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David Herbert Donald Quotes

Historian

David Herbert Donald was an American historian renowned for his work on Thomas Jefferson. His book 'Jefferson: The Art of Power' won the Pulitzer Prize.

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All Ifs Kind Might Mystery President Wells Writing Years Able Accomplishment

Famous David Herbert Donald Quotes

“The more I have studied Lincoln, the more I have followed his thought processes, the more I am convinced that he understood leadership better than any other American president.”

Process President Understood Convinced Thought Process American President

Author:David Herbert Donald

“In Lincoln's day a President's religion was a very private affair. There were no public prayer meetings, no attempts to woo the Religious Right. Few of Lincoln's countrymen knew anything at all of his religious beliefs.”

Belief President Religious Prayer Meetings Affair Religious Belief Countrymen Prayer Meeting

Author:David Herbert Donald

“Lincoln was not a good impromptu speaker; he was at his best when he could read from a carefully prepared manuscript, though maybe a teleprompter could have helped that!”

Prepared Speakers Manuscripts

Author:David Herbert Donald

“Here is Theodore Roosevelt with all his faults and with all his strengths - the devoted family man, the passionate game hunter, the astute politician, the frustrated warrior. This is a deeply moving account of the last years of a very great man.”

Men Years Lasts Moving Games Politician Accounts Faults Passionate Warrior Great Men Devoted Last Year Frustrated Hunters Family Man Theodore Astute

Author:David Herbert Donald

“I love mysteries, and I read them every night before I go to bed.”

Book Night Reading Mystery Bed Reading Books Every Night

Author:David Herbert Donald

“Maybe I will write a memoir, perhaps I'll do some essays, or maybe I will write a mystery story.”

Writing Stories Mystery Memoir Essays

Author:David Herbert Donald

“I was able to sit at Lincoln's side and see how he thought and how he acted, and how he felt about what was going on around him. I felt the pressures that were on him. You can see what people were writing to him, how they were nudging him.”

People Writing Able Felt Sides Pressure

Author:David Herbert Donald

“The big biography of Lincoln necessarily had to do so much with his political career, his ambitions, his accomplishments in public, with less time to spend on his private life, his inner life, and I thought this might be a way of getting at that.”

Way Bigs Might Political Careers Ambition Accomplishment Biographies Private Life Inner Life

Author:David Herbert Donald

“I'm not sure Lincoln would fare well if he were a presidential candidate today.”

Ifs Wells Today Presidential Not Sure Candidates Presidential Candidate

Author:David Herbert Donald

“Well, it seems to me Lincoln, I suppose, is kind of a model of a particular sort of presidency, a presidency that first of all is elected by a minority of the votes.”

Firsts Wells Kind Seems Particular Models Vote Minorities Presidency

Author:David Herbert Donald

“At the beginning, Lincoln was so inexperienced he had reverence for military expertise, not realizing that there wasn't any military expertise, that the most anybody had commanded up to that point had been somebody, some troops in the Mexican War, and it had been years ago.”

Years War Realizing Military Years Ago Reverence Troops Mexican Expertise

Author:David Herbert Donald

“Lincoln had no such person that he could talk with. Often, as a result, he debated with himself, and he would draw up a kind of list of the pros and cons of an argument, and carefully figure them out, and he might test them in public.”

Kind Persons Might Results Figures Draws Argument Tests Lists Pros And Cons

Author:David Herbert Donald

“If you think about it, the historian's task is like that of the detective.”

Ifs Thinking Tasks Historian Detectives

Author:David Herbert Donald

About the Author

Born: October 1, 1920
Died: May 17, 2009
Known for: Historian
Quotes: 13

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