If Hillary Pinched Bill's Speech, Did Bill Pinch Ike's

A tempest has arisen over a speech in which Senator Hillary Clinton told a group earlier this week, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right about America."

It is very like a line in President Bill Clinton's first Inaugural Address. Then he said, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

Says Rupert Cornwell:

Mrs Clinton's use of the phrase could have been a slip. Possibly, though, it was Hillary herself - one of the most influential first ladies in US history - who was author of the original line 13 years ago, which was then inserted into her husband's address.

But either way, one Clinton is starting to sound very much like another...

But, it struck me that both Clintons sounded an awful lot like another American political leader. Sure enough, a Google search yielded this quote from President Dwight Eisenhower:

There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.

Is this plagiarism? No. But it does display a motif in the rhetoric (and perhaps the thinking) of US politicians.