By Tom Burke / Herald Columnist
Our history is replete with stirring calls to action; ringing affirmations of our dedication to democracy; and clarifying statements defining the men and women who crafted the American experience.
So let’s see how many of these famous (or infamous) American phrases you can identify – either who said it or when it was popular. (The answers follow so you don’t have to wear out Google if you miss one.)
Slogans and phrases
1. “Make the world safe for democracy.”
2. “Remember Pearl Harbor.”
3. “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.”
4. “Remember the Alamo.”
5. “We Shall Overcome.”
6. “That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
7. “Black Lives Matter”
8. “Give me liberty or give me death!”
9. “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
10 “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!”
11. “I like people that weren’t captured, OK.”
12. “I have not yet begun to fight.”
13. “Let’s Go, Brandon”
14. “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
15. “America First”
16. “The Buck Stops Here”
17. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
18. “No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.”
19. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
20. “Religious intolerance, social intolerance, and political intolerance have no place in our American life.”
21. “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself; nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
22. We have it (covid) totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
23. “To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
24. “This country has nothing to fear from the crooked man who fails. We put him in jail. It is the crooked man who succeeds who is a threat to this country.”
25. “Get in good trouble.”
26. “I have a dream.”
27. “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”
28. “Nuts!”
29. “Lafayette, we are here.”
30. “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
31. “We’re still here.”
32. “You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.”
33. “If we must die, we die defending our rights.”
34. “Humans merely share the earth. We can only protect the land, not own it.”
35. “Woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself.”
36. “Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.”
37. “Duty, Honor, Country.”
38. “Make love, not war!”
Here are the answers:
1. Woodroe Wilson’s raison d’etre for America’s entry into World War I..
2. World War II U.S. battle cry.
3. WWII tin-pan-ally wartime propaganda song that “went viral.”
4. Rallying cry for Texas’s 1836 war of independence from Mexico.
5. 1960 Civil Rights hymn for freedom.
6. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 1864.
7. Protest call after murders of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
8. Patrick Henry in 1775.
9. John F. Kennedy inaugural address, 1961.
10. 1898 slogan advocating war with Spain.
11. Donald Trump dumping on John McCain’s imprisonment.
12. John Paul Jones, from the sinking deck of the Bonhomme Richard, before defeating the British frigate Serapis.
13. Republican meme from a misinterpretation of a crowd’s chant of “F*** Joe Biden.”
14. John Kennedy’s affirmation of Berliners in the face of Soviet threats.
15. Rallying cry of 1930s German-American Bund’s support of Hitler (and Trump slogan).
16. Harry Truman describing his job as president.
17. President Ronald Regan continuing Kennedy’s support of West Berlin.
18. Teddy Roosevelt.
19. Donald Trump in 2015 bragging about his popularity.
20. Franklin Roosevelt
21. FDR in his first inaugural address.
22. Donald Trump at the start of the covid pandemic which killed at least 1.1 million Americans.
23. Teddy Roosevelt (again).
24. Yep. Teddy one more time.
25. Civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis.
26. Martin Luther King
27. Adm. David Farragut leading his ships to victory in the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay.
28. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe’s response to the Nazi demand he surrender at Bastogne in the 1944 Battle of the Bulge.
29. Col. Charles Stanton announcing Americans had landed in France to fight in World War I.
30. OK, Teddy again. I really like him.
31. Statement of defiance by Native Americans in face of persistent discrimination.
32. Unofficial Coast Guard motto defining the service’s life-saving mission.
33. Lakota Chief Sitting Bull.
34. Suquamish and Duwamish Chief Sealth (Seattle) on the subject of environmental stewardship.
35. Susan B. Anthony.
36. Dwight David Eisenhower.
37. Motto of U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
38. Famous Vietnam War-era bumper sticker.
So, how did you do?
There’s 248 years of history in this short list.
And the contrast between Donald Trump’s words and everything else on this list is discordant to say the least.
Understanding where we came from is critical. And if you were bored or disinterested with American history in high school or college give it another try. Please.
Before you vote.
Slava Ukraini.
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
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