1 of 8
What did Ronald Reagan say directly before his famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
"If you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!"
"I've come with a message from freedom-loving people everywhere."
"The Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete."
ANSWER: Reagan did say the part about the Soviet Union needing to make fundamental changes, but that was later in the speech. Reagan did say the part about the Soviet Union needing to make fundamental changes, but that was later in the speech.
2 of 8
In his speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention, George H.W. Bush used the phrase, "Read my lips, no new taxes." What did he say directly before it?
"My opponent has said I'll raise your taxes. I have a message for him, and for the American people..."
"The Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no. And they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again, and I'll say to them..."
"You feel your taxes are too high already and I agree. You say you're worried government is going to tax its way out of trouble, and I understand. But let me be clear..."
ANSWER: The full quote: "And I'm the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he'll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that's one resort he'll be checking into. My opponent, my opponent won't rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no. And they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again, and I'll say, to them, 'Read my lips: no new taxes.'" The full quote: "And I'm the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he'll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that's one resort he'll be checking into. My opponent, my opponent won't rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no. And they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again, and I'll say, to them, 'Read my lips: no new taxes.'"
3 of 8
In his 1960 inaugural address, John F. Kennedy delivered his most famous line, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." What phrase immediately followed that quote?
"My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men."
"We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last."
ANSWER: Kennedy said all those things, but he only said this one in his inaugural address. Kennedy said all those things, but he only said this one in his inaugural address.
4 of 8
What did George W. Bush say that prompted a man in the crowd to yell, "I can't hear you" at Ground Zero after 9/11?
"Can everybody out there hear me?"
"Freedom itself was attacked this week by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended."
"The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens."
ANSWER: Bush did use the "faceless coward" line, but he said it on the day of the attacks. Bush did use the "faceless coward" line, but he said it on the day of the attacks.
5 of 8
Here's one you probably had to memorize in middle school. What quote is NOT in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure."
"We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground."
"If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
ANSWER: Lincoln said this, but not in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln said this, but not in the Gettysburg Address.
6 of 8
This one might not be as famous, but complete Bill Clinton's sentence: "I'm someone who has a deep emotional attachment to _______________."
ANSWER: Clinton made this statement in a 1996 meeting with TV industry executives. From
Newsweek: "One of the assembled honchos expressed the opinion that sophisticated shows like
N.Y.P.D. Blue and
ER demonstrate how far TV has come since the the gratuitously violent days of
Starsky and Hutch. Clinton, seated at the head of the table under a portrait of Lincoln, came to the defense of that famously cheesy '70s cop show. 'I'm someone who has a deep emotional attachment to
Starsky and Hutch,' the president said." Clinton made this statement in a 1996 meeting with TV industry executives. From
Newsweek: "One of the assembled honchos expressed the opinion that sophisticated shows like
N.Y.P.D. Blue and
ER demonstrate how far TV has come since the the gratuitously violent days of
Starsky and Hutch. Clinton, seated at the head of the table under a portrait of Lincoln, came to the defense of that famously cheesy '70s cop show. 'I'm someone who has a deep emotional attachment to
Starsky and Hutch,' the president said."
7 of 8
What immediately preceded Richard Nixon's assertion that he was not a crook?
"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook."
"Some on the left and in the media are calling me a crook."
"That is not Nixon speaking, but it is an independent audit which was requested because I want the American people to know all the facts and I am not afraid of having independent people go in and check the facts, and that is exactly what they did."
ANSWER: The long quote about the independent audit came from a speech Nixon gave while he was running as Eisenhower's VP in 1952. You can read that whole speech
here. The long quote about the independent audit came from a speech Nixon gave while he was running as Eisenhower's VP in 1952. You can read that whole speech
here.
8 of 8
In George Washington's farewell address, he says, "The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible." What is the next line?
"We strive for peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."
"It is only when our rights are invaded, or seriously menaced that we resent injuries, or make preparations for our defense."
"Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation."
The "entangling alliances" quote comes from Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address. The other line is from the Monroe Doctrine.
