The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go everywhere the President goes. It must be displayed upon the lectern when he speaks. The eagle used to face the arrows but I have re-designed it so that it now faces the olive branches … what do you think?' I said, 'Mr. President, with the greatest respect, I would prefer the American eagle's neck to be on a swivel so that it could face the olive branches or the arrows, as the occasion might demand.'


An exchange (March 4, 1946) with Harry S. Truman aboard the Presidential train in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station before journeying to Fulton, Missouri; as quoted in "The Genius and Wit of Winston Churchill" by Robin Lawson.


The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go...

The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go...

The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go...

The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go...