Atlas Society misquotes Eisenhower

Diff

If‧all‧that‧Americansyou‧want‧istotal‧security,‧they‧can‧go‧to‧prison.‧They'llThere‧haveyou’re‧enough‧to‧eatfed,‧aclothed,‧given‧bedmedical‧care‧and‧aso‧roof‧over‧their‧headson.‧ButThe‧ifonly‧anthing‧Americanlacking...‧is‧wants‧to‧preserve‧his‧dignity‧and‧his‧equality‧as‧a‧human‧being,‧he‧must‧not‧bow‧his‧neck‧to‧any‧dictatorial‧governmentfreedom.

If‧

all‧that‧Americans

you

‧want‧

is

total

‧security,‧

they‧can‧

go‧to‧prison.‧

They'll

There

‧

have

you’re

‧

enough‧to‧eat

fed

,‧

a

clothed,‧given

‧

bed

medical‧care

‧and‧

a

so

‧

roof‧over‧their‧heads

on

.‧

But

The

‧

if

only

‧

an

thing

‧

American

lacking

...‧

is

‧

wants‧to‧preserve‧his‧dignity‧and‧his‧equality‧as‧a‧human‧being,‧he‧must‧not‧bow‧his‧neck‧to‧any‧dictatorial‧government

freedom

.

Notes

According to Snopes, the misquote attributed to Eisenhower is “a loose paraphrase of comments [he] offered during a speech he delivered in Galveston, Texas, in 1949 [...].” For the (presumably) correct quote, Snopes cites The Times, albeit without a link. An article from Time concurs (roughly). You can also find the same quote verbatim here, where The New York Times is cited (December 9, 1949, p. 23). The corresponding article does seem to exist but is hidden behind a paywall. Same for The Times. The opening lines from the NYT article are visible, however, and say “you must not bow your necks to a centralized government” rather than “he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government”. This difference shows how even professional journalists are liable to misquote, and how quickly such misquotes can occur and evolve from there. The Eisenhower archives do not seem to have the speech transcript, and I can’t find the original anywhere else either. But the evidence does suggest that the Atlas Society uncritically copied a widespread misquote.