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Home  »  Respectfully Quoted  »  William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.

 
NUMBER: 1974
AUTHOR: William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
QUOTATION: [George] Washington intended this to be a Federal city, and it is a Federal city, and it tingles down to the feet of every man, whether he comes from Washington State, or Los Angeles, or Texas, when he comes and walks these city streets and begins to feel that this is my city; I own a part of this Capital, and I envy for the time being those who are able to spend their time here. I quite admit that there are defects in the system of government by which Congress is bound to look after the government of the District of Columbia. It could not be otherwise under such a system, but I submit to the judgment of history that the result vindicates the foresight of the fathers.
ATTRIBUTION: President WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, address at a banquet given in his honor by the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce of Washington, D.C., May 8, 1909.—Presidential Addresses and State Papers of William Howard Taft, vol. 1, chapter 7, pp. 82–83 (1910).
SUBJECTS: Washington, D.C.