Richard Ben Cramer

I was with the mujaheddin, the rebels, and they were fighting against the Russians, and they would bring me along. Some of the adventures, when I look back at them now, it's a wonder I'm still around.

DiMaggio was never a rube. He was very smart and very urban. Coming out of the Great Depression, he was the immigrant boy who made it big. Coming back from World War II, he had all the wealth and power that New York aspired to. When New York saw itself as the center of the world, he was its paragon of class.

When your friend causes you trouble, a president gets rid of those friends.

I'm enough of a patriot to think that the American public makes good choices.

Don't be the schmuck on the other side of the table. Don't get an interview with the guy. Be in the room with him while he's being interviewed by someone else.

It's very hard to imagine anybody being president when the stuff that's written about them is empty of who they are.

What good was being the king of the rackets in Newark, N.J., if you couldn't have DiMaggio at your dinner table?

The whole point of Israel was to create a place where Jews could live the best life - and liveliest - in accordance with their values.

At every step in his life, DiMaggio was what New Yorkers wanted in a hero.

The first time I met Alex Rodriguez, he was in the fight of his life. He was the guy who was supposed to have everything - good looks, good health, good habits - all the talent in the world and most of the money.

We strove for more than 60 years to give Joe DiMaggio the hero's life. From his debut at Yankee Stadium in 1936 until his death in 1999, DiMaggio was, at every turn, one man we could look at who made us feel good.

He's made a business out of being Joe DiMaggio. To remain Joe DiMaggio, you better not have too much known. He's right. The closer you get, the more explosively bad stuff you find.