Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States. (©AP Photo)

Obama misquotes dead president he was trying to dis

3/16/2012

Barack Obama took a shot at another Republican leader today, only this one can't respond since he's dead. But as it turns out, he doesn't need to. Obama knocked Rutherford B. Hayes, referencing the 19th president as an example of the GOP's history of "looking backwards." Obama cited Hayes' quote about the telephone -- "It's a great invention but who would ever want to use one?" -- and remarked "That's why he's not on Mount Rushmore." Ouch. Only Hayes never said it. A curator at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center said the quote, whose origins are unknown, is often wrongly attributed to Hayes. In fact, he was the first president to have a telephone in the White House.

 

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