Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
NUMBER:
35
AUTHOR:
Thomas Jefferson (17431826)
QUOTATION:
Were I to commence my administration again, the first question I would ask respecting a candidate would be, Does he use ardent spirits?
ATTRIBUTION:
Attributed to THOMAS JEFFERSON in both Samuel Austin Worcester, Cherokee Almanac, p. 36 (1850), and Charles Noel Douglas, Forty Thousand Quotations, p. 544 (1925). Unverified in Jeffersons writings. Possibly spurious.