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Who really said it

In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way

Not Franklin D. Roosevelt — a 1970s misquotation Gary Allen 1936–1986 · American conservative writer, John Birch Society spokesman
Disputed In copyright

There is no record of Roosevelt saying this. The earliest uses Barry Popik records are in two 1971 books by Gary Allen, including None Dare Call It Conspiracy, which credits it to “FDR” with no source. Wikiquote calls it most likely a garbled form of FDR’s 1935 Citadel remark, “we are planning it that way.”

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way” Misattributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt; earliest known in Gary Allen, None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1971). FDR's real line (Citadel, 23 October 1935): "we are planning it that way."

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Gary Allen (with co-author Larry Abraham) and/or the publisher of None Dare Call It Conspiracy). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Gary Allen — American conservative writer & John Birch Society spokesman. Theme: "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the line actually turns up

Earliest found in
None Dare Call It Conspiracy
Author
Gary Allen (co-written with Larry Abraham)
Published
Rossmoor, CA: Concord Press, 1971 (Popik quotes the 1972 printing, p. 8)
Roosevelt's real words
Remarks at the Citadel, Charleston, S.C., 23 October 1935: “we are planning it that way”

FDR once said “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.” He was in a good position to know. We believe that many of the major world events that are shaping our destinies occur because somebody or somebodies have planned them that way. Gary Allen, 1971

Allen gives no source for the “FDR” line. What Roosevelt actually said at the Citadel in 1935 was about economic recovery: “We are coming back more soundly than ever before because we are planning it that way. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.”

Barry Popik's citations, from Gary Allen (1971) onward

How the trail was followed

  • Wikiquote ↗ lists the line under Roosevelt’s Misattributed quotes: there are “no records” of him saying it, and it is “most likely a misquotation” of his 23 October 1935 Citadel remarks.
  • Roosevelt’s real words are in the American Presidency Project transcript ↗: “Yes, we are on our way back—not just by pure chance… We are coming back more soundly than ever before because we are planning it that way.”
  • Barry Popik ↗ (15 December 2012) quotes the line from Gary Allen’s Richard Nixon: The Man Behind the Mask (1971, p. 67) and None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1971, p. 8). He then follows it through letters to newspaper editors from 1972 to 1978.
  • Metabunk ↗ reaches the same conclusion, citing the researcher Loren Collins. It also notes that “We Planned It That Way” became a 1938 anti-FDR slogan.
In copyright

The earliest known text with this wording is Gary Allen’s None Dare Call It Conspiracy, first published in 1971, so it falls in the 1931-or-later copyright window. Roosevelt’s actual 1935 Citadel remarks are a separate text and do not contain this line.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

How a recovery boast became a conspiracy slogan

The line is everywhere on quote sites and in “thought for the day” columns, always credited to FDR. The record shows it first being pinned on him in 1971 conspiracy literature, some 26 years after his death.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Misattributed

Wikiquote ↗ says there are no records of Roosevelt saying it. His closest real line, at the Citadel on 23 October 1935, credited the economic recovery to planning: “we are planning it that way.”

Gary Allen Unsourced

Allen credits FDR with the line in two 1971 books, with no source given: first as “Nothing just happens in politics. If something happens you can be sure it was planned that way,” then in the now-familiar wording in None Dare Call It Conspiracy (Popik ↗).

Letters to newspaper editors

Readers repeated the “FDR” line in letters to the Daily Inter Lake (1972), Dallas Morning News (1972), Telegraph Herald (1974), Boston Herald American (1976) and Omaha World-Herald (1978) (Popik ↗).

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

Popik ↗ notes that Kennedy said “There are no accidents in politics” in 1960, just after his son John F. Kennedy won the presidency.

Frank Knox

Metabunk ↗ reports that Knox used “We Planned It That Way” as the title of a 1938 pamphlet attacking FDR. That turned Roosevelt’s recovery line into a jibe against him.

Roosevelt said “we are planning it that way” about the economy in 1935. The conspiratorial “nothing happens by accident” version is not his. Its earliest known appearance is Gary Allen’s 1971 books (Popik ↗; Wikiquote ↗).

Context

Why the twist matters

Roosevelt’s Citadel remark was a campaign-season boast that the New Deal’s planning, “not just by pure chance,” was bringing the country back (transcript ↗). The popular quote reverses that point. Credited to a president who was “in a good position to know,” as Allen put it, it becomes inside testimony that hidden planners run events.

That is why the line keeps circulating. It lends a famous name to a conspiracy-theory view of history. Neither Wikiquote nor Popik found any Roosevelt source for it.

“We are coming back more soundly than ever before because we are planning it that way.” — FDR, 1935

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Power Doubt

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Franklin D. Roosevelt — Misattributeden.wikiquote.org

Lists the line as misattributed: there is no record of FDR saying it, and it is likely a misquotation of the 1935 Citadel remarks.
"In politics, nothing happens by accident…"barrypopik.com

Dated citations from Gary Allen's two 1971 books through newspaper letters to 1978.
Remarks at the Citadel, Charleston, S.C. (23 Oct 1935)presidency.ucsb.edu

The American Presidency Project transcript of FDR's real line, "we are planning it that way."
Debunked: "In politics, nothing happens by accident" — FDRmetabunk.org

A debunking thread that cites Loren Collins's trace to a 1971 book and the 1938 "We Planned It That Way" pamphlet.
None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1971) — catalog recordarchive.org

Internet Archive record for Gary Allen's book (Rossmoor, Calif.: Concord Press, 1971); lending-restricted.
Gary Allenen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the John Birch Society writer who co-wrote None Dare Call It Conspiracy.

The author

About Gary Allen

Gary Allen

1936–1986 · American conservative writer & John Birch Society spokesman

Gary Allen was a California writer, a spokesman for the John Birch Society and a contributor to American Opinion. In 1971 he co-wrote None Dare Call It Conspiracy with Larry Abraham. The book argued that an “Insider” elite plans world events, and it is the earliest place Barry Popik found this line with this wording. Allen is the earliest known user of the line and the person who pinned it on FDR. No one has shown that he coined it.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Earliest known appearance

Gary Allen, with Larry Abraham, None Dare Call It Conspiracy (Rossmoor, CA: Concord Press, 1971), 8 (page per the 1972 printing), where the line is credited to “FDR” without a source. Cited in Barry Popik, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens you can bet it was planned that way,” The Big Apple, 15 December 2012. Roosevelt’s real words: Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Remarks at the Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina,” 23 October 1935, The American Presidency Project.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/in-politics-nothing-happens-by-accident-if-it-happens-you/

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