Secretary Stevens

Famous quotes containing the words secretary and/or stevens:

    The truth is, the whole administration under Roosevelt was demoralized by the system of dealing directly with subordinates. It was obviated in the State Department and the War Department under [Secretary of State Elihu] Root and me [Taft was the Secretary of War], because we simply ignored the interference and went on as we chose.... The subordinates gained nothing by his assumption of authority, but it was not so in the other departments.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    It may be that the ignorant man, alone,
    Has any chance to mate his life with life
    That is the sensual, pearly spouse, the life
    That is fluent in even the wintriest bronze.
    —Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)