Stephen Ambrose Quotes

I've always tried to be fair to my subjects. That's easy when they are as likable and admirable as Lewis and Clark, or Eisenhower.

I was taught by professors who had done their schooling in the 1930s. Most of them were scornful of, even hated, big business.

I thought Nixon was the worst President we had ever had, save only perhaps Andrew Johnson.

History is everything that has ever happened.

Even before Watergate and his resignation, Nixon had inspired conflicting and passionate emotions.

Eisenhower is my choice as the American of the 20th Century. Of all the men I've studied and written about, he is the brightest and the best.

Eisenhower had the clearest blue eyes. He would fix them on you. In my every interview with him, he would lock his eyes on to mine and keep them there.

Dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.

Andrew Johnson was a Southerner generally who proclaimed that his native state of Tennessee was a country for white men.

American is the first democratic nation-state.

American corporations hate to give away money.

Almost everything Truman did in foreign affairs I approve of.

World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.

Washington's character was rock solid. He came to stand for the new nation and its republican virtues, which was why he became our first President by unanimous choice.

My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier.

Immigrants do more than help us win our wars, or set up cleaning shops or ethnic restaurants.

I'm no politician. I'm an historian who has learned through a lifetime of studying that nothing in the world beats universal education.

I was too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam.

Crazy Horse saw history as integrated in the present, incorporated into daily life.

As to the Indians, the guiding principle was, promise them anything just so long as they get out of the way.

You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.

Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones.

The Canadians have managed to live peacefully with their Indians. It is disgrace that the United States has not done the same.

It would not be possible to praises nurses too highly.

The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: marry an English major.