The original thing that fascinated me most was why we expect leaders, and especially presidents, at times to destroy themselves - and that's a sign of being a good leader or a good president. We usually don't expect that of almost anyone else in any profession, in particular, in public life.
Michael BeschlossYou don't say that for a senator to be a great senator he has to vote against his constituency.
Michael BeschlossI'm defining [presidential courage] pretty narrowly. It's not only taking a big political risk but it's also the risk that in the hindsight of history, people think it's wise.
Michael BeschlossRoosevelt understands that there are things that are worth surrendering your career for, like defending the country against [Adolf] Hitler.
Michael BeschlossAs you look back in history, we [the United States] have done wonderful things, the Marshal Plan is the most obvious. After World War II, we spent billions of dollars to rebuild Europe or at least part of Europe after the devastation of World War II. We did it out of charity, but we also did it to keep the Russians from getting deeply into Europe.
Michael Beschloss