Top 10 Unfortunate Political One-Liners

Nov. 17 marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of President Richard Nixon's his famous "I am not a crook" line at the height of the Watergate scandal. Flip through TIME's collection of other devastating political quotes. You'll shake your jowls with bemusement.

John McCain

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"The fundamentals of the economy are strong."

Senator McCain was probably trying to be reassuring, as Presidents ought to be in times of turmoil and stress. Yet, when investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy hours after he made this statement during the 2008 campaign, McCain looked shockingly out of touch. His opponent, Barack Obama, wasted no opportunity to repeat McCain's statement, a particularly effective attack as the economy went further and further south.

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