Mistakes were made

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"Mistakes were made" is an expression that is commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby politicians, corporations, or other public figures acknowledge that a situation was handled poorly or inappropriately but seek to evade any direct admission of responsibility by using the passive voice. The acknowledgement of "mistakes" is framed in an abstract sense, with no direct reference to who made the mistakes. An active voice construction might be along the lines of "I made mistakes" or "John Doe made mistakes." The speaker neither accepts personal responsibility nor accuses anyone else.

The New York Times has called the phrase a "classic Washington linguistic construct." Political consultant William Schneider suggested that this usage be referred to as the "past exonerative" tense.^[1] While perhaps most famous in politics, the phrase has a storied history in business, sports, and entertainment as well.

1 Notable political usages
2 See also
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Notable political usages

President Richard Nixon used the phrase several times in reference to wrongdoings by his own electoral organization and presidential administration.

On May 1, 1973 White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler stated "I would apologize to the Post, and I would apologize to Mr. Woodward and Mr. Bernstein." He continued, "We would all have to say that mistakes were made in terms of comments. I was overenthusiastic in my comments about the Post, particularly if you look at them in the context of developments that have taken place." The previous day, White House counsel John Dean and Nixon aides John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman had resigned, as the Watergate scandal progressed.^[2]

On January 27, 1987 Ronald Reagan used the phrase in the State of the Union Address while discussing contacts with Iran in what came to be known as the arms-for-hostages scandal within the Iran-Contra Affair. He said, in part: "And certainly it was not wrong to try to secure freedom for our citizens held in barbaric captivity. But we did not achieve what we wished, and serious mistakes were made in trying to do so. We will get to the bottom of this, and I will take whatever action is called for."^[3]

Speaking in London in April of 2002, Henry Kissinger commented on the refused request of a Spanish judge to question Kissinger in an investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the matter of Operation Condor. Stating "it is quite possible that mistakes were made."^[4]

On December 4, 2005 Senator John McCain commented about the Iraq War: "I think that one of the many mistakes that have been made is to inflate the expectations of the American people beginning three years ago that this was going to be some kind of day at the beach" and then referring to the president "he admitted that errors have been made." The shows host, Tim Russert, pressed for specific culpability: "Isn't that the president's failure? He's the commander in chief." Senator McCain responded: "Well, I — all of the responsibility lies in everybody in positions of responsibility. Serious mistakes are made in every war. Serious mistakes were made in this one, but I really believe that there is progress being made, that we can be guardedly optimistic ..."^[5]

In October of 2006, in regard to an air strike killing about 70 Afghan civilians, Gen. David Richards said that "in the night in the fog of war, mistakes were made."^[6]

On January 10, 2007, in a speech describing a new approach to the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush said that "where mistakes were made the responsibility rests with me." In contrast, he used the active voice, rather than the passive voice, when he stated "I am the decider."

Most recently, the line has been used by Alberto Gonzalez to explain the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys, for which Gonzalez has caught significant flak.