Friday, January 04, 2008

Huckabee cites Chesterton!

I know that Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been the subject of debate in Catholic circles and blogs - with supporters and detactors - but something he said should raise a smile among Chestertonians.

In his victory speech, Huckabee loosely quoted Chesterton: "A true soldier fights not because he hates those who are in front of him but because he loves those who are behind him."

(Actual GKC quote: "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.")

Huckabee went on to say, "Running for office is not hating those who are in front of you but loving those who are behind you."

When was the last time a U.S. politician cited Chesterton?

5 comments:

James H said...

I don't think ever has one done it :)

Anonymous said...

A day before Huckabee quoted Chesterton, Mark Shea of Catholic Exchange did the same thing ... and Mark received a response from a Catholic blogger that is supporting Huckabee. Blog post here!

Anonymous said...

Reagan was known to often quote Chesterton.

Paul Pennyfeather said...

Not a Chesterton quote...but George W. Bush once mentioned the principle of subsidiary (of course he mispronounced it). He summed it up quite well. I've seen little evidence of it in his administration's policies, however.

A Secular Franciscan said...

d. b. - I can't see Bush reading Chesterton. Perhaps it was just a quote - or even an idea - floating around out there and he snagged on to it.