DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - There were nine candidates present and thousands of words spoken on Sunday at the Republican presidential debate but at times it seemed past presidents and their oratory were taking center stage.

Many of this year's crop of Republicans seeking to win the next presidential election in November 2008 liked quoting previous occupants of the Oval Office -- Republican and Democrat -- during a 1 1/2-hour forum hosted by ABC News.

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas chided Democrats for making loose comments by saying, "Words of a president matter. When Ronald Reagan says, 'Mr. Gorbachev, bring down this wall,' that mattered. When he called the Soviet Union an evil empire, that mattered."

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, in criticizing the Bush administration's emphasis on expanding democracy, went back more than 80 years to quote President Woodrow Wilson and his "making the world safe for democracy."

In discussing the role of the vice president, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani mentioned how unprepared Harry Truman was when he took over as president and the working relationship between Reagan and his vice president and later president, George H.W. Bush.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney quoted Theodore Roosevelt's "Speaking softly while carrying a big stick," and returned again to Republican presidents by ending the debate by saying:

"I take my inspiration from my dad, from Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, the Declaration of Independence."

At another point Romney threw in former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for good measure.

But probably no one crammed in as much in a short period as Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who in answer to a question managed to quote Presidents John Kennedy, Reagan and Thomas Jefferson in one brief answer.