40+ Dick Gephardt Quotes (Advocacy, Leadership And Compromise)

Dick Gephardt is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. He was a Democratic leader in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003, serving as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995 and Minority Leader from 1995 to 2003. He also ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1988 and 2004.

Top 10 Dick Gephardt Quotes

1. Democracy is interactive... Its a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication.
2. Eventually I foresee voting on the Internet, which will lead to much more direct democracy.
3. I'm running for president because I've had enough of the oil barons, the status-quo apologists, the special-interest lobbyists running amok.
4. I hope we can get back to what I call the kitchen table. Everyday issues that people are really worried about and focused on.
5. What we have is two important values in conflict: freedom of speech and our desire for healthy campaigns in a healthy democracy. You can't have both.
6. I share the administration's goals in dealing with Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction.
7. Every proposal I'm making, every idea I'm advancing has a single, central purpose: to revive a failing economy and give working Americans the help and security they need.
8. Our democracy if self-cleansing. If you don't like it, be a candidate, or support a candidate.
9. I've thought a lot about the world and how George Bush sees the world and it ain't even close.
10. Politics takes patience, time, listening and endless meetings.

Dick Gephardt Short Quotes

• Like father, like son, four years and this president is done.
• We are all so privileged to be citizens of America, and we all need to be engaged.
• In every issue there are winners are losers, and the losers are plenty.
• Politics is a substitute for violence.
• I've always had good energy; I've always had good health.
• Life is the division of human cells, a process which begins at conception.
• And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'

Dick Gephardt Famous Quotes And Sayings

America is a great country. We are so wealthy. But our one remaining challenge is to fulfill the potential of all our people. And the only way we can do that is to try to bring everybody together to a higher place. — Dick Gephardt

I grew up in a household that was a labor household. My dad was a Teamster and a milk truck driver. My mother was a secretary. Neither of them got through high school. But they worked hard and they gave me very, very important opportunities to go to school, get a good education. — Dick Gephardt

We can see beyond the present shadows of war in the Middle East to a new world order where the strong work together to deter and stop aggression. This was precisely Franklin Roosevelt's and Winston Churchill's vision for peace for the post-war period. — Dick Gephardt

Diplomacy matters. Burden-sharing matters. Follow-through matters. And yes, sustaining the peace is harder, more complex and often costlier than winning the war itself. No matter the surge of momentary machismo -- as gratifying as it may be for some -- it's short-sighted and wrong to simply go it alone. — Dick Gephardt

I don't think you can be a good listener unless you're a good listener. I think it's something that you really have to do, and if you really do it, then you can do it. If you don't do it, then you can't do it. — Dick Gephardt

The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students. — Dick Gephardt

I grew up in the '50s and '60s when Jack Kennedy was president. We would watch him on television. And our teachers always talked about the good things public servants could do. I thought maybe that's something I should do. So when I got out of law school, my wife, Jane, and I became precinct captains. — Dick Gephardt

I was raised in a working class family of Baptist faith, and I went to college on a church scholarship where early teachings were reinforced. Abortion was wrong, I was taught. — Dick Gephardt

When I'm president, we'll have executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day — Dick Gephardt

I filed a brief as a friend of the court in the U. of Michigan to keep affirmative action at the U. of Michigan, which I attended the law school. And I was one of the original sponsors of making the Martin Luther King birthday a federal holiday. — Dick Gephardt

I think when everything is finally considered, I'll have a lot of support -- strong support -- not only from labor unions but from working people. — Dick Gephardt

One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency, .. The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth. It is time for the president and the Congress to follow that common sense for the good of the country. — Dick Gephardt

I think a lot of people think I was born in a blue suit, on the David Brinkley show. And that isn't me. I am much more that kid who grew up in South St. Louis, in a very modest household, with a simple background with parents who didn't get through high school. — Dick Gephardt

I think it's time we had a president who carried the same life experiences into the White House as most ordinary Americans. — Dick Gephardt

In every issue there are winners are losers, and the losers are plenty. But they have to be willing to grudgingly accept the result. That's the genius of our democracy. — Dick Gephardt

I led the fight for the Clinton health care plan in 1994. We failed. I learned from that experience. What I learned is you can't pass a complicated government-run plan. — Dick Gephardt

You know, when you're in public life, everything you do is out there. But I am proud to stand on my record. — Dick Gephardt

I have been a long and strong supporter of civil rights in my whole career. I led the fight to get the voting rights act re-enacted. I have been a strong supporter of affirmative action. I believe in it strongly. — Dick Gephardt

I think in some cases busing did improve the situation in some areas; in some cases it didn't. We had busing in St. Louis, and it has been ended and we are using other methods of trying to better integrate the schools. — Dick Gephardt

If you want to run for president, you better be an athlete. It's 24/7. It never ends. You give up your personal life completely and you have something of a chance to be shot. — Dick Gephardt

One of the big mistakes Republicans made with the Contract with America is that they tried to do too much too fast, and people revolted against it. — Dick Gephardt

Why would we want to keep a tax cut that's failed? Why would we not want to go back to the Clinton tax code? And why would we not want to help every family more with a health-care plan like mine? Let's help average people. Let's be Democrats. — Dick Gephardt

When you succeed (with legislation), that feeling is exhilaration. And it takes leadership from a president, which means you meet with members of Congress 24/7 and you talk and you listen. — Dick Gephardt

Life Lessons by Dick Gephardt

1. Dick Gephardt taught us the importance of hard work and dedication to achieving one's goals. He demonstrated that through perseverance and dedication, it is possible to achieve great success in politics.
2. He also showed us the importance of staying true to one's values and beliefs and of standing up for what you believe in, even in the face of opposition.
3. Finally, Gephardt's career serves as a reminder of the importance of collaboration and compromise in order to get things done in politics.