In March 2020 the coronavirus spread aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. Captain Brett Crozier wrote a letter asking for help. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die.” On April 2 the acting Navy secretary, Thomas Modly, relieved him of command for poor judgment.
As Crozier walked off the ship, hundreds of sailors chanted his name. Modly resigned five days later. In June the Navy decided not to reinstate Crozier.
In Super Bowl XLIX the Seattle Seahawks trailed New England 28-24 with 26 seconds left, at the New England 1-yard line. Seattle chose to pass. Malcolm Butler intercepted, and the game was effectively over.
The head coach, Pete Carroll, said afterward: “I told those guys, ‘That’s my fault, totally.'” His offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, said of the receiver: “He could have done a better job of staying strong on the ball.”
In April 1961 the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba failed. On April 21 John F. Kennedy told reporters: “There’s an old saying that victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan.” He added that he was the responsible officer of the government.
Gallup then found his approval at 83%, up from 78% before the invasion. The saying was not his. A version appears in the 1942 diary of the Italian diplomat Count Galeazzo Ciano, who called it something that happens “as always.”
On June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day, General Dwight Eisenhower wrote a note to release if the landings failed. “My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. … If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”
He crossed out “This particular operation” and wrote “My decision to attack” in its place. He misdated the note July 5. It is kept at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.
In September 2020 the Pew Research Center asked 10,093 Americans about calling people out on social media. Overall, 58% of U.S. adults said it is more likely to hold people accountable, and 38% said it is more likely to punish people who do not deserve it.
The split ran along party lines. Among Democrats and those leaning Democratic, 75% saw accountability. Among Republicans and those leaning Republican, 39% did.
On February 19, 2010, Tiger Woods read a statement for about 13 minutes before an invited audience in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.” “I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior.” It was a scripted statement, and he took no questions.
Nine years and four back surgeries later, on April 14, 2019, he won the Masters for the fifth time.
The quarterback Michael Vick served 18 months in federal prison for dogfighting. In 2009 the Philadelphia Eagles signed him. According to Reid, he spent much of his time off speaking in public.
In 2010 he was voted the starting quarterback for the NFC in the Pro Bowl by fans, players and coaches, and the Associated Press named him Comeback Player of the Year. His coach, Andy Reid, said: “You can never erase that, but you can sure help change others from falling into that same problem.”
In his 2004 State of the Union, George W. Bush said: “America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.” On April 9, 2008, he signed the Second Chance Act, a law for people leaving prison.
The House passed it 347 to 62, and the Senate by unanimous consent. In 2018 the First Step Act renewed and expanded it.
In 1986 Massachusetts passed the first state apology law. A former state senator’s daughter had been killed in a car accident, and the driver never apologized. He had wanted to, but dared not. By 2014, 37 states had such laws, which generally keep an expression of sympathy from being used as evidence of liability.
In 2001 the University of Michigan health system began disclosing medical errors to patients and offering compensation. New claims dropped sharply. The time to settle fell from twenty months to six.
William Safire called it “a passive-evasive way of acknowledging error while distancing the speaker from responsibility for it.” Ulysses S. Grant used a version in 1876. Nixon’s press secretary Ron Ziegler used it in 1973, Reagan in his 1987 State of the Union, Bill Clinton in 1997 and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2007.
The political scientist William Schneider named the grammar the “past exonerative” tense. An NPR headline called the phrase “the king of non-apologies.”