October 20 to 26 is Free Speech Week. In that spirit, we are reposting and updating a blog from September 2019.
You will find many quotes from American leaders on the right and left in support of free speech – protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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Decades ago, when this blogger was a boy, it used to be popular to say “I don’t agree with that, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The phrase seemed morbidly fascinating. I understand it better now, having traveled many places in the world where free speech is only for those with power, money, or connections.
Our Republic has been at its best when its people and its leaders insisted on inclusive and peaceful political competition – votes over violence, ballots over bullets.
This magic can only happen when each of us is committed to the idea that all are permitted to make their case, all are permitted to criticize or argue against what they hear, and to argue for what they think is better. We all like to speak our minds, conservatives, progressives, and independents alike.
Sports teams, businesses, artists, writers, and doctors all benefit from criticism. Many seek it out: they know it makes them stronger. The same is true of leaders and nations.
What did the founding fathers say about criticizing government leaders and their policies?
- George Washington said this: “If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.”
- Benjamin Franklin said: “Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government: When this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved.”
- James Madison said: “For the people to rule wisely, they must be free to think and speak without fear of reprisal.”
- Thomas Jefferson said: “No government should be without critics. If its intentions are good then it has nothing to fear from criticism.” He also said, “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”
The founding fathers believed in the right to free speech strongly enough to include it in our Bill of Rights. Here is what they wrote:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
What did our presidents say about criticizing government leaders and their policies?
- Theodore Roosevelt said this: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
- George H.W. Bush said: “How can we ever get talking when you have such acrimony and such bad feeling? You’ve got to reach out to the other person. You’ve got to convince them that long-term friendship should trump short-term adversity.”
- Ronald Reagan said: “I have always believed that a lot of the troubles in the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other.”
- Barack Obama said: “When people are free to speak their minds and hold their leaders accountable, governments are more responsive and more effective.“ He also said “Feel free to disagree with somebody, but don’t try to just shut them up.”
What have Supreme Court justices said about free speech?
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., U.S. Supreme Court justice, said: “If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.”
- Benjamin N. Cardozo, U.S. Supreme Court justice, said: “Of that freedom [of thought and speech] one may say that it is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom.”
- William Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court justice, said: “[There exists a] profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”
- Sandra Day O’Conner said: “The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy. The problem comes when healthy criticism is replaced with more destructive intimidation and sanctions.”
- Anthony Kennedy, U.S. Supreme Court justice, said: “The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.”
- Amy Comey Barrett said: “You don’t really need the First Amendment if what you’re saying is something that everybody wants to hear. You need it when people are trying to silence you.”
- Sonia Sotomayor said: “Every time I listen to a lawyer-trained representative saying we should criminalize free speech in some way, I think to myself, ‘That law school failed.’”
Other prominent Americans have weighed in on the subject as well:
- Martin Luther King Jr. said this: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” He also said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
- Margaret Chase Smith said “Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism: the right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest, and the right of independent thought. The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs.”
- John McCain said “We want to fight, and I want to fight, but we will be respectful … That doesn’t mean you have to reduce your ferocity. It’s just got to be respectful.”
- Bernie Sanders said: “You have a right to protest. But I don’t quite understand why anybody thinks it’s a good idea to deny somebody else the right to express his or her point of view.”
- Charlie Kirk said: “Without free speech, there is no such thing as truth. The moment you silence opposing voices; you destroy the foundation of democracy.”
- Joe Rogan said: “Free speech is meaningless unless you allow people you don’t like to say things you don’t like.”
Let’s lead by example. Let’s choose to respect every American, regardless of which party they support, natural-born or naturalized. Let’s hear what they have to say and then respectfully disagree if we must.
Do you have a favorite quote about freedom of speech? Share it with us at team@CFFAD.org.
Do you want to learn more about the American system of government? Check out our short courses and glossary here: CFFAD.org Each short course has been reviewed by at least one conservative expert and at least one progressive expert.
Photo credit: Charles Krupa / AP
