NATO member states vary dramatically in their capability and in their political steadfastness.
Look for what’s missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what’s proposed or what’s gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn’t there.
Visit with your predecessors from previous Administrations. They know the ropes and can help you see around some corners. Try to make original mistakes, rather than needlessly repeating theirs.
The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.
Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin’s still learning.
When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.
Leave the President’s family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.
No. That’s someone else’s business. Quagmire is – I don’t do quagmires.
Sausage making and policy-making shouldn’t be seen close-up.
I believe what I said yesterday. I don’t know what I said, but I know what I think and I assume it’s what I said.
The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.
If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.
One thing appears reasonably certain, and that’s that those who make allegations of a culture of deception, of intimidation or cover-up need to be extremely careful about such accusations.
There are things that we know, and there are things that we don’t know. Then there are the things that we don’t even know that we don’t know. Those are the things that are the hardest.
I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story.
The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.
Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous.
If you can’t solve a problem, make it bigger.
Being Vice President is difficult. Don’t make it tougher.