This Day in History March 15, 1941

I found this quote especially interesting in light of current events.  It was on this date in 1941, that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech at the White House Correspondents' Association.  This was the beginning of his third term, and the threat of WWII was looming in Europe.  Nazism was rampant in Germany and elsewhere.  We had not officially entered the War in the U.S.  Here is the famous statement he made:
"They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers... call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order. "

Although it is true that Nazism is basically a thing of the past (though truly not completely), their ideals still exist all over the world.  We see prejudices, senseless killing, and totalitarian governments where people's freedoms are impinged upon.  Let us hope and pray that this horrid part of the human experience can be eradicated.  I believe one day it will be gone, but I just wish the time were sooner rather than later.

For more information:
http://famousdaily.com/march15.html
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/fdr24.htm

This Day in History September 2, 1901

By GG Bain [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"  That is a famous quote made by the then Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt on this date in 1901.  He was speaking at this time at the Minnesota State Fair.  According to Roosevelt, the saying/proverb is of West African origin, but that seems to be unsubstantiated.

Twelve short days later, President McKinley was assassinated, and Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43 years old, became president.  And his Big Stick Policy became his guiding principle in issues of foreign policy during his presidency.

For more information, please check out:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/theodoreroosevelt/
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2012/09/02
http://www.factfixx.com/2011/09/02/who-said-that-speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick/
http://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2012-09-2
http://www.historyextra.com/milestone/theodore-roosevelts-speech-minnesota-state-fair
http://famousdaily.com/history/speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick.html

This Day in History--Quote of the Day for March 24

I thought I would do something  little bit different today.  I found the quote of the day on this site:
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations writers."
- Daniel J. Boorstin

How true that is!  Some of the "great" people in this world are only great because they have great PR.   I thought I would take a moment to tell you about Daniel J. Boorstin.

It just so happens that he was the twelfth librarian of the U.S. Congress (1975-1987). He received a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Americans: The Democratic Experience.  He believed that U.S. thinking was superior to European ways of thinking.  He was the author of several books.  He was definitely an intelligent, accomplished man, and I think that his quote does say a lot.

For more information, please check out:
http://www.answers.com/topic/daniel-j-boorstin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Boorstin