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Jeff Greenfield

Jeff Greenfield Quotes

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Famous Jeff Greenfield Quotes

“It was more than just material prosperity. America in 1960 was a country where restraint and boundaries were the natural conditions in all arenas. People married younger and stayed married; even with those added twenty-eight million, there were fewer divorces in 1960 than there had been a decade earlier. People did not have children unless they were married—only 2.5 percent of children were born out of wedlock, though the number in black households was disturbingly high—some 20 percent.”

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Book:Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan
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“Men and women in my lifetime have died fighting for the right to vote: people like James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were murdered while registering black voters in Mississippi in 1964, and Viola Liuzzo, who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1965 during the Selma march for voting rights.”

PeopleMenFightingBlackRightsMen And WomenVoteDiedLifetimeVotingMarchVotersMississippiAndrewRight To VoteKu Klux KlanViolaGoodman
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“This is part of the involuntary bargain we make with the world just by being alive. We get to experiences the splendor of nature, the beauty of art, the balm of love and the sheer joy of existence, always with the knowledge that illness, injury, natural disaster, or pure evil can end it in an instant for ourselves or someone we love.”

WorldArtEndsJoyEvilNaturalExistenceAlivePureIllnessDisasterInstantInjurySheerBargainsSplendorInvoluntaryNatural DisasterSheer JoyPure Evil
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“There are good people who are dealt a bad hand by fate, and bad people who live long, comfortable, privileged lives. A small twist of fate can save or end a life; random chance is a permanent, powerful player in each of our lives, and in human history as well.”

PeopleHumansWellsLongEndsHandsChancePowerfulOur LivesFatePlayerComfortablePermanentGood PeoplePrivilegedTwistsHuman HistoryChances AreBad PeopleTwist Of FateRandom ChancePrivileged Life
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“In early 1961 a new president, John F. Kennedy, was told by military leaders and civilian officials that the Kingdom of Laos - of no conceivable strategic importance to the U.S. - required the presence of American troops and perhaps even tactical nuclear weapons. Why? Because if Laos fell, Asia would go red from Thailand to Indonesia.”

IfsPresidentLeaderMilitaryWeaponsRedImportanceNuclearKingdomsOfficialsNuclear WeaponsTroopsAsiaIndonesiaCiviliansStrategicThailandTacticalMilitary LeaderLaosAmerican TroopsPresident John F Kennedy
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“A citizen at his home in Rockford, Illinois, or Boulder, Colorado, could read a newspaper, listen to a radio, or watch the round-the-clock coverage on television, but he had no way of connecting with those who shared his views. Nor was there a quick, readily available tool for an ordinary citizen to gather information on his own. In 1960, communication was a one-way street, and information was fundamentally inaccessible. The whole idea of summoning up data or reaching thousands of individuals with the touch of a finger was a science-fiction fantasy.”

WayIdeasWholeHomeIndividualViewsFictionWatchesFantasyStreetsInformationTelevisionCommunicationCitizensOrdinaryToolsScience FictionFingersRoundsRadioAvailableNewspapersOne WayDataClockReachingConnecting1960sCoverageColoradoInaccessibleIllinoisBouldersOrdinary CitizensSummoning
Book:Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reaga n
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“If the court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act, is that a 'liberal' result enabling gay couples married in states where gay marriage is legal to enjoy the same economic advantages that federal laws now grant to straight couples? Or is it a 'conservative' ruling, limiting the federal government's ability to override state power?”

IfsStatesGovernmentLawEnjoyAbilityResultsEconomicCoupleGayMarriedAdvantageCourtConservativeDefenseStrikesGrantsFederal GovernmentRulingGay MarriageEnablingGay Couples
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“As a general proposition, campaigns do not linger on the vice presidential nominee. When they have, it's always meant very bad news for the ticket. Think of Spiro Agnew's foot-in-mouth disease; Tom Eagleton's medical history; the real estate holdings of Geraldine Ferraro's husband; the unbearable lightness of Dan Quayle; Sarah Palin's reading list.”

ThinkingRealReadingFeetHusbandDiseaseNewsMouthsVicesMedicalListsCampaignsPresidentialTomsTicketsEstatesPropositionsUnbearableBad NewsVice PresidentPalinLightnessUnbearable LightnessMedical History
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“By every measure, John Kennedy's sex life was compulsive and reckless. At one level, it had clear public consequences. Knowledge of Kennedy's behavior gave FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover absolute job security, as well as the potential power to derail Kennedy's re-election had he survived assassination.”

WellsJobsSexLevelsClearSecurityDirectorsBehaviorConsequenceAbsolutesElectionSurvivedRecklessFbiAssassinationHooverJohn KennedyJ Edgar Hoover
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“When an office-holder facing a multi-count indictment says that he has decided to spend more time with his family, the proper response is a horse-laugh. When an accused politician explains that a charge of corruption is 'really' an attack on his or her race, religion, ethnic background or gender, the odds that something felonious happened jumps.”

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Author:Jeff Greenfield
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