide-soon-where-they-stan_1401863.jpg)
![“Not from my point of view…[Clinton] want[s] to move toward mandated government medicine, socialized medicine.” quote by Rudy Giuliani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/787/rudy-giuliani-958_care_not-from-my-point-of-view-clinton-want-s_2787717.jpg)
![“[Hillary Clinton] is part of the establishment, and that's good for foreign policy and for understanding the ongoing health care system.” quote by Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4fd/reid-hoffman-1342_care_hillary-clinton-is-part-of-the-establish_923887.jpg)
![“Hillary Clinton wants to extend the Obamacare rule that healthcare companies cannot discriminate against women and charge them more than men for their healthcare. [Donald] Trump wants to get rid of Obamacare.” quote by Natalie Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/332/natalie-portman-1515_clinton_hillary-clinton-wants-to-extend-the-obam_2125425.jpg)
![“[The Clinton health care initiative is] washed-over old-time bureaucratic liberalism, or centralized bureaucratic socialism.” quote by Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f52/newt-gingrich-792_care_the-clinton-health-care-initiative-is-wa_124072.jpg)
![“[The Democrats'] vision for the future: socialized medicine and Washington-run health care.” quote by Pete Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/766/pete-sessions-25044_care_the-democrats-vision-for-the-future-soci_1945736.jpg)
![“It is quite sad, to me, that that ideal, that vision and understanding [of American founding ], doesn't seem to be a part of the current political season.” quote by Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a05/paul-kengor-14302_currents_it-is-quite-sad-to-me-that-that-ideal-th_399953.jpg)
![“The presidents varied in the degree to which they cited the founders. Some, like JFK, LBJ, [Richard] Nixon, and [Bill] Clinton, cited them somewhat frequently, in the range of 100 to 200 times, though, regrettably, not in a thematic or notably profound or even interesting way. Others, like Gerald…” quote by Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9e3/paul-kengor-14302_bills_the-presidents-varied-in-the-degree-to-w_424735.jpg)
![“I was a child or didn't live through those presidents prior to [Ronald] Reagan, and thus didn't realize how little attention they had paid to the founders.” quote by Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/38b/paul-kengor-14302_attention_i-was-a-child-or-didn-t-live-through-tho_602258.jpg)
![“If our presidents, or potential presidents, don't know this or don't articulate [an America ideal], that's a blown opportunity. The president can teach as well as lead.” quote by Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2c6/paul-kengor-14302_america_if-our-presidents-or-potential-president_708330.jpg)
![“Which founders have these presidents cited - and why? What did, say, President [Ronald] Reagan's view of George Washington, or President [Bill] Clinton's view of Thomas Jefferson, tell us about their view of America and where they intended to lead the country?In many cases, it told us a lot about…” quote by Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/35c/paul-kengor-14302_america_which-founders-have-these-presidents-cit_968419.jpg)
![“[Sport officials] blocked their support of us. But those individuals [ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar ] were old enough, they were wise enough, and they knew their history and this is why they came out in support of us, because they knew that we had our finger…” quote by John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/13b/john-carlos-16923_bills_sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of_4987.jpg)
![“[A]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air. And be careful what you swallow.” quote by Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/da8/dr-seuss-1224_advice_a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-f_6806.jpg)
![“I will not agree to have this bill [to repeal DADT ] go forward, because our economy is in the tank.” quote by John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c2c/john-mccain-465_agree_i-will-not-agree-to-have-this-bill-to-re_7321.jpg)
