American corporations hate to give away money.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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

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

Crazy Horse saw history as integrated in the present, incorporated into daily life.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Even before Watergate and his resignation, Nixon had inspired conflicting and passionate emotions.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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

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

I was too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

In 1945, there were more people killed, more buildings destroyed, more high explosives set off, more fires burning than before or since.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

It does you no good to see the number two or number three man in the corporation-you have to get through to number one.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Johnson had been the most powerful man in the world, yet the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong had resisted, overcome his power, broken his will.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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

My first book was the book that changed my life.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Neither Johnson nor his party nor the government as a whole were willing to raise, train, equip, and then send Vietnam sufficient manpower to do the job.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Nixon regarded himself as having been cheated by life. He never got my vote.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Reading your own material aloud forces you to listen.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

The American Constitution is the greatest governing document, and at some 7,000 words, just about the shortest.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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

The more sophisticated we get, the more advanced our buildings and vehicles become, the more vulnerable we are.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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

The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

The war in Vietnam I thought a dreadful mistake.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

To be a slaveholder meant one had to regard the African American as inferior in every way.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Trial by jury. Live wherever you can make a living. How could a government based on such principles fail?
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Who today is willing to say that Texas and California and the remainder of the Southwest would be better off if they were governed by Mexico?
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

Winning the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War, or World War II were the turning points in our history, the sine qua non of our forward progress.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote

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

Writing is not the easiest way to make a living. Your work long hours, usually all by yourself. It is not a way to make money.
- Stephen Ambrose Quote