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Robert Dallek Quotes

Historian

Robert Dallek is a renowned American historian known for his in-depth research into 20th-century American politics and history. His works cover the lives and governance periods of U.S. Presidents such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

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All President Character Johnson War 20th Century Ability Acceptance Accepting Accomplishment Acquaintance

Famous Robert Dallek Quotes

“JFK to RFK: To survive in politics, you sometimes have to be willing to make fun of yourself.”

Humor Humility

Book:Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House

Source: Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House

“She was a little removed,” Jack said as an adult. In private, he complained that Rose never told him that she loved him. Jack’s friend Charles Spalding, who saw the family up close, described Rose as “so cold, so distant from the whole thing . . . I doubt if she ever rumpled the kid’s hair in his whole life. . . . It just didn’t exist: the business of letting your son know you’re close, that she’s there. She wasn’t.” Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy told the journalist Theodore White that “history made him [Jack] what he was . . . this lonely sick boy. His mother really didn’t love him. . . . She likes to go around talking about being the daughter of the Mayor of Boston, or how she was an ambassador’s wife. . . . She didn’t love him. . . . History made him what he was.”

History Jfk John F Kennedy Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Rose Kennedy

Book:An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

Source: An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

“Presidents by six years have been there long enough for the media and the country to see their flaws.”

Years Long Has Beens Country Enough President Media Six Flaws

Author:Robert Dallek

“One doesn't simply write about Lyndon Johnson. You get the Johnson treatment from beyond the grave - arm around you, nose to nose. I should admit that he also reminds me of my father, quite an overbearing and narcissistic character. And in some ways, he reminds me of myself. Another workaholic.”

Way Should Writing Character Father Arms Graves Noses Treatment Johnson Narcissistic Workaholic Overbearing

Author:Robert Dallek

“In counterfactual history, nothing is certain.”

Certain

Author:Robert Dallek

“As someone who has more than a passing acquaintance with most of the 20th century presidents, I have often thought that their accomplishments have little staying power in shaping popular views of their leadership.”

Littles President Views Century Passing Passings Accomplishment Staying 20th Century Acquaintance Staying Power

Author:Robert Dallek

“Like Lyndon Johnson, President Obama understands that timidity in a time of troubles is a prescription for failure.”

President Trouble President Obama Johnson Prescriptions Timidity Times Of Trouble

Author:Robert Dallek

“The consequence of the Bay of Pigs failure wasn't an acceptance of Castro and his control of Cuba but, rather, a renewed determination to bring him down by stealth.”

Acceptance Consequence Determination Pigs Cuba Castro Stealth Bay Of Pigs

Author:Robert Dallek

“Truman is now seen as a near-great president because he put in place the containment doctrine boosted by the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan and NATO, which historians now see as having been at the center of American success in the cold war.”

War President Plans Cold Doctrine Historian Cold War Nato Truman Great Presidents Containment Marshall Plan American Success

Author:Robert Dallek

“What makes war interesting for Americans is that we don't fight war on our soil, we don't have direct experience of it, so there's an openness about the meanings we give it.”

Giving War Fighting Interesting Direct Experience Soil Openness

Author:Robert Dallek

“It is very difficult for [people] to accept the idea that someone as inconsequential as Oswald could have killed someone as consequential as Kennedy.”

People Ideas Difficult Accepting Inconsequential

Author:Robert Dallek

“... what's in a person's heart and soul will not likely be changed by the ability to command a helicopter to land on the South Lawn.”

Heart Persons Soul Character Ability Land Changed South Command Presidential Heart And Soul Lawns Helicopters

Author:Robert Dallek

About the Author

Born: May 16, 1934
Known for: Historian
Quotes: 12

Books & Sources

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963Related source material

Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White HouseRelated source material

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