phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

When you've got'em by the balls,their hearts and minds will follow

Posted by ESC on March 20, 2007

In Reply to: When you've got'em by the balls,their hearts and minds will follow posted by Tom Heilman on March 20, 2007

: Can anyone tell me the origin of this saying? "When you've got'em by the balls,their hearts and minds will follow".

Backing up, Theodore Roosevelt was asked by an aide, Lt. Doughlas MacArthur, in 1906 "to what he attributed his popularity." Roosevelt said, "To put into words what is in their hearts and minds but not in their mouths." "'Hearts and minds' later became a slogan of sorts, as what had to be won in Vietnam." Safire's New Political Dictionary by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993). Page 716.

I am guessing that Lyndon Johnson added the part about balls. Sounds like him, anyway.

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.