Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (High Resolution)

Read a web feature on contemporary slogans that we’ll remember. Listen to an audio interview.

Paper $16.00 ISBN: 9780226849690 Published November 2009

“By necessity, by proclivity, by delight,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said in 1876, “we all quote.” But often the phrases that fall most readily from our collective lips—like “fire when ready,” “speak softly and carry a big stick,” or “nice guys finish last”—are those whose origins and true meanings we have ceased to consider. Restoring three-dimensionality to more than fifty of these American sayings, Tippecanoe and Tyler Too turns clichés back into history by telling the life stories of the words that have served as our most powerful battle cries, rallying points, laments, and inspirations.

In individual entries on slogans and catchphrases from the early seventeenth to the late twentieth century, Jan Van Meter reveals that each one is a living, malleable entity that has profoundly shaped and continues to influence our public culture. From John Winthrop’s “We shall be as a city upon a hill” and the 1840 Log Cabin Campaign’s “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” and Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” each of Van Meter’s selections emerges as a memory device for a larger political or cultural story. Taken together in Van Meter’s able hands, these famous slogans and catchphrases give voice to our common history even as we argue about where it should lead us.

“As Van Meter argues, these are important ‘memory devices for a larger story.’ . . . The author has thoroughly researched all the catchphrases . . . . This book would make delightful in-flight reading or a nice gift for a trivia buff. Recommended.”—Choice

Table of Contents

Contents
Review Quotes

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

We Shall Be as a City upon a Hill (1630)
No Taxation Without Representation (1763)
Don’t Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes (1775)
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death (1775)
We Must All Hang Together, or Most Assuredly We Shall All Hang Separately (1776)
I Only Regret That I Have But One Life to Lose for My Country (1776)
These Are the Times That Try Men’s Souls (1776)
Millions for Defense, but Not a Cent for Tribute (1798)
First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen (1799)
Remember the Alamo (1836)
I’d Rather Be Right Than Be President (1839)
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (1840)
Fifty-four Forty, or Fight! (1844)
Go West, Young Man (1851)
A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand (1858)
Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead (1864)
With Malice toward None, with Charity for All (1865)
War Is Hell (1880)
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (1883)
If Nominated I Will Not Run; If Elected I Will Not Serve (1884)
You Shall Not Crucify Mankind upon a Cross of Gold (1896)
Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1897)
Remember the Maine! (1898)
Fire When Ready, Gridley (1898)
Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick (1901)
Hit ’em Where They Ain’t (1902)
There’s Honest Graft and There’s Dishonest Graft (1903)
We Stand at Armageddon, and We Battle for the Lord (1912)
He Kept Us Out of War (1916)
Make the World Safe for Democracy (1917)
LaFayette, We Are Here (1917)
Say It Ain’t So, Joe (1919)
The Business of America Is Business (1925)
Prosperity Is Just around the Corner (1930)
The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself (1933)
Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men? (1936)
Frankly, My Dear, I Don’t Give a Damn (1939)
Tomorrow Is Another Day (1939)
Wait Till Next Year (1941)
Kilroy Was Here (1942)
I Shall Return (1942)
Nuts! (1945)
The Buck Stops Here (1945)
Give ’em Hell, Harry! (1948)
Nice Guys Finish Last (1947)
Spahn, Sain, and Pray for Rain (1948)
Duck and Cover (1951)
Old Soldiers Never Die; They Just Fade Away (1951)
Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust (1957)
Ich Bin ein Berliner (1963)
I Have a Dream (1963)
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee (1964)
Burn, Baby, Burn (1965)
Hell No, We Won’t Go (1966)
America: Love It or Leave It (1966)
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby (1972)
Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall! (1987)

Notes
Recommended Reading
Index

Review Quotes

Mo Rocca, author of All the Presidents’ Pets

“As the great philosopher George Santayana would have said, ‘those who cannot remember the past . . . should simply read Jan Van Meter’s Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.’ Van Meter’s greatest hits collection of slogans is the catchiest ever retelling of American history. It’s like the greatest minds of Madison Avenue sat down to write a history book. They don’t make sound bites like they used to!”

Michael Kammen, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning People of Paradox

“Van Meter’s book is a delightful, richly informative, deeply researched, and fully contextualized work. It is also significant because so many of these slogans permeate American discourse and illuminate national values. Moreover, it’s also fascinating! Who knew that ‘duck and cover’ came from cold war security concerns?”

Fred R. Shapiro, editor of The Yale Book of Quotations

“I read Tippecanoe and Tyler Too with immense enjoyment. Van Meter has selected the most interesting and important phrases in American history and written wonderful essays explaining the origins, significance, and context of each. These essays not only illuminate but also entertain as they present the fascinating background of the slogans that have played such a crucial role in our political and cultural life, ranging from ‘I have a dream’ to ‘Say it ain’t so, Joe.’ I eagerly compared the information about origins with that in my now-standard volume, The Yale Book of Quotations, and was impressed to find that in a number of instances Van Meter has unearthed earlier evidence than that in the YBQ.”

Literary Review

“Van Meter writes a brief essay setting each quote in historical context, and his compositions are concise, lucid and factual. Together, they make up an excellent refresher summary of American history. . . . This is a pick-and-choose book, both entertaining and informative. And if you can master all fifty-seven quotes, one might safely say, ‘You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.’ ”

Choice

"This book would make delightful in-flight reading or a nice gift for a trivia buff."

George Eberhart | C&RL News

"...Van Meter provides extensive background on their origin and significance. Each is emblematic of the prevailing values and viewpoints held during a particular phase or turning point in American history."

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Culture Studies

History: American History

Political Science: American Government and Politics

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