"Instead of giving a politician the keys to the…

“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks” is a saying that has been printed on many images. The quotation is from Doug Larson (1926-2017), who wrote this in his newspaper column in the Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette on September 25, 1991. It was reprinted in The Reader’s Digest in 1993.

Larson had published something similar in his column on November 7, 1974:

“The day may eventually return when it will be possible to give the key to the city to a politician without feeling it’s necessary to change the locks.”

Wikipedia: Doug Larson
Doug Larson (February 10, 1926 to April 1, 2017) was a columnist and editor for the Door County Advocate (1953–1964) and wrote a daily column, “Doug’s Dugout,” for the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1964–1988), both Wisconsin-based newspapers. The column was originally syndicated through United Media under the title “Senator Soaper Says”; Larson took over authorship in 1980. Previously, it had been written by Bill Vaughn of the Kansas City Star. Larson was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

7 November 1974, Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette, “Doug’s Dugout: Disconnected Thoughts About Almost Anything” by Doug Larson, pg. A-5, col. 3:
The day may eventually return when it will be possible to give the key to the city to a politician without feeling it’s necessary to change the locks.

6 October 1976, Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette, “Doug’s Dugout: Disconnected Thoughts About Almost Anything” by Doug Larson, pg. A-11, col. 1:
This is a fickle world in which one day they give you the keys to the city and the next day they change the locks.

25 September 1991, Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette, Doug Larson column, pg. A-9, col. 1:
Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.

Google Books
The Reader’s Digest
Volume 143, Issues 856-860
1993
Pg. 163:
Quotable Quotes
Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks. —Doug Larson, United Feature Syndicate

5 March 1995, Orlando Park (IL) Star, “No joking, politics is clowning around” by Bill Spelbring, pg. E-2, col. 2:
Ah yes! Politics does make for strange bedfellows. Likewise, it makes me want to offer another civic-minded suggestion—and this is no joke:

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, maybe it might be better to change the locks.

18 January 1996, The Dispatch (Moline, IL), “Chuckle,” pg. 1, col. 1:
Instead of giving a politician a key to the city, it might be better to change the locks.—Doug Larson.

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@hqotd
Doug Larson: “Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.”
7:27 AM - 26 Sep 2007

Google Books
It’s Better to Die Laughing Than to Be Dead Serious:
How to be the life of the party, the podium, and everywhere in between
By Marvin Maupin
Bloomington, IN: AUthorHouse
2010
Pg. 142:
“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.” Doug Larson

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Doug Larson – Instead of giving a politician…
“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.”
-Doug Larson
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3:03 AM - 23 Apr 2019