Within the first few months I discovered that being president is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep riding or be swallowed. The fantastically crowded nine months of 1945 taught me that a President either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt I could let up for a single moment.

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.

I tend to pair up Benjamin Harrison and Dwight Eisenhower because they're the two presidents I can think of who most preferred laziness to labor.... There's not much else you can say about Harrison except that he was president of the United States.

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone.

If I'd known how much packing I'd have to do, I'd have run again.

I don't believe in anti-anything. A man has to have a program; you have to be for something. Otherwise, you will never get anywhere.