25 Dwight D. Eisenhower Quotes On Life, Politics and Progress
Updated August 10, 2022
What made Eisenhower a great president?
Just how old was he when he became president?
Keep reading through these Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes to find out!
Eisenhower was not only the 34th President of the United States.
He was also a five star general during WWII.
He won both the 1952 and 1956 elections in a landslide—winning 442 electoral votes to Stevenson’s 89 in 1952.
The two ran against each other again in 1956, with Eisenhower garnering 457 electoral votes.
Unsurprisingly, there are many Eisenhower quotes about leadership, freedom, and America.
‘I like Ike’ campaign pins were popular during the races, and many people really did like Ike!
He was an excellent leader who displayed sincerity, integrity, and office duties.
Eisenhower was a religious and family man, which also made him likable.
He ran as a Republican but urged the party to be progressive, stating, “I have just one purpose … and that is to build up a strong progressive Republican Party in this country.
If the right wing wants a fight, they are going to get it … before I end up, either this Republican Party will reflect progressivism, or I won’t be with them anymore.”
I wonder what Eisenhower quotes we would hear today if he were witnessing his party’s leadership.
Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes about leadership and the power of plans
1. “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
3. “When you put on a uniform, there are certain inhibitions that you accept.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
2. “You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
4. “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
5. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
6. “The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
7. “Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
8. “I would rather try to persuade a man to go along because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Political musings and other Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes about government
10. “Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
11. “Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
12. “Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
13. “No one should ever sit in this office over 70 years old, and that I know.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
14. “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
15. “This desk of mine is one at which a man may die, but from which he cannot resign.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
16. “Politics is a profession; a serious, complicated, and, in its true sense, a noble one.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
17. “When you are in any contest, you should work as if there were – to the very last minute – a chance to lose it. This is battle, this is politics, this is anything.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
18. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Wise Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes for life
19. “There is no victory at bargain-basement prices.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
20. “May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
21. “We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
22. “Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.” — Dwight Eisenhower
23. “An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
24. “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
25. “Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
What did you learn from these Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes?
Eisenhower achieved many progressive initiatives during his two terms, including the Interstate Highway System, which we are familiar with today.
Eisenhower created NASA and began America’s fascination with outer space.
He was also willing to use any means necessary to end segregation in the nation’s Armed Forces.
His administration also declared radical discrimination as a national security threat.
Eisenhower was 62 when he became president, and yet, the Old Guard of the House and Senate viewed him as a young upstart trying to tell them how to change things.
He wanted to end the Korean War and bring fiscal responsibility to the government along with a departure of corruption.
What a radically progressive idea!
There are many Americans still wishing for this to happen and it is 2021.
What’s your biggest takeaway from these Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes and sayings?
Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?
Let us know in the comment section below.
