“American corporations hate to give away money.”

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

“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.”

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

“Immigrants do more than help us win our wars, or set up cleaning shops or ethnic restaurants.”

“In 1945, there were more people killed, more buildings destroyed, more high explosives set off, more fires burning than before or since.”

“In America, Jefferson noted with approval, women knew their place.”

“It does you no good to see the number two or number three man in the corporation-you have to get through to number one.”

“It would not be possible to praises nurses too highly.”

“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.”

“Johnson had been the most powerful man in the world, yet the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong had resisted, overcome his power, broken his will.”

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

“My first book was the book that changed my life.”

“The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed.”

“The more sophisticated we get, the more advanced our buildings and vehicles become, the more vulnerable we are.”

“The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: marry an English major.”

“The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future.”

“There are many more want-to-be writers out there than good editors.”

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

“Washington's character was rock solid. He came to stand for the new nation and its republican virtues, which was why he became our first President by unanimous choice.”

“We are part of a country that outshines those that have gone before us and most of those in existence today.”

“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?”

“Winning the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War, or World War II were the turning points in our history, the sine qua non of our forward progress.”

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

“Writing is not the easiest way to make a living. Your work long hours, usually all by yourself. It is not a way to make money.”

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