Obama and Other Great Men Who “Tried Real Hard”

As most of you probably know, we’ve gone from “The Greatest Generation” to the “I Tried Real Hard Generation.”

These days, everyone’s a winner, everyone gets a trophy and everyone gets an “E” for Effort.

Consistent with this new ethos, my sources within the Obama campaign tell me they are changing the campaign slogan from “Forward” to “I Tried Real Hard.”

Here is President Obama unveiling the new slogan:

Let’s remember, it wasn’t just on bipartisanship that Obama tried real hard. He tried real hard to cut the deficit in half, to get unemployment below eight percent, to spur serious economic growth, to bring down health insurance premiums – which rose instead – and to stop the parade of foreclosures.

Writing in The Weekly Standard, Peter Wehner fleshes out nicely the various promises Obama tried real hard to keep. But didn’t.

But Obama really is stealing – he’s not the first Great Man to have made “Tried Real Hard” his catchphrase. White House Dossier today poured through the history books and found famous quotes from ten other men of substance who felt the effort was all the mattered.

*********

1. Winston Churchill: “We shall try real hard to defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall try real hard to fight on the beaches, we shall try real hard to fight on the landing grounds, we shall try real hard to fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall try real hard to fight in the hills; we shall try real hard never to surrender.”

2. Martin Luther King: I have a dream that one day this nation will try real hard to rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.

3. Ronald Reagan: “Mr. Gorbachev, try real hard to tear down this wall!”

4. Julius Caesar: “I came, I saw, I tried real hard.”

5. Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I’ll try real hard to be back.”

6. Teddy Roosevelt: “Try real hard to speak softly and carry a big stick.”

7. Phillip II of Macedon: “Divide and try real hard to conquer.”

8. John F. Kennedy: ”Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall try real hard to pay any price, try real hard to bear any burden, try real hard to meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

9. George S. Patton: “Try real hard to live for something rather than die for nothing.”

10. Vince Lombardi: “Trying real hard to win isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”

*******

Are there any others that you remember?

 

Award winning journalist Keith Koffler has 16 years of experience covering Washington. As a reporter for CongressDailyNational Journal magazine, and Roll Call, Keith wrote primarily from the White House, covering three presidents and learning as few have the intricacies of the West Wing and the behavior and motivations of its occupants. While mainly stationed at the White House, he also extensively covered Congress and Washington’s lobbyists.

Keith has also written for a variety of other publications, including PoliticoThe Daily Caller, and The London Observer. He currently writes regular opinion columns for Politico. He blogs at whitehousedossier.com.

cover image credit: vipflash/Shutterstock.com

Avatar photo

By

Award winning journalist Keith Koffler has 16 years of experience covering Washington. As a reporter for CongressDaily, National Journal magazine, and Roll Call, Keith wrote primarily from the White House, covering three presidents and learning as few have the intricacies of the West Wing and the behavior and motivations of its occupants. While mainly stationed at the White House, he also extensively covered Congress and Washington’s lobbyists. Keith has also written for a variety of other publications, including Politico, The Daily Caller, and The London Observer. He currently writes regular opinion columns for Politico. He blogs at whitehousedossier.com.

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU