Trust, but verify

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Trust, but Verify)
Jump to: navigation, search

Trust, but verify was a signature phrase of Ronald Reagan. He used it in public, although he was not the first person known to use it. When Reagan used this phrase, he was usually discussing relations with the Soviet Union and he almost always presented it as a translation of the Russian proverb "doveryai, no proveryai" (Russian: Доверяй, но проверяй) - Trust, but verify. At the signing of the INF Treaty he used it again and his counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev responded: "You repeat that at every meeting," to which Reagan answered "I like it."[1]

Contents

[edit] Other uses

The similar phrase "Trust and Verify" was also the motto of the On-Site Inspection Agency.[2]

"Trust, but Verify", is also the name of a 2005 book by David Lindgren Trust but Verify: Imagery Analysis in the Cold War, about his experiences with satellite imagery during the Cold War, and the basics about them.

This phrase was supposedly a favorite one of Felix Dzerzhinsky, builder of the Soviet secret police. It is in use in former Czechoslovakia for example.[citation needed]

This phrase was also frequently used by military capital defense attorney Major David Edward Coombs when dealing with government counsel.[3].

During argument before the Supreme Court of the United States over the case Doe v. Reed, the Attorney General of Washington, a Republican, used the phrase in reference to the people verifying public records of petition signers. Justice Antonin Scalia, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, retorted "Trust, but verify. I like that!"[4]

This phrase was loosely used by both President Barack Obama[5] and by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal[6] in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Sarah Palin, in response to her daughter Bristol Palin's second failed marriage proposal with Levi Johnston released a statement to People magazine stating, "I wish for Bristol to be able to move forward in life with her same forgiving, gracious, optimistic spirit, but from henceforth she'll know to trust but verify,"[7]

[edit] In music and entertainment

This phrase is also frequently used by TV actor David Caruso's character Horatio Caine in CBS's television series CSI: Miami.

This phrase is also used in Season 3 Episode 10 by actor Dennis Haysbert's character Jonas Blane on The Unit.

This phrase is also used frequently in a song titled "The Very Best Of Neil Diamond," by Welsh indie psych-rock group The Super Furry Animals, off their 2009 release, "Dark Days/Light Years." The song is about a Neil Diamond record playing through the rubble of a bombed out Middle East apartment building.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages