“A politician can make waves, then make you think he’s the only one who can save the ship” is a saying that has been credited to Ivern Ball since at least 1992. The quotation made Reader’s Digest magazine, which credited Ivern Ball in Modern Secretary.
 
 
18 September 1992, The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), pg. 2D, col. 5:
A politician is a person who can make waves and then make you think he’s the only one who can save the ship.”—Ivern Ball.
 
Google Groups: rec.humor
Life 6.N
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10/20/92
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A politician is someone who can make waves and then make you think he’s the only person who can save the ship—Ivern Bell
 
Google Groups: rec.arts.startrek.fandom
What is green Data worth?
Kevin Haddock
5/23/93
(...)
“A politician is a person who can make waves and then make you think he’s the only one who can save the ship.”  —-  Ivern Ball
   
Google Books
Quotable Quotes
By Editors of Reader’s Digest
New York, NY: Readers Digest
1997
Pg. ?:
A politician is a person who can make waves and then make you think he’s the only one who can save the ship. —IVERN BALL in Modern Secretary
 
Google Books
Dick Enberg’s Humorous Quotes for All Occasions:
Speaking Tips and Over 1,000 One-Liners
By Dick Enberg with Brian Morgan and Wendy Morgan
Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel
2000
Pg. 168:
A politician is a person who can make waves and then make you think he’s the only one who can save the ship.
Ivern Ball