Politics & Power Quote by David Dinkins

Dinkins is doing something politicians rarely get credit for: turning fiscal housekeeping into moral theater. The line is built like a defense brief, not a victory lap. He starts with the potentially damning admission - "We borrowed money" - then rapidly narrows the frame: the borrowing was instrumental ("bonds and what not"), responsibly structured, and crucially misunderstood by critics who like to treat any federal involvement as a handout.

That pivot from "backed it" to "but it was a guarantee, it was not a grant" is the fulcrum. He’s anticipating a familiar attack line in late-20th-century urban politics: that cities like New York were dependent, wasteful, propped up by Washington. Dinkins insists on a distinction most soundbites flatten. A guarantee is credibility; a grant is charity. He’s arguing his administration didn’t ask to be rescued - it used the federal government the way the federal government is supposed to be used: as a stabilizer that lowers risk so markets will lend.

The closing clause is the real flex: "not only... but... ahead of time". It’s a politician’s version of overpaying your mortgage in front of the neighbors. Subtext: competence, discipline, adult supervision. Context matters here: Dinkins governed New York as crime, recession, and racial tension made the city feel ungovernable, and his mayoralty was routinely framed as soft or ineffectual. This quote isn’t about bonds; it’s about legitimacy. He’s asserting that responsible governance can be quiet, technical, and still worth defending in plain language.