Did Ronald Reagan or other politicians use a similar quote and when?

1. Famous Reagan quips and where they appear

Reagan’s catalogue of memorable lines includes the “alimentary canal” quip cited in campaign fliers during his 1966 gubernatorial run and referenced in later biographies ^[1]. Major quote compilations such as Britannica list that same colorful line alongside other frequently repeated Reagan sayings ^[2]. The Reagan Presidential Foundation also curates many of his remarks, indicating institutional preservation of widely circulated formulations ^[3].

2. Timing: when did Reagan use similar lines?

The “government is like a baby’s alimentary canal” remark appears in material tied to the mid‑1960s — during Reagan’s California gubernatorial campaigns — and is cited in later campaign ephemera and histories ^[1]. Other famous Reagan lines come from dated speeches such as his 1964 “A Time for Choosing” television address and his 1981 inaugural remarks, where he deployed forceful, concise language that later quote collections captured ^{[1] [4]}.

3. How modern compilations present the quotes

Popular quote sites (BrainyQuote, ThoughtCo, Notable‑Quotes) present short, memorable Reagan sayings without always providing original sourcing or exact contexts, which can create the impression that he said a pithy line in a given speech even when the primary source is not shown ^{[5] [6] [7]}. Britannica and the Reagan Foundation tend to anchor quotations to contexts or speeches more reliably than generic quote aggregators ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Disputed attributions and manipulated media

Fact‑checking outlets have found instances where Reagan is attributed statements he did not utter exactly as presented; manipulated videos have also circulated that place words in Reagan’s mouth he didn’t speak, though they note he did express similar sentiments elsewhere ^[8]. Academic or skeptical commentators have critiqued certain popular Reagan attributions as oversimplified or rhetorically inflated ^[9].

5. Other politicians and similar sayings — what the sources show

Available sources do not provide a systematic list of other politicians using the exact “alimentary canal” formulation, but they do show that pithy anti‑statist one‑liners are common in political rhetoric and that Reagan’s style echoed and amplified a longer conservative tradition ^{[2] [4]}. Sources explicitly note Reagan used similar critiques of government across decades of speeches ^{[1] [4]}.

6. Why variations and misattributions happen

Quote aggregators and social media encourage short, repeatable lines, and over time words get trimmed, rephrased, or attributed to more famous figures; the Reagan example — widely reproduced in campaign flyers and later anthologies — illustrates how a witticism can become “canonical” even if precise provenance is blurred ^{[1] [5]}. Fact‑checkers emphasize checking contemporaneous speeches or primary documents when claims about exact wording matter ^[8].

7. What researchers and readers should do next

For rigorous attribution, consult primary sources: contemporaneous campaign material, speech transcripts, or the Reagan Presidential Foundation archives ^{[1] [3]}. Use reputable fact‑checks and historical collections rather than standalone quote pages when exact phrasing and date matter ^{[8] [2]}.

Limitations: the set of search results provided includes compilations, the Reagan Foundation, and fact‑checking commentary but does not include full primary transcripts or a comprehensive provenance study; therefore, specific earliest usages beyond mid‑1960s campaign material are not documented in the current reporting ^{[1] [3] [8]}.