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Wolfgang Mieder, widely considered the world's greatest proverb scholar, here considers the role of proverbial speech on the American political stage from the Revolutionary War to the present. He begins his survey by discussing the origins and characteristics American proverbs and their spread across the globe hand in hand with America's international political role. He then looks at the history of the defining proverb of American democracy, ""government of the people, by the people, for the people."" Subsequent essays consider such matters as Abigail Adams's masterful use of politically ch--