"He bribed those outgoing, lame-duck Democratic Party congressmen, trading the cushy post of postmaster general for a 'yes' vote and dealing away lifetime appointments as federal judges."
"To win over one stubborn congressman, he even went so far as to use his presidential authority to release the man's nephew, who had been captured while serving in the Southern Army."
"In those few months that decided the nation's fate, this great emancipator was the most ruthless, most corrupt politician in all of Washington."
"If he had refused to make those deals, the black slaves might have had to groan under their shackles for another fifty years."
"A saint can't sit in that seat, Leo."
Roosevelt's voice rose a few notches.
"And do you think I'm a saint?"
"In 1940, Nazi tanks were crushing Europe, and the British were bleeding. But my people didn't want to go to war. They were lost in the beautiful dream of isolationism."
