I never much cared for politics. I love policy, and I love international policy in particular. I got to be Secretary of State; it really doesn’t get much better than that. I love what I do. I love being a professor.
When I said I had always hoped to marry in my race, I really do mean that. That doesn’t mean I absolutely wouldn’t marry outside of it, but there’s a culture and traditions to maintain, and I have great pride in them, and I always thought it would be wonderful to share that with somebody of my race.
Everybody in the world is capable of democratic development. Some people in the world are unlucky enough to get stuck with really bad political leadership and with really bad political institutions.
You do have to keep in mind as you’re going through extraordinarily difficult circumstances, that if you stay true, true to your values, if you stay true to your principles, if you believe in these values, then you can work in that context to right policies that may not be working.
There are many other arrows in our diplomatic quiver.
The United States is willing to exert strong leadership to give diplomacy its very best chance to succeed.
I’m a committed Republican. I believe very strongly in individual liberty. I tend not to think much in terms of group politics. I really am a kind of small government person and I’m most certainly a fiscal conservative and strong on national defense.
What we will not wait for is that particular nexus of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction that is extremism, and the technology to come together in a way that is harmful to the United States.
As secretary of state it’s been an enormous honor to represent this great country that I love so much – I have really seen that our great strengths are in the ability of people to reach their potential here.
As Americans we like to believe that we’re loved in international politics or that people like what we’re doing. But we also recognize that we have an extraordinary responsibility to do what we think is right, and that sometimes what we do is not very popular.
I remember classes in college where the professor was espousing certain theories about how blacks were inherently less intelligent. But I learned a long time ago to give people the benefit of the doubt, not to assume that somebody was reacting to you because of race.
When people see the terrible scenes of violence on television, when we mourn the death of each and every American man and woman in uniform or a civilian that’s killed, that it’s hard to see the progress that’s being made and it’s hard to believe that this is all going to come out for the better.
I’m a great believer in the fact that as you get to know someone, it matters not what religious background they have, or what their nationality is, or where they came from. And I think that’s how Americans really do relate to each other on a personal level.
I certainly think that the world views the United States as a place to be respected. All over the world our values are respected; who we are, a place that you can come and come from modest circumstances to great things, that’s respected.
You know, life is not one in which you just get to choose the things every day that come easily to you. And it’s also true – and this is the self-esteem problem – you learn that there are people who are better at things than you are.
Your friends and your family, if you’re close to them, they won’t let you get too far from who you were or from who you are. And so I love staying close to people who’ve always known me. That’s probably the best leavening that you could possibly have.
The Iranian people have a proud past. They merit a great future.
I think it’s very humble to believe that there is no man, woman or child who should live in tyranny. That people who say, well, maybe Arabs just aren’t ready for democracy or maybe Africans just are going to have corrupt governments, that seems to me arrogant.
America is a remarkable place in that social attitudes change almost imperceptibly, and then you wake up the next day and they’ve changed. But they’ve been changing all the time.
What the United States has done hasn’t always been liked or popular. But if you look at some of the most populous places in the world – China, India – the United States is not only respected but, in fact, popular.
History’s long arc is different than the today’s headlines.