List of Political Catch Phrases - United States

United States

• "We are all Republicans – we are all federalists", Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural.
• "Tippecanoe and Tyler too", popular slogan for Whig party candidates William Henry Harrison and John Tyler in the 1840 U.S. Presidential election.
• "Show me the spot", Abraham Lincoln challenging the alleged incident of invasion by Mexico and loss of life that precipitated the Mexican American War.
• "A house divided against itself cannot stand.", opening lines of Abraham Lincoln's famous 1858 "A House Divided" speech, addressing the division between slave states and free states in the United States at the time.
• "Four score and seven years ago...", opening of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
• "... government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth," ending of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
• "speak softly, and carry a big stick", Theodore Roosevelt's corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
• "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.", from Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural.
• "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy." said by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
• "I shall return." U.S. General Douglas MacArthur after leaving the Philippines.
• "The buck stops here", paperweight on the desk of Harry Truman.
• "I like Ike", campaign slogan for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
• "Clean as a hound's tooth", the standard promised by Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 campaign, which gained attention when Richard Nixon, campaigning for vice president on the same ticket was accused of using campaign funds for personal use.
• "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" infamous question asked by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the height of the Cold War.
• "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?", Joseph N. Welch confronts Senator Joe McCarthy in the Army-McCarthy on June 9, 1954.
• "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country", part of the Inaugural address of John F. Kennedy.
• "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore", said by Richard Nixon in 1962 when he announced his retirement from politics after losing the 1962 California Governor's election.
• "Ich bin ein Berliner", said by John F. Kennedy in West Berlin.
• "I know it when I see it", used by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his threshold test for obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964).
• "Let me say this about that", frequently said by President Richard Nixon.
• "Let me make one thing perfectly clear", frequently said by President Richard Nixon.
• "Only Nixon could go to China", saying that became popular in the wake of Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China.
• "What did the President know and when did he know it?", asked by Senator Howard Baker in the Senate Watergate hearings.
• "I'm not a crook", said by Richard Nixon in reference to his never having profited through his government service. (Often misquoted as "I am not a crook.")
• "Follow the money", popularized by All The President's Men, used in several contexts.
• "Whip inflation now", Gerald Ford's widely-ridiculed speech to Congress October 8, 1974.
• "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." Said by Richard Nixon during the Frost/Nixon interviews, about his alleged participation in the Watergate scandal cover-up.
• "There you go again", said by Ronald Reagan about Jimmy Carter during their 1980 presidential debate and was (reluctantly) used by Reagan again about Walter Mondale in their 1984 Presidential debate. This quotation was also borrowed by Sarah Palin during the 2008 Vice Presidential Debate against Joe Biden.
• "Are you better off than you were four years ago?", question posed by Ronald Reagan at the end of his debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980.
• "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help", said by Ronald Reagan referring to the "most terrifying words in the English language".
• "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem", said by Ronald Reagan.
• "I don't want to exploit ... my opponent's youth and inexperience", said by Ronald Reagan in the second debate with Walter Mondale, defusing the age issue.
• "It's morning again in America": Ronald Reagan, in reference to the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the U.S. athletes at the Los Angeles Olympics that summer, among other things.
• "Where's the beef?", said by presidential hopeful and former Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale, when attacking Colorado Senator Gary Hart in a 1984 Democratic primary debate. Mondale meant that Hart was only doing lip service. The phrase was derived from a popular television ad for Wendy's hamburgers.
• "Trust, but verify", used by Ronald Reagan when discussing relations with the Soviet Union.
• "Mistakes were made", said by Ronald Reagan and many others, including George W. Bush.
• "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!", said by Ronald Reagan.
• "Oh, the vision thing", said by George H. W. Bush, responding to concerns that his campaign lacked a unifying theme.
• "Read my lips: no new taxes", said by George H. W. Bush during the 1988 U.S. presidential election. Bush raised taxes later in his presidency.
• Thousand points of light, first used by George H. W. Bush in his speech accepting the presidential nomination at the 1988 Republican National Convention.
• "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Senator Lloyd Bentsen to Senator Dan Quayle in the 1988 Vice Presidential debates.
• "I'm Ross, and you're the Boss", said by Ross Perot during the 1992 presidential election.
• "That Giant sucking sound", said by Ross Perot in 1992 with regards to American jobs going to Mexico if the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were ratified.
• "I didn't inhale", said by Bill Clinton regarding experimenting with marijuana while attending Oxford University.
• "It's the economy, stupid" was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush. Widely attributed to Clinton advisor James Carville.
• "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", said by Bill Clinton regarding Monica Lewinsky.
• "Vast right-wing conspiracy", used by Hillary Clinton in 1998 in defense of husband President Bill Clinton in reference to the Lewinsky scandal.
• "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." Said by Bill Clinton during testimony regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
• "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." said by Al Gore during a 1999 CNN interview, and often misquoted as "I invented the Internet."
• "Fuzzy math," initiated by George W. Bush, and used often by others since.
• "Mission Accomplished" Banner displayed by the USS Abraham Lincoln during a speech by George W. Bush on 1 May 2003, referring to the Iraq War.
• "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it," said by John Kerry regarding funding for the Iraq war, March 16, 2004, often misquoted as "I was for it before I was against it."
• "I'm the decider", said by George W. Bush about the fate of United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in April 2006.
• "They misunderestimated me." Said by George W. Bush – Bentonville, Ark., 6 November 2000.
• "It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes." said by Senator Ted Stevens, describing the Internet.
• "Yes, we can" used by Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
• "The rent is too damn high", a quotation and political platform of Jimmy McMillan in the 2010 New York governor's race.
• "Binders full of women", used by Mitt Romney during the second U.S. presidential debate of 2012.