Quotes By Stephen Ambrose

Crazy Horse saw history as integrated in the present, incorporated into daily life.

My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier.

I was taught by professors who had done their schooling in the 1930s. Most of them were scornful of, even hated, big business.

Eisenhower had the clearest blue eyes. He would fix them on you. In my every interview with him, he would lock his eyes on to mine and keep them there.

I thought Nixon was the worst President we had ever had, save only perhaps Andrew Johnson.

Dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.

The Canadians have managed to live peacefully with their Indians. It is disgrace that the United States has not done the same.

World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.

Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist.

Neither Johnson nor his party nor the government as a whole were willing to raise, train, equip, and then send Vietnam sufficient manpower to do the job.

Eisenhower is my choice as the American of the 20th Century. Of all the men I've studied and written about, he is the brightest and the best.

American is the first democratic nation-state.

Even before Watergate and his resignation, Nixon had inspired conflicting and passionate emotions.

You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.

I've always tried to be fair to my subjects. That's easy when they are as likable and admirable as Lewis and Clark, or Eisenhower.

Reading your own material aloud forces you to listen.

Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death.

Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones.

The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.

Who today is willing to say that Texas and California and the remainder of the Southwest would be better off if they were governed by Mexico?