Tippecanoe and Tyler Too: Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History
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“By necessity, by proclivity, by delight,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said in 1876, “we all quote.” But often the phrases that fall most readily from our collective lips—like “fire when ready,” “speak softly and carry a big stick,” or “nice guys finish last”—are those whose origins and true meanings we have ceased to consider. Restoring three-dimensionality to more than fifty of these American sayings, Tippecanoe and Tyler Too turns clichés back into history by telling the life stories of the words that have served as our most powerful battle cries, rallying points, laments, and inspirations. In individual entries on slogans and catchphrases from the early seventeenth to the late twentieth century, Jan Van Meter reveals that each one is a living, malleable entity that has profoundly shaped and continues to influence our public culture. From John Winthrop’s “We shall be as a city upon a hill” and the 1840 Log Cabin Campaign’s “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” and Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” each of Van Meter’s selections emerges as a memory device for a larger political or cultural story. Taken together in Van Meter’s able hands, these famous slogans and catchphrases give voice to our common history even as we argue about where it should lead us. “As Van Meter argues, these are important ‘memory devices for a larger story.’ . . . The author has thoroughly researched all the catchphrases . . . . This book would make delightful in-flight reading or a nice gift for a trivia buff. Recommended.”—Choice Choice "This book would make delightful in-flight reading or a nice gift for a trivia buff."
Acknowledgments ixIntroduction 1We Shall Be as a City upon a Hill (1630) 11No Taxation Without Representation (1763) 16Don't Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes (1775) 20Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death (1775) 25We Must All Hang Together, or Most Assuredly We Shall All Hang Separately (1776) 30I Only Regret That I Have But One Life to Lose for My Country (1776) 37These Are the Times That Try Men's Souls (1776) 41Millions for Defense, but Not a Cent for Tribute (1798) 44First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen (1799) 49Remember the Alamo (1836) 57I'd Rather Be Right Than Be President (1839) 63Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (1840) 71Fifty-four Forty or Fight! (1844) 76Go West, Young Man (1851) 81A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand (1858) 88Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead (1864) 92With Malice toward None, with Charity for All (1865) 98War Is Hell (1880) 103Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (1883) 109If Nominated I Will Not Run; If Elected I Will Not Serve (1884) 114You Shall Not Crucify Mankind upon a Cross of Gold (1896) 118Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1897) 123Remember the Maine! (1898) 127Fire When Ready, Gridley (1898) 132Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick (1901) 137Hit 'Em Where They Ain't (1902) 143There's Honest Graft and There's Dishonest Graft (1903) 147We Stand at Armageddon, and We Battle for the Lord (1912) 152He Kept Us Out of War (1916) 158Make the World Safe for Democracy (1917) 158LaFayette, We Are Here (1917) 165Say It Ain't So, Joe (1919) 171The Business of America Is Business (1925) 177Prosperity Is Just around theCorner (1930) 182The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself (1933) 182Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men? (1936) 188Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a Damn (1939) 192Tomorrow Is Another Day (1939) 192Wait Till Next Year (1941) 197Kilroy was Here (1942) 204I Shall Return (1942) 208Nuts! (1944) 213The Buck Stops Here (1945) 217Give 'Em Hell, Harry! (1948) 217Nice Guys Finish Last (1947) 223Spahn, Sain, and Pray for Rain (1948) 228Duck and Cover (1951) 232Old Soldiers Never Die; They Just Fade Away (1951) 236Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust (1957) 244Ich Bin ein Berliner (1963) 249I Have a Dream (1963) 255Float Like a Butterfly, String Like a Bee (1964) 260Burn, Baby, Burn (1965) 265Hell No, We Won't Go (1966) 270America: Love It or Leave It (1966) 270You've Come a Long Way, Baby (1972) 277Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall! (1987) 282Notes 289Recommended Reading 307Index 325
