"By necessity, by proclivity, by delight," Ralph Waldo Emerson said in 1876, "we all quote." But often the phrases that fall most readily from our collective lips--like "fire when ready," "speak softly and carry a big stick," or "nice guys finish last"--are those whose origins and true meanings we have ceased to consider. Restoring three-dimensionality to more than fifty of these American sayings, Tippecanoe and Tyler Too turns cliches back into history by telling the life stories of the words that have served as our most powerful battle cries, rallying points, laments, and...