Abraham Lincoln, "Method of Buoying Vessels over Shoals," 1849.
"Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then, any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this; secured to the inventor, for a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and thereby added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in the discovery and production of new and useful things."
-- Abraham Lincoln, February 11, 1859
Of course, this will probably infuriate all of the Lincoln haters on this site.
They'll calm down when they learn that he never made a dime on his patent.