Stephen Decatur Quotations

Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. (5 January 1779 – 22 March 1820) was an American naval officer, notable for his heroism in actions at Tripoli, Libya in the Barbary Wars and in the War of 1812.

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Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.
- Toast at a dinner in Norfolk, Virginia (April 1816); This statement produced the famous slogan "My country, right or wrong!" which itself produced famous responses by John Quincy Adams, Carl Schurz, and Mark Twain.