I don't think of myself as a historian. A reporter, maybe. What makes a good writer of history is a guy who is suspicious. Suspicion marks the real difference between the man who wants to write honest history and the one who'd just rather write a good story.
[To Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy after she requested in 1964 that he not proceed with his book on the assassination of her husband] I cannot believe that you mean this. To say that one man may rewrite history, but that another may not, amounts to personal copyright.
There's always a temptation to anyone to flower up Lincoln's death scene. I suppose I learned long ago that - well, I don't believe in it. Underplay, undersay, let the facts speak for themselves.